Being a part of am yisrael is complicated, yet very rewarding. There are many complex ideas and traditions that play into it. Personally, am yisrael provides a culture as well as a religion. Many parts of the culture that are meaningful to me are the holidays and traditional foods. The culture is more prevalent when in Israel. In Israel, days off of school revolve around the Jewish holidays and the main language spoken is Hebrew. When in Israel, you do not have to go out of your way to keep up with the Jewish aspect of your life because your always surrounded by it. This is a really cool aspect of being part of am yisrael and being in Israel also.
Another important part about being a part of am yisrael is Israel advocacy and education. It is important to educate the non-educated and then leave them to make their own decision based on their knowledge. This is especially important when it comes to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. People need to be educated when choosing positions on any subject, and this is very important when it affects am yisrael.
Am yisrael provides a community that stems from ancient times. Even though, there are disagreements sometimes, when it gets down to it everyone has each others backs. Being a part of am yisrael means you get a culture, a community, and a lifestyle all in one.
Tuesday, May 10, 2016
Friday, May 6, 2016
Anat Hoffman
Recently, Anat Hoffman came and spoke to us about her organization Women of the Wall and the other social action based activities she's involved in. Her missions include obtaining equality for all in a way that will fall into Israeli society. I have had a couple experiences with Women of the Wall. My first was last winter when I got to light Hanukkah candles at the Kotel. After that we also got to have a personal talk with Anat Hoffman. It was very interesting to hear a lot of the things she was advocating for in Israeli society. This year I had my second experience with Women of the Wall and we went for Purim. Still it was a very cool experience. Anat Hoffman came and spoke to our group and explained what she was about. However, this was the same as the first talk I listened to from her. The difference was me. She mainly focuses on issues regarding the Kotel. However, since being on EIE I have become aware that the average secular Israeli does not really care about Kotel rights, since it does not directly affect their everyday life. The question was then brought up of non religious marriage and if she is fighting for any rights regarding that. Then, she went into an explanation saying she has tried and is still currently trying, but she usually does not bring it up to American groups considering it is not something that affects us. Anat Hoffman is coming to my synagogue in June. This will be the third time I hear one of her talks and I am very curious to see how she portrays herself, Women of the Wall, and how it compares to the other talks I have heard from her.
Tuesday, May 3, 2016
Yam L'Yam (Sea to Sea)
Just call me Forrest Gump because I just walked across the country. Even though Israel may not be even close to as big as America....we still traveled the whole width. It was so crazy fun! So I'm basically gonna take you guys through the gist of my days.
Day 1:
We started at the Sea of Galilee. We did a super easy water hike and then went to our campsite. We had a cute first night bonfire and roasted marshmallows (kosher for Passover obviously). Then, we got to sleep under the stars. No, we didn't have a tent, they just laid out a tarp and gave us all sleeping bags. Quite a first camping experience.
Day 2:
This was the hardest day of all of them. We woke up at 6ish and started our hike about an hour later. About an hour in, we stopped and made ourselves breakfast. Each group is given 2 burners, a bag of apples, matzah, salami, spices, cooking oil, rice, and chocolate spread. This is given to us each morning and we eat it for breakfast and lunch. Also, we have to carry all of this with us, as well as 4.5 liters of water. Let me tell ya it gets pretty darn heavy. So, we continued to hike for the rest of the day and most of it was uphill so it was very difficult. We took the occasional break and about an hour break for lunch. We continued out hike until around 5 and finally made it to our campsite. Even though the day was hard and tiring, it was still so much fun and one of my favorite days of EIE.
Day 3:
They gave us tents this night :-). We woke up and got ready to go for another long day of hiking. Still a super fun day. This day we got to do self navigation, so each group got a map and a walkie talkie and had to navigate ourselves to our checkpoints along the way and our destinations. This went interestingly because I was in charge of navigating for my group and we went to the wrong way within the first 30 seconds. But, we ended making it to lunch perfectly fine. On the way we passed by wild cows just roaming the forest and tons sheep being herded all by one man. It was so cool to see. The day was a little shorter than the previous and was still a lot of fun.
Day 4:
This day was a water hike!! So much fun. The whole day we walked past streams and small natural pools and we would stop and get to swim and explore the secrets of them. My friend and I discovered a waterfall and climbed up it. It was one of the coolest experiences. Also, the whole hike was beside and stream so we got to adventure and create our own slippery path to navigate it.
Day 5:
This was our last day, and do not get me wrong I loved it, but I was really looking forward to a shower, not sleeping outside, and indoor plumbing (did I mention there were no toilets unless you count the bushes). This day we rode bikes and finally made it to the Mediterranean sea. It was so cool to be able to look into the distance and see the approaching sea. Then, we rode our bikes right up to the sea and were able to run and jump into the ocean. It was soo much fun and definitely made it on my list of most fun days.
Yam L'Yam was challenging and very rewarding. The distance we traveled on foot everyday was a crazy accomplishment for all of us. It was so much fun and a great experience.
Day 1:
We started at the Sea of Galilee. We did a super easy water hike and then went to our campsite. We had a cute first night bonfire and roasted marshmallows (kosher for Passover obviously). Then, we got to sleep under the stars. No, we didn't have a tent, they just laid out a tarp and gave us all sleeping bags. Quite a first camping experience.
Day 2:
This was the hardest day of all of them. We woke up at 6ish and started our hike about an hour later. About an hour in, we stopped and made ourselves breakfast. Each group is given 2 burners, a bag of apples, matzah, salami, spices, cooking oil, rice, and chocolate spread. This is given to us each morning and we eat it for breakfast and lunch. Also, we have to carry all of this with us, as well as 4.5 liters of water. Let me tell ya it gets pretty darn heavy. So, we continued to hike for the rest of the day and most of it was uphill so it was very difficult. We took the occasional break and about an hour break for lunch. We continued out hike until around 5 and finally made it to our campsite. Even though the day was hard and tiring, it was still so much fun and one of my favorite days of EIE.
Day 3:
They gave us tents this night :-). We woke up and got ready to go for another long day of hiking. Still a super fun day. This day we got to do self navigation, so each group got a map and a walkie talkie and had to navigate ourselves to our checkpoints along the way and our destinations. This went interestingly because I was in charge of navigating for my group and we went to the wrong way within the first 30 seconds. But, we ended making it to lunch perfectly fine. On the way we passed by wild cows just roaming the forest and tons sheep being herded all by one man. It was so cool to see. The day was a little shorter than the previous and was still a lot of fun.
Day 4:
This day was a water hike!! So much fun. The whole day we walked past streams and small natural pools and we would stop and get to swim and explore the secrets of them. My friend and I discovered a waterfall and climbed up it. It was one of the coolest experiences. Also, the whole hike was beside and stream so we got to adventure and create our own slippery path to navigate it.
Day 5:
This was our last day, and do not get me wrong I loved it, but I was really looking forward to a shower, not sleeping outside, and indoor plumbing (did I mention there were no toilets unless you count the bushes). This day we rode bikes and finally made it to the Mediterranean sea. It was so cool to be able to look into the distance and see the approaching sea. Then, we rode our bikes right up to the sea and were able to run and jump into the ocean. It was soo much fun and definitely made it on my list of most fun days.
Yam L'Yam was challenging and very rewarding. The distance we traveled on foot everyday was a crazy accomplishment for all of us. It was so much fun and a great experience.
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