We had spent 11 days and 10 nights with strangers who had become best friends, in new lands learning so many new things about ourselves and our heritage, and experiencing more than any one of us had ever hoped or dreamed.

We woke up in the still-dark desert, barely able to make out the shadow of the mountain above us. After a sleepy breakfast, we began to climb the winding Snake Path of Mount Masada. We reached the summit of Masada just in time to watch the sunrise over the Dead Sea, which was an absolutely unforgettable sight. 

I am grateful for Israel. I am grateful for being Jewish. And I am soon going to be grateful for the empty wallet I have back in Boston due to the beautiful experience it has been and all of the souvenirs and food I bought while experiencing this amazing trip. 

So for now I will just lay here and enjoy all that I am sure of, proud of, and grateful for: that I am alive, that I am healthy,  that I am happy, and that I am blessed. 

Overall, my experience at the Western Wall was much more powerful than I had anticipated and I wouldn't change a second of it.

We all know the familiar sound of an alarm buzzing awaking us from a few precious hours of sleep. We mumble a few things under our breath, usually profanities. We roll out of bed and force ourselves to throw on whatever we've set out to wear the night before or the first thing we see, whether it's dirty or not, no one will notice. We look ourselves in the mirror—we may or may not regret that. These every-morning rituals are things that everyone is familiar with, but what you may not know is that all of us on Shorashim sometimes does this at the tippity-top of the crack of dawn.

Ten days ago we were strangers, acquaintances, or small groups of friends at best. After what was without a doubt, the most impactful 10 consecutive days of our lives, we are proud to call each other a family. We are bound together by our common experience, our journey through Israel, that has led us to an appreciation of this country where none of us live. We expected to learn and experience but we didn't expect to connect the way we did.