By Simeon Richardson, NFTY in Israel Participant, Bus 4
My time in Israel has been without a doubt the best experience in my life. If I were to pick one experience that was the most memorable, I would choose the visit to the Western Wall. I’m not a spiritual person at all, but this experience was truly the most I’ve ever felt connected to Judaism and for once in my life, I felt truly connected to the Jewish community. I can’t wait to continue exploring Israel and learning more about this culture that I have been told about my whole life.
The day started off like any other day with the whole group learning about some part of Jewish history. On this day, we learned about the history of four different groups: the Sadducees, the Pharisees, the Essenes and the Zealots. Each of these groups had chosen to either adapt, ignore, fight against, or adopt the Roman traditions. We learned about who built the first and second temples as well as how they got destroyed. Our counselors did a great job of tying the history into our experience at the Western Wall, were very helpful with any questions we had and were really engaged. They also helped me to gain a better understanding of history and how everything we have learned in religious school is connected and important. We had the choice to write our message to put in the wall either the day before or at the wall, so I decided to write mine when I was at the wall. As soon as everyone had changed, I could tell there was something different about the group. There was a quiet atmosphere which had an air of importance that hadn’t been there previously. All the girls had on dresses or long skirts and all the boys had on their kippahs. My hands were sweaty, knees were weak, my kippah wouldn’t stay on, yet the Western Wall was perfect. My expectations of the wall were blown out of the water by what I experienced.
The whole area before the Western Wall was filled with people milling around. However, as I got closer and closer, I noticed a silence permeate the atmosphere. This was the first moment I realized how important the wall was for so many people. I finally realized, for the first time, how important religion was for so many people and it moved me. All of my religious school education, including my Bar Mitzvah and confirmation, was so worth it to get to this moment. What was amazing to me was how many people were pouring their hearts out to the wall. I’ve never seen so many people in one place be that sincere and honest with themselves. These few things brought me to a simple realization: whether I like it or not, Judaism and the people connected to it will always be a part of my identity, because Judaism has shown me what a good person is and the power of community. I hope you find a day to visit the wall and that it will change you even a fraction of the amount it changed me.
