Israelis, Bonding, and Sight Seeing
Forty students. Seven Israelis. Three staff members. One body guard equipped with a gun. Combine this all with a free trip to Israel, and you've got yourself a birthright. The feeling of entering Israel for us was mixed with excitement and trepidation: we had heard about this, the holy land, for all of these years, but we had never seen it with our own eyes. This all changed as we flew overhead, on a pleasent and uneventful flight, and saw the land that has generated so much joy for the Jewish people below.
Having Israelis on our trip is wonderful. Shorashim is unique in that it lets the Israelis stay the entire duration of the trip instead of just five days: this increment is papable. From culture shock differences (how do they make their coffee? It's still confusing) to what T.V. shows everyone watches, discussion with the Israeli soldiers is wonderful. They are soldiers first, young adults second - that's how we see them. It's a change for us, considering that we jumped from high school to college while they jumped from high school to the army. Difference. But despite this, or maybe because of this, we have bonded on the trip.
Bonding on the trip. That isn't garunteed: fourty different personalities, who knows what could happen. Ice breakers (in the realm of Rock Paper Scissors and Two Truths and a Lie) got us started but really viewing the sights (Nof, in hebrew, some of the words we are learning) united us as a group. We visited the Golan Heights, the Sea of Galliee, Jerusalem, the Western Wall, and the Valley of Tears. We saw the beautiful shores of Tel Aviv and signs written in Hebrew - never anywhere else will you ever see that. We saw abandoned bunkers and tanks that had fired at each other from Yom Kippur War in 1973. We watched videos of the exhiliarating but terrifying audio of conversations exchanged during the Yom Kippur War. As we witnessed these, we grew closer to Israel. We grew closer to being Jewish.
Staying at a Kibbutz is another greay way to become acclimated to Israel: it's a unique life style, one not found in America. Communal living is a great source of joy for the Jewish people who live in them, and we were able to experience this for a few days.
We have seen a lot but we still have a lot more to go: the Dead Sea still waits, Independance Hall in Tel Aviv, the Beudin Tent, hiking up the Masada, and of course - camel rides. How these things turn out remain to be seen, but one thing will be for certain: we will grow closer to the country and learn a lot. It's been an amazing experience so far, and we all cannot wait for what we have left on the incredibly packed schedule!
