The Old and the New
Israeli's have an interesting habit of changing moods quickly; this being our last night in Israel, it seemed evident that this would happen anyway, and it quicly became the theme of the day.
Our first task was to spend time with our partner city's summer camp, where kids in the fourth through sixth grade were learning English. We split into three different groups and paired with different groups of children. We did Zumba (hardcore zumba, not kiddos zumba...there was so much sweat), ice cream making, and a music class. We got to meet some amazing students, my buddy, Rah, was only in the sixth grade and he was ten years old, but one of the smartest kids I have ever met! Rah held the magic stick, which meant that if anyone said his name he could command them to do anything that he wanted. Chelsey had to do 5 jumping jacks just for saying his name!
Rah is the smartest kid I have ever met, and as somene who works with children often, that is saying something. He had taught himself how to speak fluent English from watching videogames (Minecraft was his favorite) and from youtube videos; see Mom and Dad, technoloogy can be educational! However the mood was not very cheery for long today.
Being in the music room was a sobering reminder of the reality that the people of Israel endure because the room wasactually a bomb shelter that the chlidren would run to if there was a threat. To quote one of our Israeli friends, Don, "the people of Israel are a happy people;" this was evident by the bus ride to our next desitnation, when they put on old-school nineties music and started a karoke party bus. A quick two minute drive and we arrived at Adi's house, where we met his baby nephew! His wonderful mother pulled out all the stops and provided us with a plethora of different foods, such as watermelon, chips, bugels, pretzels, and grapes.
It was overwhelming to be so welcomed in someones home who did not even know us. From there, we traveld to one of the main open air markets in Israel and it was a mad dash! Two hours for shopping and lunch; it was a tall order, but with with a lot of running, and a fair amount of haggling, each individual is coming home with bags of goodies for our loved ones. Things that reminded us of our trip include: tank tops with the Israeli beer, goldstar, handcrafted camels from the Bedouin people, who we had spent a magincal night with under the stars, and something that graces every single door of Israel, metzuzas, handcrafted from stone. These items will provoke memories and feelings of one of the most memorable and life-changing journeys many of us have ever been on. While we waited for everyone to finish shopping and eating, we shared stories and memories from the past ten days. and planned for our future reunion in Chicago.
The next stop on our trip was an emotional experience for some of us. The group traveled to the national military cemetary, Mt Hertzel, where each soldier shared a personal story. A particular story that hit home was a new story. Avivit told the story of her uncle who had sacrificed his life in order to save his friends. Her uncle had several chances to throw away the grenade but every time that he turned around there was either a soldier or a civilian. Instead of letting an innocent person die, her uncle decided to sacrifice himself and put the grenade into his stomach. One of the sadest facts was due to politics the true story of her uncle was hidden. Recently her cousins petioned and the official story of her uncle's death was made known.
Similar stories of lone soldiers who were American who gave their lives for Israel and friends of the soldiers that were with us followed. It was a very emotional day where many6 individuals had to take a step back. I myself was taken back by how I was hit with memories of the past. I had lost many friends from my hometown to the War on Terror and hearing these stories made me feel a deep connection that was comlpetely overwhelming. But even in our darkest of moments here at the cemetary, there is light in Israel.
I stayed back to be alone and cry by myself, however that is not allowed in Israel. Avitit came back to me and wrapped her arms around me. It was a moment I will never forget - two individuals who had been strangers ten days ago, and here one of these strangers was comforting me through a shared bond. I had a similar expereince with her uncle, a school friend, a hometown hero had sacrificed his life in the war in a similar style to her uncle. War is terrible and the pain it causes crosses generations, languages, and borders. In that moment there was no Israeli and American, there was only two woman grieving two heros in the holiest city on Earth. Two ordinary men who lived ordinary lives and became heros as they sacrificed their life for home country and for us; for Israel for America, for peace.
Later that night, we met for our last group activity. Our first activity of the evening was a debrief of what had happned the past ten days. I was still completely drained from the experience at the cemetary, but I wanted to share my story and be brave like the Israelis had been. We started off splitting into groups, and each group was given the itinerary for one of the ten days we had been here. My group got the day that included our long hike, a trip to the Lebanon border, and Israeli dancing with Yossi; let's just say we killed it.
Each skit was funny and full of wonderful memories that you would haved to have been on Bus 460 to understand. Every single skit included laughs and jokes about how much we bonded while staying up late together. Finally the mood changed to become a little more serious again. Everyone went around the room and said what t5heir highlight was and what this trip meant to them. I will not share anyone else's personal story, however for me, I can say that this trip has changed me for the better.
I grew up in a small town and was picked on many times for being Jewish. I also never felt accepted by the Jewish community, and this was one of the reasons I had never opted to go on a Birthright Israel trip until this year I was scared and didn't know what it would be like. I can safely say I never had anything to fear.
Our group welcomed me with open arms and never once doubted my identity as a Jew. My personal highlight of the trip was something that one might deem quite ordinary; we were dancing and hanging out at the Kibbutz, and members of my group pulled me into their circle to dance and laugh with them. I felt welcomed by a Jewish community for the first time in 25 years and I cannot wait to go back to Chicago and deepen the connections I started to make with these amazing people in Israel.
Some of us will be coming back with stickers that say "Tel Aviv is always a good idea." This is meaningful to me because Tel comes from the hebrew word that means "old" and Aviv roughly means "new." So if we look at this sticker by what it actually means, it is saying "the old and the new are always a good idea," our past mixing with our future is always a good idea. That is what I am taking home from Israel, the land of our peoiple. I will never forget my past, this ten day trip, or the struggles our people have been through; I look forward to what my new future will hold for me with 45 of the greatest friends I could have asked for. SEE YOU IN 15 HOURS!
Photo Credit: @nsandler
