So I realized that my last post was a little short and did not have much detail but I didnt have a lot of time so I figured I would add some more tonight. I also forgot to mention some things, like the fact that we went caving and I learned that I am in fact not claustraphobic, and am rather quite good at getting through tight spaces. Though it is not really something I wish to do again soon (the caves were actually the width of my body with almost no room to move and very little light). They were the Bar Kochbah caves and actually quite interesting once I was out of them.
As for the Beit Shemesh stay - I spent two nights with the Cohen family, a modern orthodox family with an American mother, an Israeli father, and four children. The entire group (all the JDS kids and hosts) spent Friday painting a wall at a local elementary school (I filled in the butterfly) and then I spent all of Shabbat with the family. Basically, everyone in Beit Shemesh under the age of 20 spends Shabbat walking around the streets and visiting friends. So it was quite relaxing.
I just got back from a two day trip to the North where we saw ruins from the Crusades, the Kinneret, and Tzefat. Though it was not my favorite trip, I will say that it was thought provoking. We had a discussion about if Israel was facing a war with Iran, how many people who move to Israel to help the war effort. A lot of kids said they would take some time off of college to volunteer (not in combat but in other ways). And I thought a lot about how they are very willing to help Israel, but when there are wars in other countries, no one thinks twice. I realize we have a deeper connection to Israel, but I cant help but think that if you truly want to help save innocent lives, or protect a nation from unwarranted terror, why isnt everyone helping Darfur, or the many other groups of people who need help? As for me, it made me want to graduate college and join the Peace Corps right away.
The other thought I had ( I had some very intense thoughts this weekend) was when we were in a cemetary in Tzefat and we passed the graves of 22 teenagers who were killed in 1974 in a terror attack in a high school. I thought about the shooting that occured the day after we arrived. Its a very different atmosphere here. People mourn, but there isnt time to focus on each person the way the U.S. does (like the hundreds of articles after the Virginia Tech shooting). We went to Jerusalem the very next morning. Its hard to imagine living in a country where attacks like the one that occured happen offten enough to not affect people too badly. There are times when I realized how unstable Israel is and what can happen (such as when I'm in the cemetary) and there are times when I forget that I'm in a different country. I could be anywhere in the world (like when I'm on the computer checking my email) It's a little scary.
So, as you can see, I used this blog as a sort of journal for myself and I hope you dont mind reading it. Just thought I would add something besides our tourist stops. We get a few nights in the Hod and then a free weekend so I shall post again soon.
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3 comments:
Thanks, Molly. This was a very interesting and thoughtful post, and I hope you'll have a chance to post many others like it before the trip ends.
See you in about a month (!).
Dad
This was a very good post molly.
I remember thinking about the would-you-move-to-israel-to-help-in-a-war question (for me it was "no") and thinking more that a lot of the people who answered "yes" were probbly lying to themselves. The annoying thing is that if your trip is anything like mine, you will have the exact same discussion about once every two weeks (according to Ben Falk this is to monitor the progress of their propoganda machine). Oh well.
Sorry to hear Yossi is gone, though. I can think of about a dozen reasons why he might have left, but I wish you had gotten to meet him.
I remember being in the cemetery in tzfat and thinking about how in Israel a tragedy like that is more of a national tragedy, perhaps because the country is very small and people have friends or relatives in all the major cities. In America though the sense is more that shootings like that are very distant. The feeling after Sept. 11th might be more close to how Israelis feel about these things. Is that the feeling you get?
Also: Hi mom and dad. What's up.
Really interesting thoughts, Molly.
About the way Israelis respond to tragedy...do you think maybe it's the way we think about Sept. 11 now, as opposed to when it happened. It's still awful, but we've sort of incorporated into our lives the fact that we live with danger and that bad things can happen...but we go on and do the best we can anyway? If you have more thoughts on this topic as you go along, keep us posted!
Mom
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