It is difficult to name one site or individual that had the greatest impact or created the range of sentiments and emotions I experienced on the recent Mission Trip to Israel. But it is clear that those who planned the trip put their hearts into the planning and wanted to leave a lasting impact on every participant’s soul.
I am grateful for an experience that was moving and appreciated more than anyone will know, as I am grateful for the new friendships and bonds formed on the trip.
Did the positive charge I still feel come from the story and the ingenuity of the pioneers who created an underground bullet factory beneath a kibbutz, or seeing a Nazi tank used by Israelis in the War of Independence?
Was it meeting intelligent, bright and inspiring college students who made three-year commitments to follow at-risk youngsters? Was it seeing the appreciation on family faces for the support the Milwaukee Jewish Federation gives to a school with 35 kids to a classroom and an apparent lack of learning centers and library books?
Was it seeing the sensitive response in a new friend’s eyes as we approached the Western Wall and danced in a circle on Shabbat? The noisy markets and even a colorfully painted, graffiti-less concrete bomb-attack barrier along the roadside sent an emotional charge.
At Shabbat dinner, the lights of Jerusalem shone through the wide, panoramic glass windows in Hebrew Union College’s Blaustein Hall. The IDF choir harmonized, and Lone Soldiers from Queens, Moscow, and Atlanta spoke.
Who could not sense their optimism, pride, and sense of duty and Jewish history? Who could not feel the youth and diversity of this country? Throughout the trip, I was fascinated by hearing from young Israeli tour guides and seasoned politicians as well as from long-time friends, toughened by life’s routines, whose youngest child is still in the army on the Lebanon border.
Seeing Arab and Israeli settlements so close yet so segregated, and the enthusiastic and understanding smiles from Israeli citizens and tourists, as the rains poured down, produced a range of sentiments difficult to describe.
My parents made their first trip to Israel almost 35 years ago. Perhaps it is only now that I understand how they felt. It is their dream to have each of their children and grandchildren visit Israel and feel the connection, admiration and commitment to a land and people needed by Jews everywhere.
I went on the mission with uncertainty, and came home with a new perspective, appreciation of Israeli struggles, and questions regarding Israeli politics, Israel’s future, Mideast peace and American Jewry. I came home with a new and different connection to Israel. And I returned knowing that there is still more to see, understand and learn.
As I look at one of my photos of a pink flowering almond tree amidst the hail, I think about the geography, architecture, historical landscape and contrasting scenes, feelings and colors, so poignant within one small country.
I hope Israel will continue to thrive and blossom despite cold, harsh realities and conflict, and a world economy that is sure to affect support. I hope my prayers placed in the wall on a shivering Friday evening will be heard. And I hope that one day I will finally learn how to eat those sunflower seeds a young Israeli told me to buy with the shekels I found on the corner of Ben Yehudah Street.
May Jewish communities continue to find needed resources for Jews world-wide, and may wonderful, inspiring trips continue to be sponsored by Jewish Federations – especially the one in Milwaukee.
Loading ...