NFTY in Israel – Bus 9A

Recently, we visited a group of Druze, who served us a wonderful lunch. I’ll admit, before this trip, I’d never heard of the Druze (Their segregated mountain top homes might have something to do with that).

Israel has been built up all my life as this magnificent place in which the Jewish people could find comfort and call home. One iconic scene that has been described to me multiple times since my first day of Sunday school, was being able to touch and pray at the holiest of holiest sights, The Western Wall.

Hello, and welcome to Will’s Declassified NFTY in Israel Survival Guide. In this guide, I hope to give a little bit of insight on our experience in Israel, and give advice to survive the trip for anyone considering to participate. To begin, be aware that at any time an Israeli counselor might “volunteer” you into writing a riveting paragraph for the NFTY in Israel blog *cough* Yahelli *cough*.

Since Friday, the teens have been in the “Kishrei Noar” segment of the NFTY in Israel Program. ” During Kisrei Noar, eight Israeli teens join with the American teens for a week of socializing and talking about the “Big Questions” of being a teenager in Israel and in America.

Today, Wednesday, the teens concluded their Chavaya Experiences. These are four-day activities during which the teens explored an interest with a likeminded group of friends. The choices included; Gadna, an Israel Defense Force immersion; Tikkun Olam Social Justice projects; Indiana Jones in Israel, an archaeological dig; and Yam l’ Yam, a hike from the Sea of Galilee to the Mediterranean Sea.

My bus, Bus 6, had just gotten to the camp site we would be sleeping at. We dropped off our bags, got our hats and water bottles and we went to meet our guide, Yarden.

When I met my bus at JFK Airport for NFTY in Israel, I had no clue what to expect. I am not your “typical” kid on the trip, as I have never been to a URJ overnight camp and in another month, I will be a college freshman.

It’s so surreal to me that a month has flown by so quickly and that in just a few short days, we will be leaving. I remember looking at the itinerary before the trip and asking myself, “Would all of this be fun?”

Last week we split into our Chavaya groups and I was in Tikkun Olam. The word Tikkun Olam means repairing the world and through the four day I had with this group I learned that Tikkun Olam is not only the physical act of doing community service but also making connections with people and learning about the issues to help solve them.

If I had to think of every moment from this trip and pick out my favorite moment, it wouldn’t be the desert, or Jerusalem, it wouldn’t even be seeing my friends for the first time in a year, it would be singing with them. As we hiked up the enormous, rocky Mountains in the Negev desert, I was terrified.