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.

break!

hello all so its been a while and a lot has happened. I've been to Eilat and Gadna - the fake army training, and later today I am leaving with my grandparents for spring break. I dont have much time so I will try to write as much as I can in as little amount of words and needed. First off, Eilat is really beautiful and really touristy. The beach is wonderful - and snorkeling was great - but the boardwalk is lined with souvenir shops. We even met a woman who works at a restaurant who said she doesnt like Eilat because there are no Israelis there. We didn't actually do much we just had a lot of free time.
Gadna was actually quite interesting. I'm not sure I would call it fun, but I'm definitely glad I did it. Basically starting Sunday afternoon and ending yesterday evening I was in "basic training" for the Israeli army. Its something they do for Israeli high school kids to get them ready and excited for the army. We were split into different groups, about 12 in each with a commander. We got uniforms - mine did not fit well and I looked pretty ridiculous - and slept in tents. Most of the time we were running around having 12 second to get into formation or line up for a meal (I now appreciate any amount of time over 15 seconds - you have no idea how much you can do with so little time). We also had to stand with our feet in a "v" and with our hands behind out backs in a diamond shape. If we were unprepared or late we had pushups. Other than that there was some physical stuff like crawling and running in the desert but overall it was not as hard as I thought it would be. We also had lessons about Israel and guns (I now know everything I will ever want to know about an M-16) and we also go to fire guns.
Overall I think what I learned most from Gadna was that the anticipation of an event (if you are not looking forward to something) is usually much worse than the actual event. I spent days dreading Gadna, and it was not as hard as my mind had built it up to be. Even the last night when we got word that we had a middle of the night run, I spent hours being upset trying to figure out how much they would make us run and how I would be able to keep up with the group. The "run" turned out to be at 5 am and was a brisk walk with about 10 seconds of sprinting every minute or so. I also learned that as much as I dont like guns and as important as gun control is, there is a scary feeling of power that comes when shooting a gun. It really hit me that the weapons they gave us (M-16s) are very powerful and have killed countless people. I was scared to use one.

I think the reason why I liked ganda is because along with the kibbutz, its probably the most Israeli part of the trip. During one of our breaks a girl commented that she wished we were back on campus so she should go shopping or go to the beach. As nice as the beach is, I appreciated doing something that is unique to Israel. Not only do the majority of Israelis join the army, but about a quarter also do Gadna as high schoolers as an introduction to the army. Even though it wasn't nearly as intense as actual basic training, it does give some insight into what Israelis go through. And I didn't really feel like a tourist.

Ok so I'm out of time, I think I'm going to hear some 6 day war stories but I'm not sure. I will try to write over break. I'm so glad to get away for 10 days and relax and not have to wake up at 6 am.


Happy Passover!

lots to say

Wow,
So I had an interesting week. I just got back from a 4 day hiking/camping trip where we went from the Mediteranean to the Kinneret (the width of Israel). I think it was between 60 and 70 kilometeres. It was quite exciting and among other things I learned that while I enjoy hiking, I hate camping. Anyway, despite the cliches and metaphores about crossing Israel, there was some "spiritual" aspect of finally reaching the Kinneret. I think that our group did bond a lot on the trip, which is nice because its been a month and I still felt like I didnt know some of the kids from Weber.
Anyway, we spent the weekend in Tzfat, a religious city in the North. It was very relaxing and I went to a Sephardic service for Friday night which was held in a very beautiful shul. Saturday I went with some kids to a park to read and relax and I also observed a debate between a religious teenager (maybe 18 or 19) and one of our madirichim about why religious Jews dont serve in the army. The madrich (named Rammy) served in the Lebanon war in '06 and was in an elite paratrooping unit and he got very upset during the debate because he feels that all Jews should serve in the army and he does not really understand religious Judaism. He also got upset when the other guy made a comment that equated studying in a yeshiva and fighting in Lebanon (in that they both are serving Israel). I spoke to the kid myself a little bit after but I, and the other kids there, decided that he was not the most educated of religous Jews and that one cannot base an opinion of Charedim off this one kid. But it was still an interesting talk.
Then on Sunday we went to a kibbutz and met with an Israeli-Arab who told us about his daily life and how he feels that Israel mistreats Arabs and minorities in general and how he is discriminated against. While he does not condone the bombings from Hamas he said that he certainly understands thier fight and what promts them. He also said that if there was a two state solution he would not move to the Palestinian state (understanably because Israel is an already established country with an functioning economy and infrastucture). My problem with speakers like this is that I never know what to believe. He said that he pays higher taxes because he did not serve in the army. But hten on the bus Alan (our teacher) told us that that is not true and that taxes are not based off the army. So I'm a little lost. I think that Israel is a Jewish state, but that minorities should be treated equally. But its hard to know just how much discrimination is going on, because I dont know who to believe.
The last interstring man that we met with was a Jew who lives in a city next to an Arab village. THe city is surrounded by an electric fence because a few years ago there was a terrorist attack. The man said that he hates that it has to be the Jewish town that gets the fence, but that he accepts that its the only way to be safe. He also said he thinks that there will never be peace in the Middle East. I disagree. Even if it will take years and lots of negotiation, I think peace is possible. I think going into the situation with a negative attitude wont help anyone and nothing will get better. Why is everyone fighting if they dont think there will be an outcome?

Anyway, as you can see the week was quite interesting and had some very thought provoking moments. Other than that I am trying to figure out where to go to college, any advice you have would be helpful. This week we are going to Eilat, which I am excited for, and then spending four days of fake Israeli military basic training. I hope I survive. After that is break which I am really excited for. I just need a week away from the campus and the bad food.