A Reflection

By Nati, an Israeli participant

In Israel, Shabbat is always a peaceful day that gives you an opportunity to rest and reflect on the past week. And what a week it was. During the last eight intense days while I participated at the Shorashim's birthright program as an IDF soldier, I traveled all over Israel with a few more soldiers and a group of 40 Jewish Americans who came to Israel to visit and learn about it.

My first feeling is one of great gratitude. First and foremost for the wonderful people I met, who taught me much. They were not only sincerely interested in my life as an Israeli, but were great fun to spend time with. In addition, I'm thankful for the experiences provided by this trip and which are now turning into memorable memories. I'm also glad I had the opportunity to learn about Judaism in the Diaspora first hand from personal conversations and diverse points of view. Lastly, I'm grateful that through this experience, I was reminded I am proud to be Israeli, to serve Tsahal, and this realization will definitely help me cope better with the daily challenges of a soldier serving in the IDF.

Trying to summarize this trip, I feel like I learned quite a lot about life in the United States, and particularly Jewish life there. But even more so, I feel that by comparing that to life in Israel I understood many things about my country. I learned not to take for granted the feeling of being deeply connected to my country, the feeling of responsibility to my people, and the richness, diversity and beauty of Israel. I learned how unique and different the reality and the situation in Israel are; for example I'll never forget how the Americans' reaction to the fighting in the Syrian border differed from that of the Israelis'. For the Americans, the sight of fighting was new and shocking while for us, it was, unfortunately, a regular sight. Lastly, discussing with the Americans the sites we visited and the things we learned about Israel gave me a new and fresh perspective on different issues.

One of my conclusions is that Judaism in Israel and abroad is very different. In Israel, we view the whole nation as our community while in the United States, small, Jewish, and local communities are the center of the Jewish life and practice. In Israel, it is much easier to feel Jewish without practicing it or pondering on it, while in the states if you don' t work hard to preserve the connection to Judaism, it'll probably weaken. In Israel, our holidays and traditions are national and public, while in the states they are celebrated in a communal or even a private fashion. The biggest challenge we face as Jews in Israel is to create a safe and thriving Jewish nation and society, while in the US it's to preserve the Jewish identity and the connection to Israel in a non-Jewish, and at times even hostile, environment.

But still, there's a feeling of deep connection between Jewish people in Israel and in the Diaspora that makes us feel as one nation. There are a few reasons for that. Firstly, we share and hold close to our heart the same traditions; even though we each practice Shabbat differently we all address it, we celebrate the same Jewish holidays (I never knew that Matza-ball soup is so popular in the states!), and in the Kabbalat Shabbat most of us knew and sang the same psalms. Judaism both abroad and in Israel shares the same fundamental values, for example in one of our first activities the entire group agreed that respecting people around you is an essential part of Judaism. In addition, all the Jews share the same national history, and we were all deeply moved while visiting the Yad Vashem museum for the commemoration of the Holocaust, and visiting the remains of the Masada fortress. All of the above create the feeling of immediate connection and belonging when Jewish people from Israel and the Diaspora meet, without it even having a religious origin to it whatsoever.

I believe that we need to channel the feeling of connection we felt during the trip to strengthen our sense of mutual responsibility. If we want to preserve the unity of all the Jewish people as one international community and nation, Jews from abroad should feel they need to be involved in the life in Israel, and the same goes for the people of Israel towards the international Jewish communities. Israel is a shared and joint project, the center of the current Jewish life, which is important to Jews living all over the world. Seeing the American participants being deeply moved and yet profoundly proud while we visited the military cemetery in Mount Herzl showed me how the connection to Israel, its history and its faith, is shared by all the Jews.

While serving in the army, I feel that I'm serving all the Israeli citizens but also the world-wide Jewish community, because Israel belongs to them as well. It may be surprising to say that Israel belongs to all the Jews given that some live in it and fight for Israel, and some don't, but I believe that even Jews living abroad can and need to take part in the national discourse and to be involved intellectually and emotionally with the crucial decisions that shape Israel. We Israelis welcome the fact that Jews living abroad voice their opinion in internal discussions on different issues in Israel, because it proves us that Israel is still in their heart, even if we sometimes differ in our views and opinions.

I hope that the emotional connection that was sparked in the trip to Israel and its people will encourage the American participants to learn about Israel on their own, to form their opinion on different issues and act upon it. After this trip, I feel a new and strong motivation to take part in the grand mission of telling Jews living abroad the Israeli story, what it's like being a Jew here, and help build and strengthen the connection to Israel so Jews all over the world will feel not only that they love Israel, but that they want to take an active role in contributing to this amazing Jewish project.

I can't wait to visit Chicago, and hope you'll come to visit Israel again soon. I love you all and remind you that you'll always have a house to stay in when you are at Jerusalem.

Shavua tov (have a good week),
Nati