The Charlotte Jewish News - November 2000 - Page 5
The Sound of the Shofar
What My Trip to Israel Meant to Me
By Phillip Brodsky
1 lived in the land of my
people this summer. I took
classes in the morning,
relaxed with my friends in the
afternoon, and went out or
studied at night. Every week
my class would go on a tiyul,
or fieldtrip, away from our
campus. TTie first trip was to
Tel Gezer, a hill that if exca
vated would reveal structures,
thousands of years old, that
my forefathers most likely have
passed through. During the sum
mer we traveled to the Galilee and
the Dead Sea, kayaked on the
Jordan River, climbed mountains
mentioned in the Torah, spent
weekends in Tel Aviv, and
Jerusalem, prayed at the Kotel,
hiked through the desert and
swam in the springs of the Golan.
Needless to say, I got a good feel
for the country from head to toe,
soaking up history and culture that
will forever live in my mind.
Images were given to me; some
that will dance and some that will
sink in my consciousness forever.
I was told of Ivan the Terrible, the
evil man who with his dog, terror-
1
Phillip and friends at a tank museum outside
Jerusalem.
ized Jews on their final walk to the
death chambers. I was told of
Rachel, who came to Israel on her
own to try to make a difference,
who worked the fields until she
was too sick to continue but still
tried to reach out to her people by
Phillip and friends at the Kotel.
writing poetry. I learned of the
Essenes of Qumran, the Zealots of
Massada, and the peo
ple of Gamla all of
whom were murdered
after being surrounded
by Romans. Not only
did I hear or read about
these images, but I was
there. Israel was my
history book, and I
soaked it up with
blood, sweat, and
tears. I stood where
David, the great king,
cursed Mount Gilboa,
after seeing the dead
body of Saul, who took his own
life and the life of his sons after
failing to figure out a
way to hold off a pend
ing attack. I stood atop
of Massada, and
Qumran, visited the
graves of Rachel and
Herzl, walked through
the home of Ben Gurion
at Sde Boker. And I
remember. I remember
what everything was,
what they were and why
we visited them. My
class and I not only saw
all of Israel, but we
experienced it in a unique order:
chronological.
I did not understand the full
impact of my trip until I sat in
Erev Rosh Hashanah services this
past week. I was sitting next to my
sister listening to the Rabbi’s ser
mon and the Cantor’s
soothing melodies, when I
realized that this Rosh
Hashanah did not feel the
same. Since I have been
back in the States, every
thing I encounter has been a
different shade of color.
Tlie sweet tea is not as
sweet. The southern hospi
tality is not as hospitable.
My classes are not as mean
ingful as those in Israel,
conducted by my teacher Susie. I
miss the group discussions that
Phillip on a Syrian d>unkerat the Golan Heights with
his class.
left ixie smiling knowing I had just
bonded with twenty of my close
friends, or pondering the new
thoughts put in my head that shat
tered past teachings. My friends
are rmot the same either. After liv
ing in a dorm with forty kids for so
long you begin to expect to wake
up to the same annoyingly warm
swea.ty and sticky feeling that you
begin to love after a month. I long
for the late night conversations
while leaning out my dorm room
window -with my roommate before
bed, when we discussed every
aspect of life, from girls to college
to the Palestinian peace process to
the Shoah. Not only are my class
es and friends different, but the
part of my life that I expected to
becc*iiie more spiritual and mean
ingful, Judaism has rather taken
on an entirely new meaning.
SittiKig in services, I understood
Machon Memories
By Emily Rotberg and Daniel
Block
Amazing. That’s the exclama
tion most commonly used to
describe Israel summer programs
with Young Judaea. This summer
on Machon 4, we learned that it
was true.
After hearing about Machon for
all of our Judaean
careers and going as far
as the national senior
leadership camp Tel
Yehudah, we were more
than ready for Israel
when we received the
colorful Israel programs
brochure in the mail.
Once we signed up and
sent in our applications,
it seemed like no time at
all until were reunited
with our friends from all
over the United States and Puerto
Rico in the Newark airport.
Our pink-shirted group boarded
the El A1 plane and braced our
selves for a long flight. As soon as
we arrived under the shadow of
the blue and white flag, people
began to kiss the Israeli ground.
Well, some people....
Opening ceremonies took place
at a beautiful overlook of
Jerusalem that marked many par
ticipant’s first time seeing the
holiest city in the world. There
were pictures, prayers, and a
meaningful rendition of
“Yerushalayim Shel Zahav.”
Jerusalem was a spiritual expe
rience for all of us. On the first
Shabbat there, we had the most
energetic Kabbalat Shabbat ser
vices in any pditicipant’s memory.
Ein Avdat.
This was followed by visiting the
Kotel and experiencing the beauty
of the rest of the old city.
One of our favorite places was
Kibbutz Ketura, the kibbutz near
the Jordanian border founded by
former Judaeans, where we had a
seminar that helped us discover
our connection to Israel aptly
named “So, What Do
You Think of This
^ Country?” It intro-
K duced us to the ideas
of various Zionist
thinkers, our feelings
on pieces of Israeli
culture ranging from
a Tzahal (Israeli
Defense Forces) uni
form to a candy bar,
and our hopes for the
future of Eretz Yisrael.
We also had an inter
esting hike through some sand
dunes, where we participated in a
new Young Judaea tradition of
rolling down the mountains of soft
sand.
During the unique two days of
Rafsodia on the shores of the
Kinneret, we constructed rafts out
of air-filled oil drums, rope, and
logs. Out of these supplies and
after an entire day and a half of
work, we had created rafts that
were supposed to take us across
the Galilee complete with sails,
rudders, and sunburnt sailors.
Ours didn’t. The “S.S. Elian”
lived up to its name and lost a few
parts - including the captain - in
the middle of the Sea. We were
towed by speed boats to the other
shore.
The Maccabi games took place
my teacher’s reason for making
aliyah. I reaUzed that Judaism in
the Diaspora is not the same as
Judaism in Israel. In Israel,
Judaism is more than religion. It is
a race, a nationality, a culture, a
vision, a way of life and a religion.
Not one of these components is
more important than the other, but
rather they all fit together coher
ently to form one country, one
people, and one being.
All of these experiences have
left me with a feeling of emptiness
wherever I am: school, services, a
friend’s house, and even in my
(Continued on page 16)
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Daniel at entrance to the
Kotel.
on the same beach on which we
landed. Our pink team came
thrc»ugh with a championship
abo've the other 40-something
groups in volleyball. This was def
initely the hottest part of the trip,
regi stering in at 115 degrees
Fahrenheit on the day of competi
tion . By the end of the day, each
and every one of us was drenched
in s"v/eat and some people went to
the hospital with dehydration. As
the Israelis put it, they got dry. The
rest of us went to the dance floor
to party to “Freestyler,” a popular
tech»no song.
L.iving in youth hostels and out
of our suitcases was definitely dif-
fere:ntforall of us. Not only were
there four p>eople to a room, but
we often shared hostels with other
you th groups. This made for a lot
of run with a little bit of rivalry on
the side, especially at Shira ses
sions on Shabbat where it was
US^ vs. YJ vs. BBYO. Though
we competed, all of the groups
were bonded in spirit through
being together in the holy land.
The food was unforgettable.
ScHnitzel was our staple food,
rigtit up there with water, magnum
bar *>. and cucumbcrs. Other popu-
iContinued on page I8>
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