I am a teacher at home, and my students ages range from 3 to 13 years old. Like the children I played with in the playground today, their noses are runny, they sometimes fall but always get right back up, they have beautiful, infectious laughs that warm every part of our soul, and they believe that the world around them is good.
Our hike was called Ein Ovdat and we were not the only group who had the same idea. At the waterfall we were lined up with a few other groups but we are pretty sure we got the best pictures of the day. We could've stayed there for hours trying to capture the beauty and by the time we got back, there were definitely a few of us Floridians who had fallen in love with hiking in general!
Walking through Yad Vashem is nothing short of an incredibly moving experience. For some this was their first time at the memorial but for others, like myself, this was their second, third, or fourth time back. Everyone said, regardless of how many times they have visited Yad Vashem, they it was a powerful experience. Yad Vashem has done an amazing job creating a memorial and museum that really expresses the depth and importance of such a tragic set of events.
The last stop of the day was definitely not the least, a Bedouin tent. We were treated to a dinner where we ate Bedouin cuisine while kneeling on cushions at the table. Following the dinner we were greeted by a man who taught us about the culture and introduced us to their coffee and customs regarding guests. The best part of the night followed, when our group hiked out into the desert. We all broke from our group formation and wandered in different directions to gain a little perspective of the endlessness of the desert of southern Israel. It was a perfect way to reflect on the day and week under the same sky that has been witness to so much history.
This day is exemplary of the multi-faceted nature of a Birthright Israel trip attempting to capture the complexity of Israeli life. Like the rest of the world, it is made of individual voices, and only by hearing each, one by one, can the whole picture be fully understood.
The hike was incredible. A few minutes after starting we reached a small oasis at the bottom of the valley. I felt so small looking up above at the walls of the valley and wondering how far up this hike would take us if at all.
"After just seven short days, the group mentality and energy is a strong one, proving to me that the bond of religion or of a shared history is a powerful one that draws us together, in times of need and in times of leisure too. Now, as I sit under the stars at our kibbutz under Masada, writing this blog post as my friends lay near me looking up at the sky, I understand the purpose of this Birthright trip. This is a lasting camaraderie."
Both of these communities that we visited live through a situation that is unimaginable for me. The strength that these people exhibit in the face of such fear and bloodshed is to me miraculous.