Israel's history timeline
After dinner we were split into four groups, each with two Israeli participants. Each group was asked to present a skit discussing historic Israeli events. Topics ranged from the Six Day War to more recent issues regarding the Gaza strip and the kidnapping of Gilad Shalit. The first skit was an awesome rendition of "American Pie" led by singer afficionados Michelle Mantel and Eric Rapaport. It featured creative lyrics such as "Chai Chai we're in Israel, hi", and informed us regarding how Israel came to be a country. The next group was led by "Professor" Zach Fryman who asked the students of "Birthright University" to talk about various wars including the Six Days War. Rather than simply explaining the facts, the group began classic jazz snapping and proceeded to use their smooth "Isaac Hayes" voices to mesmerize the audience. At the end, the jazz cadence stopped and Israeli participant Maor Shamul offered a personal story regarding the 1st Lebanese War. His uncle Meir Shamul was killed in combat in this war and in honor of his service, all future Shamul children have been named with a derivative of his uncle's name. It was a privilege to hear this story from my new Israeli friend, which inspired me to acknowlege and honor all of the other families affected by losing someone in this war, or any war for that matter.
Right when things began to get rather serious, the third group, "The Fresh Princes of Israel", provided some comedic relief and rapped about peace agreements in Israel and withdrawing from Lebanon in the 90's to the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air theme song. Their creative lyrics included: "when a couple of countries were up to no good, started shooting missiles in our neighborhood, Israel got in one little war and Clinton got scared, so he sent us to Oslo to end the affair". It ended very eloquently with "Now can we please get a beer?" while the Fresh Princes pointed towards the kibbutz pub.
Before the activity was over, we were given a personalized glimpse by the fourth group on how more recent events have affected our Israeli participants. The fourth group was led by Israeli participants Shelly and Tal, and what was most profound, at least for myself, was the story of Gilad Shalit, who at 18 years old was kidnapped in Israel by Hamas terrorists and held captive for six years. Shelly told us that Israeli citizens were deeply impacted by his capture, and that her family left out a chair for him every night on their porch until he was returned home safely in 2011. In exchange for his freedom, Israel would need to release 1,000 captured terrorists to Hamas. This exchange was incredible. To know that Israel cared so deeply about just one soldier's safety that they were willing to give up so much for him. It made me think about how many soldiers have been captured or tortured in the U.S. war with Afghanistan, as well as the innocent civilians who have been killed. Despite all the horrific things that have occurred, I don't think one soldier's story has captured the U.S. nation as Gilad has in Israel. Tal told us "As a soldier in the Israeli army, I would want to know the government would do everything they could to bring me home safely". As a result of last night's skits, I have a stronger appreciation for my freedom and how fortunate I am to live in a country that has not frequently defended itself from neighboring countries and terrorists attacks for the past few decades. Overall, while we had fun during this exercise, I am glad we were educated in greater detail about the hardships Israel continues to face, and who better to learn from than Israeli soldiers themselves.
