“my zionism” one-minute speech

I just spent a year in Israel. There I saw the freedoms its citizens have. I felt the holy importance of the land. I met Jewish immigrants from around the world, all connected to the same place. I heard Israeli music, read Israeli literature, and spoke the Israeli language. But most of all, I witnessed a collective yearning for innovation, self-improvement, and peace. Today, I am part of that yearning.

I am a Zionist, because I am passionate about the fate of my people and the fate of the world. I support Israel, because I believe in a safe home for the Jews. I have faith in Israel to value every life, to care for her citizens and her neighbors, and to make changes. I, as a Zionist, want to participate in that change.

Zionism is the Jewish national movement for moving forward—toward our ideal, toward our thousands-of-years old dream, toward a progressive, modern light among the nations. It is my privilege, my right, and my obligation to hope, strive, inspire, and act, with the rest of the Jewish people, for a romantic future of our homeland. For safety and for justice, for liberalism and for peace—I am a Zionist.

the nativ museum, bebe, and diplomas

after our last shabbat at the kfar hasidim youth village, we packed up our things on the bus on monday and headed down to our previous home, beit nativ, in jerusalem. the rest of our group joined us for a last week all together in israel. the week so far has been filled with lots of meaningful programming and fun free time in the city.

the first program was focused on our future opportunities for returning to israel. a few different representatives came to our group to speak. the presentation i was most interested in was about the international school at tel aviv university that offers and one-year-long masters program in lots of interesting topics. it definitely sounded like an amazing opportunity to spend more time in israel again… we’ll see if anything turns out from it!

after enjoying some relaxed walking around the familiar city, we came back that night for the nativ talent show.  a lot my friends performed, and it was so much fun to watch. the talent show was a great way to start off our last week together.

one of my favorite programs this week has been the “nativ museum.” our counselors set up “exhibitions” meant to look like different places or activities we did throughout the year. we started off in chairs set up like an airplane and then moved on to a corner of the room set up to look like our bedrooms at beit nativ. the next exhibition was about evening programming, like the heschel classes, jewelry making sessions, café evrit outings, and david project seminars i went to first semester in jerusalem. the rest of the stations were great too. one was about shabbat and the holidays and included a mini-sukkah to sit in. there was a fake ulpan classroom set up,. there were stations about the culture of jerusalem, erev nativ programming, the archeological dig, israel today seminar, southern and northern tiyuls, and, finally, a whole room about the kfar. each station really made me feel like i was in that place, especially the kfar room. it was so weird and exciting to really relive the entire year. our counselors gave us a journal with questions to answer at each station, so i had a lot of opportunity for reflection and remembering all of the amazing things i’ve done this year.

tuesday evening, jakey and i met up with my younger brother isaac and his friend emily  in downtown jerusalem for dinner. it was the last time i’ll see him before we both get home on may 29th! it’s been so awesome to be in israel at the same time as isaac, and i’m excited to spend the summer with him and the rest of my family after being apart for so long.

that night, masa, the umbrella organization of long-term israel programs, called masa, held a final event of the year. it was fun to see a lot of my good friends who are on different programs, including a lot of people i met from the david project fellows group. the first activity of the night, after going through lots of security, was hearing both the chancellor of the jewish agency, natan sharansky, and the prime minister of israel, bebe netanyahu, speak to us. it was so incredible and exciting.

the prime minister came into the auditorium from the side entrance, less than ten feet away from where we were sitting. i wasn’t lucky enough to be seated by an aisle and have the chance to shake his hand, but it was super cool to see him so close anyways!

bebe spoke to us in his perfect english and gave a very inspiring speech. i was expecting to hear that we were the “future of the jewish people” and all of that cheesey stuff, which he did include, but it was also deeper than that. he really encouraged us to make aliyah and move to israel, which surprise me a bit. it was hard for all of us to hear that, especially since we’re leaving so soon and are sad to leave israel. bebe told us that when we get back to our countries, we should do two things: 1. reconsider making aliyah, and 2. if we don’t make aliyah, defend israel on the college campus. more inspiring than his words was just the fact that we had the unique opportunity to hear such an influential man while i’m here in israel.

wednesday evening, the david project israel fellows seminars came to an end with our final dinner event. it was sad to say goodbye to the amazing teachers and friends that have taught me so much throughout all of the challenging and interesting seminars. at the last event, my teacher asked a few of us to prepare a one minute speech defining “my zionism.” i presented mine to the group, which went very well. it was nice to wrap up the year with such good closure of thinking about and articulating my feelings for zionism and the state of israel. i will post my one-minute speech in the next post on this blog. we received diplomas for finishing the program, and i was proud of myself for all the effort and thinking i put into the year for the david project. i’m excited to work with the organization next year on my college campus.

the rest of the weekdays, we spent our time playing frisbee, walking around town, shopping at the shook market for the last time, eating from our favorite restaurants, going out for frozen yogurt, getting hair wraps, and spending time with each other. jakey and i went out to dinner with my relatives uriel and zohara and said thank you for all they’ve done for us this year.  it’s been incredible how much great programming and exploring we’ve taken advantage of over this last week! soon i will write about the amazing holiday of shavuot here and the last few days on nativ! i can’t believe how fast time has gone.

donkeys and northern tiyul

on may 10th, kfar Hasidim youth village celebrated their 75 year anniversary with a big party. alumni who graduated years and years ago came back and were surprised by how different the kfar looks. the nativers helped to set up for day, clean up the gorunds, and just be an assistance however we could. once the celebration began, we had the chance to roam around the kfar, meet the alumni, see all the old class pictures from different years, and just enjoy the day. the party was a great way to end our volunteer work on the kfar. we could really notice how clean and bright the whole village looked, and we knew we had a huge part in making it that way.

that weekend, david project fellows held a convention in the north of the country with the theme of zionism. we first went to kibbutz sde eliyahu, which is famous for its innovative organic farming. it was pretty amazing to learn about how much this one kibbutz has affected israeli and world organic farming. my favorite pat of the trip was visiting their donkeys, which help to fertilize and keep weeds out of their date palm fields.

next, david project took us to a town called kiryat shmona, where we met members of the organization “ayalim.” ayalim’s goal is to settle and increase the standard of living in both the very north and the south of israel. they organize group of young, inspired zionists who work hard to volunteer and make these towns happier and nicer. our group helped to built eco-benches, which are made from tires, garbage, and plastic bottles and then covered in cement with ceramic decorations. it was hard work, but a  lot of fun! we started to make a nice place for a bonfire, and i’m happy i had the chance to do so.

sunday began nativ’s trip to the north. all of us met up together in a druze village for lunch. druze is a religious group in israel. they taught us that their religion is secret to anyone who is not a druze, but they did tell us that they strongly believe in peace and being loyal to the country they live in. because of this, druze serve in the israeli defense army. it was interesting to hear all of this, and the lunch they served us was absolutely delicious!

the rest of northern tiyul (trip) was filled with lots of really awesome hikes. one of my favorites was a long hike that lead to the kinneret, the sea of galilee, and a cool rock pillar. it was great to be outside again so much and really see the beauty of the north.

one day, before hiking, nativ took us to visit the galil mountain winery, which is one of israel’s most famous wineries. we toured the factory, saw the many, huge barrels where they store wine to age, and even had an official wine-tasting! our tour guide explained to us all of the proper steps of a wine tasting, like smelling the wine, stirring it, and swishing it around our mouths before drinking it. it was pretty funny, since all of us were just clumsy 19-year-olds and had no idea about all these formal wine manners!

my favorite day of northern tiyul is when some of us went on  a special, more challenging hike. first, we climbed on rocks down a mountain, through little streams, until we finally reached the big canyon. we had to jump off a 10-foot cliff into the cold grotto pools, which was a big scary but a lot of fun! then we swam across the pool and climbed up another cliff with a waterfall. this one was closer to 45 feet, and we strapped into a harness to repel down it with professionals at the top holding onto our ropes. it was terrifying to step backwards off of a cliff, but i knew i was strapped in and did feel safe. the rest of the way down was hard to balance and not hit myself on rocks, but it was still a lot of fun. i was definitely proud of myself! we packed our lunches in our backpacks that morning, but some of us didn’t tie the bags well enough and ended up with soggy sandwiches!

after the first repelling, we had to hike for a while. it was hard since the rocks we were stepping on and our shoes were really wet and slippery, but we did it! we repelled down another 30 foot waterfall afterwards. i did a LOT better that time, since i knew what to expect. we swam across the canyon, and then climbed back up the mountain on a huge, challenging incline. it was such an intense experience, full of adrenaline. i was exhausted afterwards, with tons of cuts and bruises, but the whole day, nine hours later, was definitely worth it!

our second-to-last weekend in israel was spent in our second-semester locations, so i stayed the kfar. we packed all of our stuff up on thursday night and friday morning and then enjoyed shabbat together. today, we’re having a mutual thank you party with the nativers and our bosses. tomorrow all of us are leaving for our last week, when we’ll be staying at beit nativ in jerusalem. it should be a great week, but it’s definitely hard to believe that the year is almost over.

garbage dumps, beaches, & an all-nighter

i traveled down to jerusalem this past thursday to meet up with my relatives. gilad, my grandfather’s cousin’s son (is there a name for that relative?), was hosting a party for his 50^th birthday. uriel, his father, drove me to his house in the cute neighborhood of beit zayit. there, i reunited with the rest of my relatives. i was most excited to see maya and adi, gilad’s twin daughters who just finished their service in the israeli defense forces. the house was decorated elegantly, and delicious food was served as well. i had a nice time meeting the other family and friends who were there and catching up with my relatives. i’m happy i had the chance to see everyone again before i leave israel.

that night, i stayed at beit nativ with my friend hayley. the next morning, after a big yummy breakfast that i’ve been missing, hayley and i met up with the david project fellows group, the israel advocacy organization i’ve been involved with this year. we traveled to tel aviv in order to tour a place called hariya, which is one of israel’s largest garbage dumps. a huge project is in process to convert the dump into a huge natural park, which will be three times bigger than central park in new york! we walked around the huge hill, which was made from garbage, and saw all of the trees they’ve planted there. it was surprisingly very pretty there! i was really interested in all the ways the organization is trying to better the environment and its surroundings.

my favorite part of hiriya was the visitor’s center there. everything there—the chairs, the tables, the mirrors in the bathrooms, the artwork—is made from recycled materials like tires, plastic bottles, and pop cans. it was so fun to see all the creative ways to recycle garbage!

the next activity on our david project trip was to a place called “the library,” which is located in tel aviv’s first sky-scraper (only 30 stories!), the shalom tower. an organization called “presentense” is based out of the library. presentense is a social entrepreneur organization with goals to increase cultural and environmental enrichment. a few entrepreneurs shared with us their ideas and strategies for developing them, which was really fun to hear about. it was super inspiring to hear the amazing innovations they were working on. afterwards, the head of the organization taught us some strategic skills on gaining supporters and members, which will help us out a lot next year on campus when we’re israel activists.

david project then took us to a fun restaurant called “doctor shakshuka” in the city of yaffo. shakshuka is a unique middle eastern dish of eggs and tomato sauce. the resutarant served out huge plates of hummus, spreads, salads, pita, bread, couscous, and, of course, shakshuka. the environment was loud, fun, energetic, and food-loving. it was a great lunch!

after a train ride, i arrived at the beach in haifa called hof hacarmel. there, i met up with 10 of my friends. we set up tents, made a huge bonfire, and camped out there for shabbat! we swam, laid in the sun, played frisbee, had fun on the playgrounds, and applied tons and tons of sunscreen. 

once shabbat began, we held our own shabbat services on the beach. as we sang and danced, the sun was setting over the water. it was really one of the most spiritual moments i’ve had this year. i couldn’t stop smiling, and i could physically feel in my heart how happy i was. since nativ is coming to an end, we’re all finding ourselves appreciating every minute we have together and in israel. that shabbat evening was one of the most perfect moments in time and space—our surroundings were gorgeous, we were the only ones left at the beach, and we were leading our own services. we sang ya-da-da’s for such a long time, just because we all had the energy and never wanted those services to end.  

for dinner, the 11 of us sat around the bonfire and ate our assortments of random foods—beans, tuna, challah bread, cheese, corn, and much more. when we were done eating, we sat for a long time just talking, singing hebrew songs, and enjoying the night. then we slept on the beach, some of us in the tents and some of us in the sand.  the whole day on saturday was spent relaxing on the beach, swimming, and napping in the sand. we headed back the kfar after shabbat ended, sad to leave such a wonderful weekend behind.

this week has been our last week volunteering at the youth village. julia and i have been working hard finishing up all the painting jobs left to do before we go. i can’t believe we have such little time left here! right now, the whole kfar community is busy preparing for the huge party tomorrow, thursday, which will be celebrating 75 years of the kfar! all of us nativers here will be working from 9am to 9pm, preparing for, facilitating during, and cleaning up after the party. all of the alumni of the kfar school will be returning, and i can’t wait to see all of the activities that are planned! it should be a great time.

monday night at 12am, we left for an all-night hiking program! we walked along the beach at the northern part of israel, leading finally to the gorgeous “rosh hanikrah,” a very famous site where white limestone rocks have created caves from the ocean water. we learned on this program how important that strip of land really is, both religiously, historically, and politically. it was so fun to watch the sunrise, stay up all night, learn about the land, and eat breakfast in the nature park once we reached the end of our journey. we finally returned to the kfar on tuesday at around 10:30 am, when all of us hit our beds for most of the day to catch up on sleep! it was definitely a unique experience, and i had a great time, even if my sleeping schedule’s a bit messed up!

“yom” after “yom”

tuesday evening, yom hazikaron, memorial day, began in israel. this day is dedicated to remembering fallen israeli soldiers and victims of terror attacks. memorial day here is nothing like in the states. in america, memorial day means sales, parades, and a day off of work or school. but in israel, the topic of fallen soldiers hits a lot harder. since army service is mandatory for everyone after high school, basically every israeli knows and loves someone who was being remembered on that day. the army is an israeli cultural experience, and the people here feel affected by it everyday. the whole country is solemn. the radios and televisions only play programming and music remembering the fallen. the country is united in a communal state of grief and memory. the atmosphere was so similar to that of yom kippur, and i could feel that the day was just as holy. i was in israel once before during yom hazikaron during my sophomore year. that time, i felt very disconnected and removed from israeli society.

to recognize the day, nativ brought us to the latrun tank museum, where masa (the umbrella organization for long-term israel trips) held a ceremony. most of the attendees were other masa program participants like me, and the presentation was definitely geared toward us. all of it was in english, except for the hebrew prayers.  the ceremony highlighted a handful of fallen soldiers and vicitims of terrorist attacks. they showed pictures, videos, and told stories about each of these people so we could get to know them a bit. most of the people we learned about had made aliyah from outside israel and were around our age. one of them was michael levin, who was actually a graduate of nativ and was killed as an idf soldier. the whole ceremony was so sad, yet incredibly moving and inspiring. i felt so connected to the day, to israel, and to the memories.

on wednesday, nativ, along with thousands of israelis, went to har herzl, the large and beautiful military cemetery in jerusalem. everyone around us was rushing to get to the cemetery to hear prime minister netanyahu speak. even women with strollers were pushing by us. but at exactly 11am, a siren was heard around the whole country, and everything stopped. cars and buses pulled off the side of the road, and their drivers and passengers stepped out and stood respectfully for amoment of silence. even children quieted. i thought of the incredible sacrifices that have been made for the jewish state to be here today. i thought of the kids my age that have been training, fighting, and defending israel while i have been enjoying my gap year here. and i was not alone in these thoughts—millions of others heard the same siren and felt the same appreciation.

the experience at the cemetery was really interesting. i couldn’t squeeze my way through the crowd to be able to see the prime minister speak, but i heard his voice over a speaker. his brother was killed as a famous and heroic soldier, so much of his speech was about that. it’s amazing that a country’s leader can relate so well to its people on such a personal level. i felt so honored to be part of israel’s cultural mourning and respecting for its fallen soldiers. after the masa ceremony the night before, i felt like i had found a place in belonging to the country’s memorial day, even though i wasn’t as directly related as most of the people at har herzl that day.

an interesting note about yom hashoah (holocaust remembrance day) and yom hazikaron is that on these days, everyone wears white. even though we remembered such sad, unfortunate memories, we all still sported the color that symbolizes hope and peace. i think this reality sums up so much of israel’s character. even during times of sadness and grief, the country finds strength, optimism, and hope.

israelis tend to be known for their extremes. last week was a perfect example of that. because, after one of the saddest days of the year, yom hazikaron, the next day is one of the happiest—yom ha’atzma’ut. independence day is a huge deal in israel, even bigger than july 4th in america. many people who live here today actually fought in the war and were witness to israel’s birth as a nation. also, the country was just in 24 solemn hours of mourning and wanted to celebrate the amazing cause that those brave soldiers died for—the jewish state! 

nativ was in downtown jerusalem, back at beit nativ, for independence day, which started wednesday night. a big group of friends and i went to a nice dinner at a restaurant called hamoshava 54 to start off the exciting evening and to celebrate jakey’s birthday, which was on thursday. what started off as a cheesy joke turned into a really meaningful discussion when we went around the table saying what we were thankful for during this year in israel. we talked about how ready we feel for college, how lucky we are to have such great friends, and the unique opportunities we’ve had on nativ. after a week of hard discussions at the israel activism seminar and then even harder ceremonies for memorial day, it felt good to appreciate all of the amazing things in my life with my best friends. the dinner was definitely an inspiring and heart-warming way to begin yom ha’atzma’ut.

yom ha’atzma’ut is a national holiday, but it is still celebrated religiously throughout the synagogues in israel. so, my friends and i went to a yom ha’atzma’ut service at the synagogue called shira hadasha. there was a special service there, with a band leading the service. it was amazing! we were singing along, clapping, and dancing with random israeli women! it was such an inspiring, uplifting atmosphere. everyone was just so happy and excited to switch into a positive mood. it felt like we were celebrating the exodus from egypt or something—all of the people there were smiling and singing and happy in such a holy, religious way. i was on a high from just being around it all. my friends and i couldn’t stop dancing!

after the service, the longest night of the year started. people all over the city stayed up til dawn, listening to free concerts in the streets, israeli dancing in city hall, and just plain going crazy. every person we passed by while walking around downtown jerusalem seemed estatic. it was impossible to be in a bad mood. my friends and i stumbled upon a free concert of the israeli bad “subliminal,” who i like a lot. it was crazy that they were performing in the streets for anyone to hear! kids everywhere were spraying foam in the air and into big crowds. just by walking near the concert, i was drenched with weird foamy stringy-spray, which was hilarious.

the rest of the night, my friends and i just explored the city. it was amazing how many people i ran into, including my little brother isaac. his program, eie, brought then to ben yehuda street, which was packed with crowds.

one my favorite parts of the night was watching the fireworks at independence park, which is across the street from beit nativ. jakey and i sat on a bench in the park and watched the fireworks over the holiest city in the world. i always love fireworks, but these seemed especially great. it was almost like the whole night was summed up in the colorful, loud, and exciting fireworks.

since nativ figured we’d be out in the city for all or most of the night, they didn’t reserve rooms for us at the youth hostel. instead, we were allowed to leave our suitcases and “watch our things” (AKA sleep on the floor) on the lower level of beit nativ, where there are lots of meeting halls and rooms. so, through crazy hours in the night, nativers trickled in to sleep on the tile and carpet  there. i can’t say i had the best night’s sleep… but it sure was an experience!

we woke up around eight in the morning, and a few of us went out for breakfast. most restaurants and cafes, weren’t open. after discovering this during our walk, we decided to stop at a little over-the-counter coffee place that’s attached to a 24 hour supermarket. we were tired from the night before but still in a great mood. the country’s excitement hadn’t decreased whatsoever. plus, it was jakey’s birthday that day!

at lunchtime, all of nativ came together for a barbeque at independence park. barbequing is the classic israeli activity on yom ha’atzma’ut, so nativ joined in on the tradition. a lot of the boys cooked chicken wings, meat kabobs, hot dogs, and chicken and veggie skewers. the weather was beautiful. we sat in the grass in the sun, played Frisbee, and sang happy birthday to jakey. yossi, our director, brought his three young boys along, and they were a lot of fun to play with. another awesome event on independence day was the national “fly-over.” 747 el-al planes and israeli jet fighter planes flew over the whole country, low enough in the sky that everyone could see and hear them above us. it was crazy to see all of the smoke, hear the loud “vroom” sound, and look up into the sky with the rest of the jerusalemites. 

israel activism (and flash mobs!)

last week, nativ joined together for a three-day “israel activism” seminar.  the seminar was lead with yossi and maya (the nativ directors) and neil lazarus, who is a professional in israel education. i was excited for the week but a little apprehensive. i’ve participated in a lot of advocacy education before,  so i was nervous that there’d be a lot of repetition for me. it turned out to be just the opposite. i learned so many new things, met incredible people, and heard such different stories than i ever have before. i’ll review a few speakers and activities that really stuck out.

the seminar opened with neil explaining to us the difference between the cheerleader and the football player. the cheerleader stands at the sidelines, and the players take part in the game and change things. neil told us that this relationship is the same between “advocacy” and “activism.” an israel advocate is like the cheerleader, and an israel activist is the football player. my goal when i’m in college is to be an “activist,” and to be really involved in what’s actually happening on the scene. it was interesting for me to hear this analogy. i’ve heard the words “israel advocacy” more than you could imagine, and i never really understood that what i have really been training to be is an activist. the idea made me step back and reevaluate my goals for the college campus, which was very meaningful and important for me.

next, a representative from the pro-israel organization “stand with us” spoke. he was previously a soldier in the israeli defense forces, and his goal was to show us that the army is really humane. he shared his hopes for peace and an experience he had saving a palestinian boy’s life when the boy had fallen into an olive oil machine in the west bank. it was for sure much easier to listen to this man speak to us than the representative from “breaking the silence,” and it was nice to be reassured that, even though israel isn’t perfect, the country in general does its best!

the rest of the evening, we learned about digital diplomacy. neil taught us about a site called GoAnimate, where short cartoon videos are created really easily. so we all split into small groups to make israel-related cartoons. a lot of them were really funny but also had nice messages about israel being a great place. the video i made featured a cartoon hippo and horse, who talked about the stereotypes of israel. it was so fun to learn how easy it is to do stuff like that!

the next day, part of our programming took place at the israeli foreign ministry offices. it was super cool to see the place. i’d been there once before on a summer trip. we had to go through a lot of security to enter the building, and then we heard two speakers. the first speaker taught us about “branding” israel. she gave us the example of brazil—when we hear the name of that country, all of us think of the same word: fun. so what’s israel’s “brand?” the problem is, israel activists have focused too much on defending israel’s actions about the conflict, so israel’s only brand for the general public has to do with the stereotypes of the place about the conflict. i learned there how important it is to show the worldthe israel i know and love—a place with a culture, a language, a spirit, and an amazing personality. the brand that the foreign ministry and its researchers chose for israel fits the country perfectly: creative spirit, or, in hebrew, ruach. creativity and ruach run through every vein of this place—in its businesses, movies, army units, and everyday people. its really the connecting factor between all israelis, and i’m pretty sure that this creative spirit is what pulls me toward israel so strongly. i want to be a part of this ruach, and i want everyone else, jews and non-jews, to be aware of such unique, communal, and inspiring spirit.

the second speaker of the foreign ministry addressed us about the issue of iran. as i’m sure many of you have been reading in newspapers over and over again, israel and the rest of the world is facing a serious threat and political conflict with iran and its nuclear production. the speaker gave us a good, solid background about what’s been happening there and how the world’s reacting. i was already very aware of these facts from keeping up with the news, but it was nice to hear everything in one place, at one time, articulated so straight-forward. his biggest message for us was that the problem with iran isn’t only related to israel, but is an issue that the whole world should be concerned about.

another awesome activity during the activism seminar was learning about flash mobs, which are when a big group of people suddenly breaks into a dance in a public place, like a mall or a campus quad. flash mobs can be for a cause, like supporting israel, since they make such a big and exciting statement. two famous israeli dance instructors taught all of us a dance! it was hilarious and so much fun. even though it seemed like the activity was just for our entertainment, in reality i learned a lot. i never would have thought a flash mob could be possible, especially for me, whose not a dancer… at all. but after an hour and a half, a huge group of kids (most of whom can’t dance!) performed a pretty awesome flash mob! it was super exciting! i definitely hope i’ll be able to take part in a flash mob in the future.

the last part of the seminar was a campus simulation activity. all of us were divided into groups that represented groups on an imaginary college campus. these groups ranged from “hugs don’t hate,” indian club, soccer club, israel apartheid club, pro-israel clubs, and more. all of us were assigned the task to plan different activities for our club that would take place during an orientation week at campus. we had to brainstorm ideas for lots of events, coordinate with other groups, book imaginary rooms and halls with the university, make posters, and more. it was pretty stressful! the point of the activity was for us to learn the struggles of being a campus leader, being creative with events, and attracting members and support. i think it’ll definitely be tough work, but i can’t wait!

coming soon: a blog post about israel memorial day and independence day! sorry i’m a bit behind!

yom hashoah and a kfar shabbat

last week, israel recognized holocaust remembrance day, called yom hashoah in hebrew. on the youth village, all of the school students attended a ceremony about it. we nativ-ers recognized the day a couple ways. first, our counselor ira and a couple other boys organized a program for us. they printed out short testimonies of holocaust experiences by survivors. all of these tes`timonies featured people who were around our age during the holocaust. after reading all of these, it really sunk in for me that no matter how much i’ve studied the subject, there will always be more to learn about what happened. the rest of the program was dedicated to a slightly different focus—holocaust deniers. we watched a compilation of short videos about denying the holocaust—interviews, court cases, and propaganda. it was interesting, scary, and offensive to hear what these people believe. the way that they lied, twisted science, and were full-on anti-semitic was crazy. i didn’t realize how deeply thought-out their claims are. all of us were pretty bothered after the movie ended, to say the least. we closed off the program by reading the scientific rebuttals to holocaust deniers’ claims, which made me feel a lot better. not only did these facts back up the history that i had always known to be true, but they also proved just how many lies that those deniers believe in.

the next day, we attended a ceremony on kibbutz lohemai ha-gheta’ot, which means “ghetto fighters.” the founders of the kibbutz in northern israel were holocaust survivors, and today there is a very famous holocaust museum there. tons of Israelis attended the big ceremony there in a huge, outdoor amphitheater. everyone was wearing white. all of the speeches and presentations were in hebrew. i could understand most of it, but it’s pretty exhausting to be focused on piecing it all together for so long. the most meaningful part for me was when a holocaust survivor, his son, and his grandson stood on the stage to read the yizkor (remembrance) prayer together. it was all very beautiful and moving.

the following shabbat, my little brother isaac spent the night at the kfar with me! jakey and i picked him up at the central bus station in haifa, and we ate lunch in the mall across the street. for some reason, we were all inclined to buy the kosher mcdonald’s food… maybe since we haven’t had any crappy american food for such a long time! of course, i couldn’t resist an iced coffee from israel’s version of starbucks called “aroma.” so yummy!

then isaac and i came back to the kfar. we played some frisbee in the small park across from my building, and i surprised myself with how well i did! then we joined the rest of the handful of nativ-ers for shabbat services outside. as always, i loved singing the prayers in the fun and pretty nativ shabbat tunes. all of the kfar students stayed in their dorms that shabbat, so the dining hall was very full for dinner. it’s always more fun that way, since everyone sings in the middle of the meal. isaac had the opportunity to meet both my boss for my volunteer job, ariel, and my kfar host family, benny and his daughter aviya (who i teach english). that was nice!

a small group of nine american high school students arrived at the kfar this past week. they’re from a jewish school in maryland called JDS and are spending the second semester of the senior year in israel. they’re only on the kfar for three weeks, but they’re helping us with our volunteer jobs. it’s been super fun to get to know them. two people, noah and naomi, are helping us paint. i’ve really enjoyed having the extra hands! it’s especially exciting since noah is going to columbia university, so we’ll be at school together!

on saturday after lunch, some nativ-ers, JDS-ers, and students from the kfar went on a hike around kfar hasidim. we followed a trail that brought us to a stream, through agricultural fields, around some orchards, and then to a beautiful clearing with big trees, picnic tables, and grass. it was great to be outside and to see more of the gorgeous landscape around my home! the weather was gorgeous too, which is always a plus!

after shabbat ended, isaac and i took a short taxi ride back to the bus station in haifa. i helped him board his bus to jerusalem and said goodbye. i definitely loved having him over for shabbat! i met up with my friend maya and our counselor rachel, who had just been camping at the beach in haifa. we went to the mall so they could grab dinner, and then we caught the next bus back to kfar, where we packed up for our upcoming long and exciting week in jerusalem… (stay tuned!)

matzah, matzah, and more matzah

all of nativ enjoyed a week-long break from volunteering for passover. even though i missed my volunteer job and all the great students at the kfar, i still had an awesome week.

in israel, there is only one passover seder, unlike the two-night seders we’re used to in the diaspora. i spent the seder night with my brother isaac at our relatives house! uriel, my grandpa’s cousin, has a son  named gilad who lives in beit zayit, jerusalem. he has three kids, including two twin daughters who are a bit older than me and just finished their service in the israeli army! uriel and his wife, in addition to uriel’s daughter zlila and her husband (who my older brother and i met in haifa over winter break), were all at the seder at gilad’s home. we had such a great evening.

uriel and his wife zohara picked up isaac and me in jerusalem and drove us to gilad’s. once we were there, we sat and socialized with the families. everyone was so welcoming and excited to see us. i hadn’t seen gilad or his family for about three years! the twin girls, maia and adi, were so friendly and fun to talk to. even though i would have loved to speak with everyone in hebrew, all of their english skills are incredible and thousands of times better than my hebrew. i found out that both of the girls are going to be counselors at ramah jewish camps this summer in wisconsin and new york, where a lot of my good friends from nativ will be too! that was such exciting news. once shabbat started, we all walked to their synagogue for services. beit zayit is a really cute neighborhood, and the synagogue there was nice too.

 the passover seder was lot of fun. we zipped through the steps pretty fast, and i followed along as best as i could in the gorgeous haggadah that uriel gave me. when it came my turn to read a portion of the passover story in hebrew, i read it pretty well, although nowhere near as fast as everyone else. still, i was proud of myself for showing that, even though i was speaking english, my hebrew wasn’t too pathetic!

the seder was traditional, and we read and performed all of the passages and blessings that were written.  uriel told isaac and me that the table cloth on the table was decades of years old, passed down from his mother’s side. it was fun to be so surrounded by hebrew, on a night when thousands of other israelis were sitting at their tables, reading and singing the same words.

passover is a huge deal here. gilad told us that it’s the “christmas eve” of israel, since everyone, even the secular jews, takes off of work to have a seder and celebrate pesach. all of the schools have a long, two-week break, so even the kfar was pretty much empty. keeping kosher for passover here is so much easier than at home—all the restaurants serve kosher for passover meals… even pizza and crepes! 

isaac and i stayed the night at beit nativ in jerusalem. on saturday, we slept in late and then took a long walk around the city. we lounged around in the shade at liberty bell park, where all the trees had just started to be covered with pretty white and pink flowers. it was absolutely the perfect day! it was even warm enough for us to dip our feet in the cool water of a big fountain by the park, where lots of little kids were swimming. we ate some ice cream bars and strolled through the beautiful yemin moshe neighborhood that i love so much. tons of families were taking walks and having picnics. overall, i had a wonderful and relaxing shabbat with isaac, and it was a wonderful time to be in the center of jerusalem.

after breakfast on sunday morning, isaac took a taxi to meet back up with his group, eie, to start their three-day hike in the north. i bussed back to haifa, where i met up with my good friends julia and maya for a day at the beach! we went to carmel beach, which is the largest and nicest beach in haifa. i even liked it more than the famous tel aviv beach, since it wasn’t too crowded or loud. the sun was so hot, but the water wasn’t quite warm enough for us to swim. we read our books on the sand, ate a matzah and peanut butter lunch, and caught up about our weekends apart. we were hoping to go to the world’s largest flower festival, but, unfortunately, the entrance price was a little higher than we expected. instead, we enjoyed our time at the beach, freshly squeezed orange juice from the food stand nearby, and just relaxing. 

our plan after the beach was to return to the kfar, where we’d buy food for dinner at the market. little did we know, the market closed early during the week of pesach. so, we were pretty much stranded without dinner, since meals were not provided at the kfar dining hall during our passover break. to save us from starvation, i called my host family on the kfar, benny, to explain our situation. before i was even finished with my story, he interrupted me to say, “of course! come to our home! we will make you dinner! come at 8:30!” it was so sweet of them to invite us, and the three of us had a really nice time. julia and maya loved meeting the whole family, and it was great to see them all again. that night really confirmed to me that in the future, i will always have a home on the kfar to return to! i feel so lucky to have that.

the next morning, on monday, julia, maya and i took the bus into haifa to go to the bahai gardens. they offer a guided tour through the gardens, which is the only way to enter and walk down all of the many terraces. the gardens are beautiful, along with the bahai shrine itself. we learned a bit about what the bahai religion values, like equality, serenity, peace, and friendship. it was my first time having the opportunity to walk inside the gardens, not just by the entrance gates, so i was excited.

next, after the tour and eating our packed matzah-cheese sandwiches, we took haifa’s subway up to the top of the carmel mountain. there, we walked to the beginning of the hike that my brother and i did over winter break. the scene of the hike was so different than it was in january.  when jake and i hiked, it started pouring rain and the stream bed was rushing with water. this time, with maya and julia, the sun was so warm, and the stream didn’t exist! the hike in good weather went a lot quicker! we dipped our feet into an ancient sultan’s pool, which was really refreshing. lots of families were there too, on passover picnics and hikes. it was nice to be surrounded by nature again and enjoy the beautiful weather.

tuesday, the three of us traveled to karmiel, a city where other nativ-ers are spending their second semester. we stayed there for two nights, in our friends’ apartment. we explored the city for the day and bought groceries to cook our dinners! since we have a dining hall on the kfar and no kitchen, we never have the opportunity to cook. the other nativ tracks live in apartments with kitchens, so the three of us had fun preparing and cooking our food. we have matzah pizza one night, and matzah brie (french toast with matzah) with strawberries the next night. yummy! 

our friends becca and hayley, who are living in yerucham this semester, joined us for a couple days over break. i loved being able to spend time with them! on wednesday, the five of us took advantage of the free museums that are available over pesach. first was the national maritime museum, where we saw really cool artifacts from all different eras of boating and sailing in the middle east. my favorite section in that museum was the exhibit of sailor artwork, which was super interesting! there were also lots of really cool small replicas of ships with amazing detail that i loved too.

then we walked to the clandestine immigration and navy museum. this museum has huge, real ships and submarines that were used in the israeli defense force navy or that at one point brought thousands of new jewish immigrants to israel from europe.  it was awesome to be able to climb up onto the ships and walk around them. i learned a lot about what kind of ships are used in the navy, which i hadn’t known much of before. i had been to this museum with my family four years ago, but i barely remembered it. my mom told me to look out for a ship she remembered seeing called “af al pi,” which means in hebrew “in spite of.” that ship brought lots of jews into palestine at a time when the english authority was restricting jewish immigration. “in spite of” this, the jews still wanted to reach the holy land.

from that museum, we saw the haifa cable car and decided we wanted to ride in it! the cable car went up the mountain of haifa and stopped at the top of the city. the line was pretty long, but the ride was awesome. we could see the whole city and the sea, which was gorgeous. being up that high was a little scary though!

our last weekend of break was spent in jerusalem at beit nativ. lots of nativ-ers from kfar stayed there for the holiday and shabbat last weekend. it was fun to be reunited with lots of my good friends and to relax in the holy city! we spent lots of time reading at the park, eating impressively delicious meals (for beit nativ standards), and catching up. i met my friend ethan’s parents and visited the apartment they rented for their visit here. i also went to shabbat services on friday night at one of my favorite synagogues, yakar. it was so fun to be back in jerusalem! i can never have enough of that place. 

i hope everyone had a wonderful pesach! i will be blogging soon about my experience last night and today with yom hashoa, holocaust remembrance day, here in israel.