last post?

So, this may be my last post depending on how much more free time I have so I will try to put some "end of trip thoughts". We just got back from a two day trip to the Golan Heights where we went to the Naot shoe factory, kyaking, hiking and generally learning about the Yom Kippur War and the importance of the Golan. It was quite a fun trip - and I got some really nice shoes. Today we went on a four hour hike- it was optional - which involved some rock climbing and swimming and a water fall. It was great. Definetly a good way to end the trip which has been filled with hikes and walks. Whats great about the Golan is that its such a contrast to the Negev. In a country smaller than New Jersey - its about the size of Massachusettes - there is a desert and a fertile mountain area. I cant think of another place which has such an extreme change in so little space. Thats why the hiking is fun, becuase you can see first hand how the land of Israel changes. And the land is whats important - its what all the fighting is for, so its important that we see it. You need to see the land in order to know why we have to defend it.
Other than that today we had a final class discussion where we talked about how the trip has changed us. I, possibly for the first time, did not say anything. Mainly becuase it was hot and there were bugs and we wanted to make the disucssion short, but also because I didnt really know how to answer. Most people said standard things like its shown me how important Israel is, or its made me think about Judaism in a new way. Those are true for me, but there is a lot more, most of which will probably not hit me until I return to the states. I will say that at this point I do not plan on making aliyah. The trip has made me want to return, but its also shown me how important the diaspora is - which I'm pretty sure I talked about last time so I wont expand on that.
In addition to all that I think there was a bit of a reality shock on this trip. I met and talked to a lot of people with extreme views and with thoughts and opinions that scare me. There was the very right wing American and the soldier who I sad next to on the bus (hes the sort of security guard) who told me about his experiance in the Second Lebanon War and how quickly he got used to fighitng and war. I dont think I was just naive and didnt know that there were people out there with extreme views or terrible stories, I'd just never really talked to them one on one before. Its upsetting, but also important.
Oh - something I almost forgot - we spent a day meeting with a man from the David Project which is a group that helps teach kids - especially college students - how to advocate for Israel. We spent about three hours looking at anti-Israel outbursts on college campuses and then discussed ways to counter arguments and debate. I had mixed feelings because while its certainly important and the public speaking tips were useful - and I saw clips of anti Israel protestors that I didnt know about and scared me - my problem was that they assumed there was one answer to the questions. For instance, when someone says the problem will end if Israel just gives up the occupied territories, they told us a line to use about how terrorism has been about in Israel for a hundred years or something like that. They didnt explore the idea that we may have different opinions or maybe not even agree with all the answers.

So this is getting a little long - though there is more I could write I will save it for when I get home and we can talk in person. Tomorrow we are going to Jerusalem for the day, and then we leave on Sunday very early in the morning.

I will see you all soon

something i forgot

Just a quick thought that I forgot to mention in the last post. Over the volunteer period I did feel a lot more "Israeli". Because we werent touring, and we basically only spoke Hebrew during work - and we spent a lot of time with the kibbutznikim - I didnt feel like a tourist. I was part of the kibbutz helping it run just like those living on it or who had been volunteering for a few months. I dont feel like a tourist. Its a little sad that we have to go back to touring for the last week. I dont really want to go to museums now that I have been to kibbutz. But I do want to go to the naot facotry so I'm excited for that. And for the hiking and the golan. The switch back is weird though.

Ok, just wanted to add that.

back at Muss

So, I am back in Hod Hasharon and life is back to the way it has been. I miss the kibbutz already. A few interesting things happened in the last few days - I found out that all the Americans living on the kibbutz now know about my blog and laugh and make fun of me for not wanting to make aliyah. I decided that I strongly believe that a person can be a Jew and even a Zionist without living in Israel. I think that Israel needs the diaspora. Staying here for almost three months makes you realize what is so important about the American Jewish - or even the Washington Jewish community. The differences are very important. For instance, in America, because Jews are a minority, there are not as many divisions between sects. The clash between religious and secular is not seen the way it is in Israel. In a strange way because there are fewer Jews, at least compared to everyone esle, the connection is stronger. Thats not to say there is no connection in Israel - there certainly is - but in the states, when you meet a Jew - its almost a surprise, it gives you a connection and someting to talk about. In Israel its basically a given.

Believing in Israel and recgonizing its importance does not mean that I have to move there. I can support Israel from my home in DC, and that is something that I dont think many Israelis - or at least none of the Americans who have made aliyah - seem to agree with. But I'm okay with our difference of opinion even if they are still trying to convince me. Its the Jews who live outside of Israel that give the contrast - that show a difference perspective on how Jews can live.

So thats what I've been thinking these past few days. I'm heading off to my last free weekend tomorrow and then only one week left! It's going to be weird to be back.

If anyone from the kibbutz is reading this - thank you for housing me these past few weeks and for talking and discussing with me. It gave me a lot of new thoughts and perspectives.

an interesting few days

So its been 4 days and quite a lot has happened. Yom Hazikaron and Yom Ha'atzmaut passed as well as another shabbat. To start off - Yom Hazikaron. On Tuesday night there was a siren and our Madricha told us about her friend who was killed in the second Lebanon War. The kibbutz set up a table of all the soldiers from Sde Eliyahu who were killed over the last 60 years with photos and a short bio for each. Then a tekes - ceremony - with speeches singing and reading names of the soldiers from the kibbutz. Though I didnt understand some of the speeches, it was still a very moving ceremony. Hearing stories from family members and friends - and seeing the pictures - is very different from just reading about it. The somber feeling throughout the kibbutz is incredibly strong. I also realized that it was the first time I have sung Hatikvah in a room that is actually Israeli. Its a different feeling. You can sense the meaning of the words a lot more -if that makes any sense. During the day of Yom Hazikaron there was another siren - almost two minutes long. Its amazing to see an entire kitchen just stop work and stand there while a loud blast goes off.

As for Yom Ha'atzmaut - we spent the night at the kibbutz watching another tekes - with singing and dancing - and then listening to a band play songs and everyone singing. The transformation is great.The switch from mourning to excitement happens within minutes - and the whole atmosphere changes. Even Hatikvah sounds different. Its not the sad longing song - its much more hopeful. For the day we went to a large natural spring and then went to Kibbutz Lavi to visit friends from JDS and have a barbecue. It was very relaxing.

Lastly - a interesting story. So in my last post I made reference to a comment made by one of the Americans living here. He managed to find my post - somehow using google - and came to apologize to me for upsetting me. I told him that his comment about making aliyah didnt offend me - but its just one in a long string of comments made by people who have made aliyah. We spent the next 45 minutes discussing his own story of aliyah and different opinions of making aliyah. It was very interesting and I'm glad he came to find me. Living on kibbutz - even for only 2 weeks - has showed me so many more perspectives on Israeli life and American Jewish life. So thank you Benny for talking with me.

So for now we have 4 more days on kibbutz - I will try to write again before we return to Muss.

more from sde eliyahu

so its been about a week here and not a whole lot has changed but I thought I would write anyway. I'm still working in the kitchen but its better now because I know where everything is and the woman knows my name - though she still calls me Lily sometimes. Shabbat was very relaxing and I ate dinner with a family on the kibbutz. Even though they were from New Jersey I still learned some interesting things - such as it is cheaper for the kibbutz to sell milk from the dairy and buy outside milk than to just use the milk it makes itself. Biobee is also doing quite well this year selling its specially engineered bees which can pollinate extra well or something like that. Basically I've learned that as authentic as Sde Eliyahu is it still incorporates itself into Israeli society. I don't think anyone expects kibbutzim to be able to function completely by themselves. I also spent time talking to kids on the Young Judea Year Course which was fun and I actually saw someone I knew from BBYO. There are also two kids from Yeshiva in Jerusalem who left after Passover and are spending the next 5 weeks on kibbutz.

The other thing I find interesting is that all the Americans on the kibbutz, there arent that many, keep telling us to make aliyah. One even said "when you get your ass in gear and move over here" or something like that. Its starting to get a little annoying.

So tonight is Yom Hazikaron and there is a ceremony tonight with members of the kibbutz who lost family members in wars. I've heard that its a quite moving ceremony and I am looking forward to seeing how the coutnry commemorates the day and then transitions into Yom Ha'atzmaut.

Thats all for now - I shall write more after the holidays

kibbutz life

well lets just say that if kibbutz life all year round is like the last four days I might want to move here. But they tell me that we are in an unusual wave of cold weather at the moment and so I probably would not want to live here in the summer. But so far its great. Though I wake up at five am to go to work in the kitchen and have seen and touched far too much raw meat for my liking, its the most relaxing part of the trip. We end work in the early afternoon and then we get the rest of the day off to rest or swim or just hang out. And the great weather adds a lot. Also there are some teenagers from a Young Judea program so we have some kids to talk to which is always fun. There are some older kibbutz members who keep telling us to move to Israel but besides that everyone is very nice. The room is fine and we all live in one building. But what's great is that everything is shared. So if I run out of clothes, there's a closet that I can go to to get more. There is a store with fake money - which is actually ironic because you need to pay real money to get fake money- and everything is inexpensive. So far I like it a lot. I hope that it stays this way for the next two weeks.

Other than that today is Yom Hashoa. Its been interesting. Last night our group watched The Pianist which is a very well done movie. We then had a discussion about relatives who were in the Holocaust and how we know feel about the Poland trip. It was different because I am used to the JDS ceremony and speakers and flyers, and the kibbutz doesn't really do anything to commemorate the day except some candles in the dinning hall. There was the country-wide moment of silence, but that's all. I guess I was expecting more. Though we didn't have a chance to watch the Yad Vashem ceremony or see how a city like Tel-Aviv commemorates the day. Maybe its just this kibbutz. Anyway the computers here are not so great so I will stop writing now but I just want to say that I got an email confirming my deposit at Wesleyan University which made me quite happy.

quick post

hello again,
as the title implies I dont have much time because we are leaving for the kibbutz soon and I must be off to clean my room. I will be at kibbutz Sde Eliyahou which you may remember from Ezra's blog two years ago. I will be working on a number of projects from laundry to garndening and working in the kitchen. There are only 18 of us going and I hope it will be relaxing.

Over break I had a very nice time with my parents, grandparents and an array of cousins. We spent most of our time in Tel-Aviv but we took two trips to Jerusalem, one to Haifa and one to a Druze village (actually the same village I went to with the group trip). While I re-did part of the trip I had just been on, I did do some new things which were iinteresting. I would say the most interesting was the second trip to Jerusalem. My cousins Avner and Idit took us around the city showing us a former prison that held members of the Israeli underground figheters in the early part of the century. Though I had been to a similar prison in Acco, this one was interesting because two prisoners killed themselves before being hanged by exploding a grenade. These two men are hailed as heros to most Israelis but my parents and I discussed the idea that we are not so sure they are heros. They were certainly brave, but members of the more extreme groups - like the etzel and lechi - were pretty close to terrorists. Yes, they did help establish the state of Israel, but they also targeted British civilians and used extreme tactics. In Israel their actions are not even questioned (except by my liberal cousins).

The other interesting moment was later that day when I we went to an overlook and we could see the safety fence/wall. As my cousin pointed out, it cuts right through towns and some people have to go through security just to see thier former neighbors down the street. Its hard to really know what to think of the wall. It might help prevent terrorism (I really dont know anything about how successful its been) but it also makes life much harder for innocent people.


anyway, I'm off to kibbutz where I hope I dont have to think about hard questions or the best ways to solve world peace.

and a random note, the spell check doesnt work on this computer, or any Muss computers, so I'm sorry for all the spelling mistakes - I just was not good at spelling since about fifth grade and I dont have time to look up all the spellings.