Hi everyone!
Sorry I haven't posted in awhile, we were off on an amazing adventure for two weeks.
During this break, I went up north (again) for Passover Seder. I had an absolutely amazing weekend with my host and her family. They welcomed me in with open arms. I couldn't have asked for a better way to spend my first Seder in Israel. After this, the group got back together and embarked on a 5 day hike from the Kineret to the Mediterranean Sea.
I learned so much in those 2 weeks. To start, the Seder was Sephardi, which as a very white Jew with family from Poland and surrounding countries, I had never experienced. This entailed lettuce instead of parsley, which was dipped into lemon water instead of salt water. There was a sweet sauce in place of either the bitter herbs or the charosset, which for my family is usually composed of apples, cinnamon, wine, and sometimes nuts. Needless to say that their Seder plate was very different than my family's.
Being at their Seder, in such a different environment I grew to appreciate the global unity of Judaism so much more. Even though the Seder plate was different and they served rice without thinking twice, we were sitting down for the same reason that my family was in America. The same reason as Jews in England, France, Canada, and anywhere else where Jews are situated. It was also just a really fun night.
Afterwards, the group reconvened to begin our 5 day long journey. For the trip, we were split into smaller groups of 12. Throughout the hike, we had fairly intelligent discussions. We all agreed that this trip, these 4 months, are not what we expected them to be. We didn't make best friends for a life time, but we did make tens of good friends. We didn't have any religious epiphanies or suddenly change our viewpoints, but we have delved into opinions more thoroughly.
One conclusion that I came to, is that this trip has already been life changing. Whether or not you've enjoyed it (which I have), there's no denying that you've learned about yourself here. I've had the privilege to explore my Jewish identity, my relationship to Israel, and discovered many personal things about myself.
I can't wait to share these discoveries with you all!
Have a great week!
Shoshana :)
Sorry I haven't posted in awhile, we were off on an amazing adventure for two weeks.
During this break, I went up north (again) for Passover Seder. I had an absolutely amazing weekend with my host and her family. They welcomed me in with open arms. I couldn't have asked for a better way to spend my first Seder in Israel. After this, the group got back together and embarked on a 5 day hike from the Kineret to the Mediterranean Sea.
I learned so much in those 2 weeks. To start, the Seder was Sephardi, which as a very white Jew with family from Poland and surrounding countries, I had never experienced. This entailed lettuce instead of parsley, which was dipped into lemon water instead of salt water. There was a sweet sauce in place of either the bitter herbs or the charosset, which for my family is usually composed of apples, cinnamon, wine, and sometimes nuts. Needless to say that their Seder plate was very different than my family's.
Being at their Seder, in such a different environment I grew to appreciate the global unity of Judaism so much more. Even though the Seder plate was different and they served rice without thinking twice, we were sitting down for the same reason that my family was in America. The same reason as Jews in England, France, Canada, and anywhere else where Jews are situated. It was also just a really fun night.
Afterwards, the group reconvened to begin our 5 day long journey. For the trip, we were split into smaller groups of 12. Throughout the hike, we had fairly intelligent discussions. We all agreed that this trip, these 4 months, are not what we expected them to be. We didn't make best friends for a life time, but we did make tens of good friends. We didn't have any religious epiphanies or suddenly change our viewpoints, but we have delved into opinions more thoroughly.
One conclusion that I came to, is that this trip has already been life changing. Whether or not you've enjoyed it (which I have), there's no denying that you've learned about yourself here. I've had the privilege to explore my Jewish identity, my relationship to Israel, and discovered many personal things about myself.
I can't wait to share these discoveries with you all!
Have a great week!
Shoshana :)
I agree with what you said that we didn't make friends for a life time. I think most people won't even bother to stay in touch with one another unless they go to camp together. There are few people within the circle of 66 friends that each person will try to stay in touch with and many of the others will only be contacted when someone is on vacation in their hometown/state.
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