From January 2nd to January 12th, I had the opportunity to go on a Birthright trip. For those of you who don't know, Birthright is an organization that sends Jewish students on a fully funded, 10-day trip to Israel. We got to travel all over the country, learn its history and culture, and meet Israeli soldiers our age, who spent a few days on the trip along with us. Overall, the trip was an incredible experience, and I'm beyond glad I went. Here are some of the things I appreciated most about the trip:
Exploring the different cities in Israel.
The four cities we visited on our trip were: Tiberius, Tzfat, Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. I enjoyed comparing the cities and seeing how they differed from each other. Tiberius, where we spent the first few nights of our trip, felt like a little seaside town:
Tzfat was a city up on a mountain, filled with hills, stairways and cobblestone streets. Much of the city practices Jewish mysticism. Out of all the cities we saw, it seemed like it had the most serene, artistic people, and it felt almost magical somehow.
Jerusalem had the richest history, and walking through the streets felt like I was a part of something ancient and bigger than myself.
I don't have any photographs from Tel Aviv; I had a stomach bug on the day we went there, and spent most of the day in a cafe throwing up. Oh well, I guess I'll have to go back.
Seeing the beautiful landscape.
We took a few hikes while on this trip, including climbing Masada and visiting the Banyas waterfalls.
We also got to ride camels in the desert and go jeeping in the Golan Heights.
The natural landscape in this country was breathtaking. As someone who grew up in New York City, it was unlike anything I had ever seen before. While I consider myself more of a city person, the mountains, waterfalls, deserts and seas were some of my favorite views of the trip.
Visiting ancient historical sites.
We visited the ruins of an ancient temple up north, slipped notes into the Western Wall, and saw Roman ruins at the top of Masada. Israel has an exceptionally rich history, and learning this ancient history while being present at the historical sites where it took place was a fascinating and unforgettable experience.
Spending Shabbat with an Israeli family.
While I don't have any photographs from this day (it's customary not to use phones on Shabbat), it was probably one of my favorite moments of the trip. We were split up into small groups and sent out for a few hours to have lunch with an orthodox family in Jerusalem. The family I went to was an older couple, two Americans who had moved to Israel years back. I'm not sure how many children they had, but two of their daughters were able to join us for lunch, both around our age. The family was very kind and welcoming; they explained all of their Shabbat customs to us so we could participate, and we had some interesting conversations with them. They fed us a delicious four course meal, each course as good as the last. The family was also very musical, and after each course they sang a song or two, splitting up into intricate four part harmonies around the table. The day was so calm and relaxing, and spending lunch with this family was definitely one of the most memorable experiences I have from the trip.
Meeting new people, both American and Israeli.
Spending ten days traveling around a country with forty people you've never met before is a wonderful bonding experience. In addition to the other American students who went on the trip, we also had eight Israeli soldiers join us. It was really interesting to see how Israeli culture differed from American culture, and how the two cultures are more similar than I had expected. It's also nice to know that if any of us ever want to go back to Israel, we'll have eight places to stay. The people who shared this trip with me shaped the experience, and I know that I've made some lifelong friends.
