90 Seconds – A Summer Never to Forget

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Over the course of the next couple of weeks we were planning our daily schedule by the minute. At any second we would have to change our plans. It was understood by everyone on the bus that this was not the normal agenda for the summer, but we still managed to have a ridiculous amount of fun. We were able to do activities that were never offered to this group before! We would spend the days touring and learning about the history of Israel and the Jewish people, biblical and modern, and why we have a right to live in Israel today.

Despite the safety of our location, everyone felt a need to know what was happening. We read the news, blogs, listened to the radio, talked to the bus driver, etc. We downloaded the Israeli “Red Alert” app, which rang every time there was a rocket and showed where it was heading. (This became a problem when some of the high schoolers thought that there was a rocket hitting us every five minutes.) We might not have been able to support and defend Israel the way many Israelis were, but we were supporting and defending Israel the best way we could, like Jews: by learning Torah and sharing knowledge of our heritage.Even in a time of tension, this group amazed me.

One day we were given the opportunity to run a “fun day” for the children in Sderot. They drove to the campus we were staying on in the north.  Sderot is one of the cities right near the Gaza Strip that was attacked by missiles and rockets daily. For them, the disruption we felt the first night was a daily activity. We were able to take them out of that tension and fear for a few short hours. The kids in both groups bonded with each other. That night, we all sat together as a group to discuss the events of the day. The high schoolers shared how much they learned from the group of Sderot kids. They shared that they learned about how frequently rockets fall in Sderot and how now they feel more of a connection to that reality because of their visit. One high schooler shared, “Now when we hear that there are rockets in Sderot, when we see the red alert on our phones, we will think of those kids.” I have never seen a group of people see the depth and the meaning of their actions like I did on that day. Yet again, this group had touched me.

Although we were afforded many opportunities in the north, the group was still pining to return to the center of Israel. We wanted to go back to Jerusalem. After three weeks, we were finally given the green light to go back. When this news spread, there was an overwhelming sense of excitement. The drive down from the north to the center of Israel was filled with nervous anticipation. I don’t think I fully understood what it meant to “yearn for Jerusalem” until then. We spent the remainder of our time in Israel in Jerusalem – learning and touring the area with a stronger sense of Jewish pride than we had at the beginning of the summer.

On the last night of the program, we did what many programs do and spent a few hours at the Kotel. There we all sat in a circle and reflected on the summer. Many beautiful and meaningful things were said, but there was one that practically stood out for me. One of the participants said that he had always felt a connection to Israel; after all, we have been raised to believe it’s the homeland of the Jewish people. But after this summer, after what we had seen and experienced, he finally really understood what it meant. It is our homeland! No matter where we are in the world, this is the one place where we will never get kicked out of. He said that we would be returning to our families in North America over the next day or so, but those places, Florida, California, New York or Canada are just temporary homes. They are not our permanent homes.