Congress and Exploring the North of Israel!

Dear Mommy, Daddy, Naomi, and anyone else reading this blog,

Today was a good day! We started off the day by going to the memorial site on the Tel Chai campus and learning a little history about the battles here. Then, we split up into our 22 tribes for bus tours. My bus tour went to the JNF site. They welcomed us with really good food and even better views from the mountaintop. The guide told us that one of the rabbis who used to live on the mountain promised that anyone who lights a candle on the mountain and prays will get married very soon. Since I won't be looking for a husband any time soon, I did not partake in this tradition. Next, we watched 2 movies explaining the history of the JNF. After seeing videos of the thousands of volunteers who have taken care of the forests, we got right to work. We picked up dead branches throughout the forest and, to make it more fun, we cheered and chanted weird anthems from South Africa. All in all it was a good experience that a normal tourist wouldn't get to do.

When we returned to campus, we again split into our tribes and discussed Israel's importance in our lives and our relationships with Israel. I enjoyed hearing from others, especially from the Israelis; the Israelis really surprised me in that many of them did not consider Israel to be a critical aspect of their Jewish identities.

Next, we split from our tribes and attended seminars with inspirational speakers from various backgrounds. My speaker created a gap year program for both Israelis and North Americans so that they can learn from each other and strengthen their Jewish identities. She said her dream is that all Jews around the world will feel obligated to take a gap year. It's a nice idea but totally impractical. Her gap year program didn't interest me too much but she had a fascinating background: she grew up in a Chareidi/ultra orthodox home, became very secular, and then found a good place for herself in conservatism.

In conclusion, today was a long and interesting day where I got to learn from a very diverse group of people. Also, today is Naomi Lichtenstein's birthday so...HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! Love you!! :) 💗

Love,
Teva