This past summer, I had the opportunity to visit Israel, but not like the normal American teen. Most American teens can not say that they traveled with both Americans AND Israelis, lived with an Israeli family, and were participants in a small, but significant piece of Israeli history. And all in just three weeks.
In July, I joined 20 Orlando teens on a program sponsored by the Jewish Federation of Greater Orlando. This program, in its second year, was developed as an extension to the Orlando Federation’s sister city program with Kiryat Motzkin, located in the North near Haifa. We not only saw the Holy Land, but also experienced a taste of Israeli culture. We connected up with 20 teens from Kiryat Motzkin who traveled with us for 1 of the 3 weeks and hosted us for 8 days of our trip. While in these teens’ homes, we lived like Israelis, eating delicious Israeli foods and going to the local hang-out spots throughout the city. It was great to not just be living out of a hotel, but to feel like I had a home in my own homeland.
The trip always brought new adventure, both planned and unplanned. Like every American group, we started in Jerusalem. None of us realized that in less than 72 hours, all of us would become close friends, know each other's secrets, and refuse to separate. We did everything together, from shopping to praying, looking out over the Old City, going through dark underground tunnels, and more. One of the highlights of Jerusalem was visiting the Western Wall while the sun was setting for Shabbat. Crowds of people surrounded the Wall, davening the Kabbalat Shabbat in their own smaller groups.
By the way, you never know who you are going to run into while traveling in Israel. Israel might seem like a small country, but the most amazing thing is that wherever you go, you are able to run into someone that you know. My dad once told me a story about my Uncle who traveled to Israel with a college tour group. One afternoon, he and he friends decided to go into a coffee shop, and the next minute, my uncle turned around and my grandma was sitting there. They had no idea that one another was in Israel, let alone in the same shop! I had many similar experiences throughout my trip. For example, the first day that I arrived, I was walking on Ben Yehuda Street, and I turned around and saw my sister talking on the phone. The funniest part was that she on her way to meet our family friend from Minnesota, also traveling with a teen group. After saying hello to my sister and finally finding our friend, I was able to connect up with more friends from USY and Florida. These unplanned encounters enhanced my trip and made me more excited for when we finally met up with the other half of our group: the Israelis.
After spending three days in Jerusalem, we met our soon-to-be best friends, the Israelis. Together, we spent our day time hiking, kayaking the Jordan River, hiking, seeing more beautiful sites of Northern Israel, and hiking some more. During the night, we lived like typical Israeli teens, doing things such as bowling and going to the local mall. W all became quick friends, which made our week long stay at the Kiryat Motzkin kids’ houses more enjoyable. During Shabbat in Kiryat Motzkin, we separated from the group and experienced Shabbat with our own host families. My family was more secular, so we did not attend services, but I did experience a home cooked Shabbat meal on Friday evening and a birthday gathering of all of the extended family on Saturday.
I told you earlier that I was a participant in a small piece of Israeli history. I am sure you all remember the exchange of five Hezbollah terrorists for the remains of two Israeli reservist soldiers, Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser, who were captured two years ago.
In the days leading up to the exchange, I remember hearing how hopeful the families of my Israeli friends were for these soldiers to return alive. I felt the community-wide sadness when we soon heard that neither soldier was alive. What really shocked me was how important it was to Israelis for the return of these soldiers’ bodies. Because every person is required to serve in the army, it is seen as a moral responsibility to bring every soldier home, dead or alive, to his or her family. Israel was willing to task any risk to ensure that the soldiers were returned back to their families, no matter what the cost was.
On the day of the soldier exchange, our group was spending our week in Kiryat Motzkin, where Eldad Regev was from. We really wanted to attend his funeral, but we were unable to, so as a group, we went to Eldad Regev parent’s house and lit memorial candles in his remembrance, along with the rest of the Kiryat Motzkin community. At this point of my trip, I truly felt my connection with Israel.
Time flew by and we were sad to say goodbye to our home away from home in Kiryat Motzkin and our friends and keep traveling into the southern part of Israel. The excitement to see more was definitely high, but the sadness to say goodbye for a short period weighed heavy on a lot of our shoulders.
While traveling through the desert, we stayed in Bedouin tents, meeting everyone from Canadians to South Africans. During the day we rode donkeys, camels, and went sand skiing down the sides of sand hills. One of the highlights of the trip was the day we woke up at 2 AM to see the beautiful sunrise of Masada and then relaxed by floating in the Dead Sea, of course covered in mud. After the desert, we arrived at our last home away from home in beautiful Tel Aviv. There we shopped some more, spent our last Shabbat together, and prepared to see our Israelis one last time.
When the Israelis finally returned, it felt like they had never left, all of us laughing and talking just like we did about a week ago. We spent our last full day in Jerusalem together, seeing the historical Yad V’shem Holocaust museum, the Army Cemetery, and the Western Wall again to say our final prayers. We prayed side by side in the heart of Israel, and returned to our hotel back in Tel Aviv sad that the last day was over. We thanked one another for every memory and experience we had, talked about our love for Israel whether we were American or Israeli, and promised each other we would reunite again in Orlando or Israel. GOSIE 2008 might have come to an end, but our connections to these amazing people and their country definitely did not.
In just these three weeks, I had the experience of a lifetime, learning things about myself, homeland, and faith that I could only get from a trip such as this one. I hope that one day I can once again return to Israel to reunite with my friends and make more connections to this beautiful country.
Mollie Elkin & Aimee Dolan on behalf of the GOSIE 2009 Teens
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