Written by Sophia Ehrenberg, Yallah! 2024 Participant
Welcome to Eilat! The southernmost point of our homeland, where you can see Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt all at the same time. This hot corner of the country gives us a true perspective on where we are in this world and where we fit on the map. Despite the heat, Eilat is a very special part of Israel. We stood in the Red Sea under the stars, conquered some water sports in the sun, and couldn’t forget our sunscreen in the 105-degree weather.
Looking out at the Red Sea is a surreal experience, especially for someone who has never been to Israel before. These are the waters we’ve heard about growing up. I could almost see Moses standing on the shore with a mighty staff in his hand and the word of God in his ear. As we left Eilat and started to travel north, I began to question whether this country is as small as it looks on the map. The Negev, while very hot, is a wonder of the world. Our ability as a people to navigate and bring life to the desert is even more spectacular.
In my eyes, looking at this strange landscape filled me with pride and amazement at the power of the Jewish people. Especially as we visited David Ben-Gurion’s desert home, I realized how strong we are, how hard we work, and why we work so hard. I thought of how I was traveling the land that my ancestors dreamt of. I felt as though they were watching over me as I walked where their blood and tears planted the trees that give us the most delicious apples.
The Dead Sea was astonishing; it is so hard to ground yourself. Just as the world has tried to sink the lifeboat of the Jewish people, we have stayed afloat with remarkable buoyancy. We landed in Kfar Hanokdim, a welcoming Bedouin community, where we rode camels into the sunset and sang “Country Roads” under the stars. Including a drum circle to get our blood pumping, all these activities prepared us for the hike of Masada.
Masada is a great story of Jewish resistance, and walking through the ruins, you could feel the warriors’ strength inspiring your own. We’ve been to the Red and Dead Seas; there’s only one more left! We swam in the crashing waves of the Mediterranean Sea in Ashkelon. It was brought to our attention later that Ashkelon was once the most bombed place in Israel since October 7th, yet we were there so happily and at peace with the shores of our homeland.
The many faces of this country continue to astonish and astound. We finally made it to Jerusalem, where we explored King David’s lasting legacy on the Old City. I decided to trek into the water tunnels, where I learned to navigate a dark and tight pathway by simply knocking into the sides of the walls. I cooled off my bruises in the pool at Kibbutz Dorot, where the Israeli teens we have been with this past week are from.
I have always loved the Israeli people. They love to love and they love to welcome. Dorot is one of the most beautiful communities in the world, both in setting and people. There, a visiting Rabbi told us a very special story. King Solomon was faced with settling the inheritance of seven children, but the youngest child had two heads. So, was this seven people or eight? Would the inheritance be split seven or eight ways? The children went to Solomon, and he carried out a trial to see what was true. He blindfolded one head and poured boiling water on the other. If only one head cries out, then the child is two, but if both cry, then they are one. Solomon carried out his experiment, and both heads cried out—two faces and one heart. This youngest child is one, just as the Jewish community is one.
Though the Jewish community has many more than two faces, we all share a heart and soul. I know now that I share a significant part of my identity with all the people on this trip, maybe more so than I would have in a regular year. I know that most of the Americans on this trip share my same love for Judaism and the state of Israel, and I am learning how this love manifests itself in the kids of Israel who are my age. These faces may not always agree, and within each head, there are conflicts, but I believe that we all know deep down that we are whole.
