In the trenches at the site of the battle at ammunition hill from the 6 day war

These past weeks since we got back from Poland we have been learning more about modern Israel conflicts in Jewish History. It’s really interesting to learn about the problems and conflicts that I never understood before. One of the aspects that makes EIE so special is that I’m learning about the 6 day war from my teacher, who was a soldier in the war. He has first hand experience from combat, to the effects the war had on the Israeli population. Class has become a very intimate experience as well because he is really telling us his life story and how it personally affected him.

Today we also had an Israeli film festival/movie day, which I found really interesting. One of the Jewish History teacher’s mother, who is a professional movie commentator, came an led a talk where she would introduce a few clips from a movie and explain how it reflects Israeli culture. We watched clips from a few different movies, including a book that was made into a movie called “Someone to run with”, that I am now reading and highly recommend! Then we watched “Late Summer Blues”, a movie that follows the lives of a few Israeli teens. It starts with them finishing up their senior year and their summer before they are drafted into the army, and ends with them all going to their different units. I thought it was a really realistic depiction of what all Israeli teens go through and anyone that wants to get a glimpse of what it is like growing up in Israel should watch it.

One of the most important things I’ve learned while in Israel was not taught in a classroom. Other than learning how to be independent and responsible, I know that I have gained a much better understanding of Israel and Israelis. From staying with friends in Jerusalem, to interacting with Israelis including kibbutznicks and my teachers, I have come to conclusions about so many things. I feel like in order for me to create my life story, its important to understand and learn how other people’s stories may lead a different path than my own. Because of this I have such a new found appreciation of how blessed I was growing up and continue to be.

I wanted to take just a moment to extend my gratitude and thanks to all those that made possible a free ten day trip to Israel. I use the word “trip” loosely as it was so much more than just a vacation with a tour.

It was perspective.

Perspective into a society and culture that, on the surface, differs so much from our own due to the geopolitical climate. I was happy to find, however that digging a little deeper revealed no loss of passion or zest for life that can be overshadowed by the daily rigors of protecting one’s livelihood and country.

To not only see but experience that passion and zest in the diverse food culture, the beauty of the landscape, and the cultural identity of each Israeli is something to truly treasure.

Kesher makes sure that one doesn’t just see the country and the people but truly interacts with them. One can go through those ten days touching, tasting, smelling, and listening to the daily hustle and bustle of Israeli life. But the feelings generated by doing that with thirty nine strangers and eight Israeli soldiers are things I cannot vocalize. They are treasured memories and lifelong acquaintances that create a global connection beyond anything one could learn in school or from the news.

Thank you to Kesher for keeping us on track and to the eight soldiers who took time off from defending their country so they could show us its better half.

On April 15^th NFTY-EIE got to experience two very different holidays in Israel. The morning started off with a ceremony at the cemetery on the Kibbutz for Yom HaZikaron (Day of Remembrance). Even though the ceremony was all in Hebrew, I could experience what goes on during this holiday and think about the families on the Kibbutz and all over Israel who have lost loved ones that fought for this State. It was hard to see so many people upset around me, but everyone had people around them for support.

It was a powerful moment to hear the siren go off all over Israel to give a moment of silence to remember all the fallen soldiers. It’s unreal that in that minute the entire State stops whatever they are doing and remembers. In America we have Memorial Day, but it is very different than in Israel. In America, the day is filled with stores having big sales and many people looking forward to a day of shopping and deals. People are excited for a long weekend at the beach and the day off of school. Many don’t even take a moment out of their day to remember what the holiday is even about. In Israel, mostly everything is closed down, and the holiday is taken a lot more seriously. Almost everyone is Israel knows at least one soldier that they are remembering on this day. Throughout the day I heard emotional stories about people that lost friends and family.

In the evening, after our general studies classes, we had another ceremony with the entire Kibbutz for Yom HaZikaron. Again, it did not matter to me that I could not understand what the speakers were saying. I could tell by the tone of their voices what their stories were about, and could proudly join in with the rest of the Kibbutz in the singing of Hatikvah (Israel’s national anthem).

The night quickly transitioned from a sad evening, to a happy celebration of Israel’s Independence with Yom HaAtzmaut. We watched fireworks, and then headed inside for some fun Israeli dancing! The night was not over yet. We boarded the buses and headed to Ben Yehudah Street. It seemed like all of Jerusalem was there! The streets were crowded with thousands of people who all shared the same ruach (spirit).

The energy that filled the streets is something that I have never experienced before and I hope to never forget. There was a live band playing and my friends and I started dancing under Israeli flags that people were holding up. When we walked down the streets, all we saw was white and blue. People were wearing flags around them, holding up blow-up Israeli flags, and throwing confetti. Everyone was so happy to be celebrating Israel’s Independence and her 65^th birthday. To be able to share this holiday with so many Israelis around me was very cool. This is not how I celebrate America’s Independence Day! In the US, people usually have BBQs, or go to the beach. In Israel, everyone comes together to celebrate together, whether you know each other or not.

I can tell that the people in Israel feel more connected to their freedom, and seem a lot more spirited and enthusiastic. There are huge celebrations everywhere! This night was overall amazing and something I hope to be able to experience again.

Tikkun Olam intern Sarah works with pregnant asylum seekers and refugees in Israel

Tikkun Olam in Tel Aviv Jaffa has just announced the creation of a new opportunity to gain experience interning at a non-profit in Israel.

The Internship program is an exciting way to gain valuable career experience in the non-profit sector by interning for 5 or 10 months with an organization serving disadvantaged communities in south Tel Aviv and Jaffa.

Participants get to work with organizations working towards Arab-Jewish coexistence; advocating for disabled and special-needs populations; and providing services to refugees from Darfur and other parts of Africa.

Tikkun Olam’s Internship Track was designed specifically for non-profit internships.  Tikkun Olam interns get a complete Israeli experience, living directly in the communities they serve; learning about issues facing those communities; and enjoying seminars on social entrepreneurship with different nonprofits all over Israel.

In addition to this critical work, Tikkun Olam interns work directly alongside Israeli peers - Tikkun Olam is the ONLY Masa Israel program where participants live and learn with Israelis!

Today is Yom Hashoah, the remembrance day for the Holocaust. This day is a very emotional and heart wrenching time for Israelis, as many have family members who were in the Holocaust or are survivors.

On the Kibbutz there are quite a few survivors and to show support to those who were affected there was a short service last night for all the Kibbutznicks. We were invited to the service as well, but it almost seemed odd for us to be present. There we were, 85 teenagers dressed in white standing in the back of the room, and we stuck out like a sore thumb. Though it was a little uncomfortable in my eyes, I am glad we had the experience, and were able to get a slight glimpse what Yom Hashoah means to Israelis on our Kibbutz.

There is a resonant story we hear from many Birthright participants throughout their experiences in Israel. Before coming to Israel, many feel nominally connected to Judaism and Jewish people, but by the end of ten packed, intense days most were lamenting the absence of Jewish community and connection in their lives back home. Wandering through the old city in Jerusalem, jam sessions with guitars extending late into the night, waking up together in a large Bedouin tent – so many experiences on Birthright solidify the group as a cohesive, supportive Jewish community.

One of the eight Israelis who traveled with our group shared the surprise she felt when she saw American Jews crying over the graves of fallen soldiers at Har Herzl; she couldn’t imagine Israelis doing the same at, say, Arlington cemetery. Clearly this group felt connected to Israeli soldiers and their mission, and that touched and awed her.

Birthright is an incomparable catalyst for young adult engagement. The experience of ten days in the Jewish country – developing deep relationships that only an immersive experience can allow – gives participants time to cultivate, and (for most) reengage with Jewish content and ideas.

We know that Birthright has immense potential to shift young adults towards greater Jewish connections. In fact, our group found the concept and term “kesher,” or connection, extremely apt. They used it often as a group and even considered getting tattoos with the word on our last night in Israel. Ultimately, they decided the relationships and photographs were indelible enough to keep the memories from the trip alive.

But what is it that makes the connections through Kesher different from some of the other Israel program options available? When asked by a number of our participants, here’s some of what we told them:

Kesher is a Reform Jewish experience. Out of the field of 16 different organizations running Birthright trips in North America, 10 are non-denominational, 5 are Orthodox, and only 1 offers a progressively religious trip: Kesher. Our Jewish background influences all that we do – from our pluralistic approach to Judaism in Israel; to our dedication to a liberal vision of Zionism; to encouraging a lovingly nuanced relationship with the State of Israel; to nurturing an active relationship with Jewish life upon returning to North America.

Kesher is more than just a tour. One of the strongest messages we reinforced is that Kesher is not simply a whirlwind ten-day tour of a foreign land, rather it is a pilgrimage to our homeland. The most moving and resonant expression of this ideology was framed through sharing with our participants that tourists walk through a land, however for those on a pilgrimage, the land walks through them.

With that sense of Reform Jewish community and pilgrimage in mind, one of our favorite experiences from this trip was the ongoing discussion of three concepts of community (tzibbur, kehillah, and eidah) introduced during our Torah Study for Shabbat Vayakhel-Pekudei. Listening to the way the members of our trip discussed what Jewish communities meant to them, as their feet pounded the pavement and paths of the Old City, the trail up Masada, and the cobblestones of Tzfat was astounding and breathtaking.

Over the past ten days, we were moved and rejuvenated as we watched a new community form, while the land of Israel walked through 39 North Americans and 8 Israelis in new ways – for them, as well as for us.

It begins when you are standing in the security line to board your plane for Israel.  2 young Israelis ask the couple in front of me if this is their first time in Israel.  They reply yes it is, and the Israelis proceed to tell them that they will have a wonderful time in touring and seeing the sites while they are here in Israel.  I don’t think that happens in every airport line, never mind in every security line.

After my flight I arrive at Kibbutz Tzuba, to visit Ethan, my youngest son, who is studying on EIE.  Ethan is studying, traveling and experiencing Israel with 84 other students from all over the United States.  He is finishing his Junior year of High School and taking his classes in English as well as an additional 3 hours of Hebrew and 3 hours of Jewish History.

I have had the pleasure of sitting in David Alon’s Jewish history class in EIE at Tzuba for the past two days.  As David told the class of 22 students that due to scheduling he was spending two days on the Middle Ages from the Golden Age of Spain, including the poet Yehuda HaLevi, Shmuel Nagid and the physician philosopher Rabbi Moses Ben Maimon or the Rambam.  I forgot how much I love to sit in class and learn.  The students did a great job of taking notes, paying attention and participating in a good discussion.

David’s first question for discussion was David Ben Gurion’s radical quote “the history of Israel stops at 70 CE and begins again in l948″  The students quickly grasped that if this were really true we would not be studying any of the Rabbinic Judaism which is of course a part of their curriculum. David incorporated songs from these great poets which are still sung today by different popular Israeli artists.  Some of the Piyutim, liturgical poems, that you might be familiar with include: L’cha Dodi and Adom Olam.

This is my second child on EIE and I believe as a Jewish educator that this experience is so important for them.  Yesterday as they discussed Halacha, Jewish law and what it means to follow Jewish law I had the chance to tell them as Reform Jews they need to know Halacha so they can decide for themselves what to do and what to follow.  I looked at them and told them they are future Jewish leaders from each of the communities from which they are a part back in North America. I am proud to see this high level of education for our Reform Jewish high school students and I look forward to seeing where these students will be in 10 years.  I will I hope to call some of them colleagues, so here is to the Hebrew Union College Classes of Mid 2020′s.

Right now, my mom is here in Israel visiting me and seeing the country on a program called the Parents’ Pilgrimage. NFTY organizes this trip so if our parents want to visit us, and the country, they can. The pilgrimage happens over the course of 9 days, giving the parents just enough time to have fun with their kids as well as see some amazing things around Israel such as Masada, the Dead Sea, Jerusalem, Ein Kerem, and tons of other cool places. My mom left Albuquerque on Sunday, March 10th and will return tomorrow March 20th. So far she’s visited a Mosque, catacombs in northern Israel, Yad Vashem (the Holocaust Memorial Museum, the Dead Sea, Masada, and Jerusalem. She has also joined my classes to meet my teachers and see what my classes are like.

Having my mom here is really different. I left America by myself and had amazing experiences with my new family here. I described to her in detail things like the Cheder Ochel (dining hall), the Zula (hangout place), my classrooms, Masada and the Dead Sea, Jerusalem, the flowers, my hotel room, and my roommates. Now, she’s here with me, experiencing these things for herself. I told her everything about visiting Masada, and then she got to visit it and enjoy it for herself.

My mom being here has given her an opportunity to meet all of my friends, even the people I’m not super close with, and their parents. She has gotten to know a few of my teachers and knows who I’m learning from. She also knows my counselors. My mom knowing my counselors is one of the weirdest things for me. The counselors here are very much like the counselors at camp, they’re close in age and very relate-able but are responsible for us for the duration of our trip. They are our second parents, and now, our first parents know our second parents. Having my mom know all of my friends and their parents is very different from home. At home, my mom knows my closest friends very well, but she has no idea who all my friends are. In addition, she has gotten to know some of my friends parents very well. At home, my mom knows a few of my friends parents, she’s maybe talked to them a few times, but never bonded with them at a Holocaust museum or climbed Masada with them.

All in all, my mom being here with me is incredible. It’s different, fun, exciting, and meaningful. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed this past week with my mom. Whether we were eating a meal together, walking along the beach in Tel Aviv, appreciating the art at Mamila mall, or learning about Jewish history, my mom and I were having tons of fun. Inside jokes have been created, connections have been made, and I feel closer to my mom than I did when I left Albuquerque.

So today we had a very interesting trip that I want to fill you all in on. So for the last few days of Jewish History class we have been learning about Islam and where it originated from and everything relating to that. It’s always interesting learning about different religions and comparing it to our own but this time it was different.

This time we learned about the Islamic religion and then we got the opportunity to go to a mosque in Jerusalem and actually talk to two people about their religion. We had to have our bodies completely covered because that is what is expected of Muslim women in the religion. Once we arrived at the mosque we had to take off our shoes and head upstairs to one of the main rooms. The women sat behind the men. After sitting for awhile and asking questions to the man who runs the mosque, we all got a good gist of what the religion was about. There were a few things in particular that I found interesting that this man was telling us. The first thing is the Sunnis and Shiites. From this man’s point of view he said that the Shiites were not even Muslim. I had learned in class that there was a huge conflict between these two parts of the religion but I had no idea that it was so real. It was really interesting to me because in Judaism we have many different parts of it but at the end of the day, all of the sects of Judaism get along to some extent.

Another thing that stood out to me was the women in this religion. Women had to have their bodies covered when they were out in public and were only allowed to take it off when they were around their husbands or close relatives. The men were also not allowed to look the women in the eye unless they were married to them. From what I learned and saw today, the men have the majority of power in this religion. I am not sure if I could handle that today. Those are just some of the things I learned today!

To sum up my experience at Gadna this past week, it was five days of reenacting the movie Holes, playing Simon says, and red light green light. However instead of being out of the game when you move, or do not respond correctly, the commander makes you do ten pushups.

For Gadna, we went to the southernmost base in Israel which is in Sdeh Boker. The 85 EIE students were split up into four different groups and we were assigned to one Mifakedet, which means commander in Hebrew. We found out from day one that on the base there is no toilet paper, no soap, no towels, and basically no hygiene. We also learned very quickly how to get to a destination in ten seconds, though it seemed close to impossible at first. For example, we would be standing in a het, which is a Hebrew letter that basically looks like a U shape, and the Mifakedet would give us ten seconds to get to the front of the Chadar Ochel(dining room). If we moved after the time was up, or our water bottle fell over on the ground we would have to do ten pushups.

Each day at Gadna for the most part had a different theme. The first day was getting used to life on the base, and getting all our uniforms, mattresses and sleeping bags. The second day was mostly training for shooting M16s on the third day. We spend so much time mastering all the commands such as when to put your magazine in, change from safety to semi automatic mode, but all in Hebrew. Once we actually got to the shooting range on Wednesday we all felt so prepared and safe because all of high up Gadna officers were there to facilitate the range. Personally I had such a conflicting experience with the gun training and shooting. Guns, especially M16s are such powerful weapons and I don’t feel the need to shoot one again. Though I’m so happy I got the experience to shoot one, and I even had a little fun.

The fourth day at Gadna was field day, and we spent most of the day off the base. This was really fun because for the most part this was the first time we got to see what real soldiers do. Once we got out into the desert, our Mifakedet made us take off all shiny objects or things that would draw the attention of the enemy if we were really in combat. We also used dirt and made mud to put on our face as camouflage. To our disappointment desert sand did not have the same effect on our complexion as the Dead Sea mud. While on the field we learned all the different ways to crawl and walk, and each one had a different purpose. This was one of my favorite days aside from some minor knee complications, but nothing that ice, Israeli pain meds, and some rest couldn’t solve.

I say that field day was one of my favorite days, but the best was the last day. Aside from cleaning for hours, we actually got to talk to our Mifakedet since the program was almost over. We learned that her name is Dana, and we were her little experiment because we were her first group ever. She is eighteen, and has only been in the army for three months but you could tell she was so passionate about her job. She told us she really wanted to inspire kids to make Aliah and to love the IDF and Israel as much as she does.

In all I think Gadna was such a great learning experience and I’m really glad I got the chance to do it.