"Jumping off my haystack" in Israel

What does she mean, "jumping off her haystack?" Good question. And before I begin telling you about the past 10 days, let me explain.

On Friday afternoon, just before Shabbat began, my group and I went to Kinneret Cemetery on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. I had been there a few times before, with different trips, so I knew that it was actually a very beautiful and special place -- not creepy at all. You would definitely want to be buried there...beautiful palm trees, a constant breeze, and the sound of rustling leaves and gentle waves all around.

We arrived at the cemetery exhausted. There, we met Joel...a very unassuming man in shorts and a t-shirt...a self-proclaimed geek of sorts. Turns out, this cemetery is his passion. Turns out, he knows the stories of everyone who is buried there. Turns out, that for many, he was one of the most inspirational speakers we heard during our trip.

In short, he told us the stories of the chalutzim, pioneers, who came to the Galil in the early part of the 20th century to build the land of Israel. They were teenagers -- 16, 17 years old -- who had left their parents in Eastern Europe to live the Zionist dream. In truth, they were really a little crazy. It was so hot on the shores of the lake, and there was no escape from the heat because none of the trees under which we were resting had yet been planted. There were mosquitoes. There was malaria. Basically, it sucked.

But these young people went to sleep at night on top of their haystacks -- it was too hot to sleep anywhere else -- and when they awoke in the morning, they climbed down -- no, they didn't just climb down, they JUMPED OFF their haystacks to start their long, hot, and sometimes lonely days of building this land. They didn't roll out of the haystack, they JUMPED OFF.

Joel then surprised us all by asking us..."What makes YOU jump off your haystack every morning?" And no one knew what to say. He went on, "I hope, that as you are listening to these stories of the men and women who built this land, that you are asking yourself, 'Do I jump off my haystack every morning? Do I do something that fulfills my soul and gets me so excited that I literally JUMP off my haystack to start my day? If the answer is no, it's not too late to do something about it."

Now, of course, there's a little Zionist propaganda in that question. Is the only way to "jump off your haystack" to make aliyah -- to move to Israel? While I don't think that is specifically what he was getting at (although if you were me, that's exactly what you heard), my group knew exactly what he was saying. Sitting there with a group of twenty-somethings, the question, and the connections he made between those pioneers and these American Jews couldn't have been more clear. Whatever we are doing, where ever it is, we need to try to find the meanings in our lives so that we do not just climb down, but JUMP OFF of our haystacks.

That being said, let me tell you about my trip. I was a madrich, counselor, for a Birthright Israel 10-day experience. Many companies run these trips, but I ended up working for Israel Experts. Some friends of mine have worked for them in the past, so I felt good about working with them re: logistics, itinerary, support, etc. In short, it was an amazing trip. I got to see the country again! To see it through the eyes of young adults who have never set foot here before was truly a gift.

Who were they? They were 39 Jews from all over the States -- mostly NY, but some from California and other random states -- OK, AZ, VA, DE. Almost all were over 25 (yeah!), and with the exception of about 4 or 5, none of them were particularly knowledgeable about Judaism or Israel. One e-mail I received before the trip said "I have never celebrated Shabbat before -- what should I wear?" You get the idea. But let me tell you, they were an awesome group. Although they chose the 22+ trip to go on b/c they "didn't want to be around a bunch of drunk 18 year olds," they managed to do their share of partying...but the difference is that they were on time to the bus every morning and they also did an immense amount of learning. Everywhere we went was the "best place we've been to so far" and every speaker we heard complimented us on how amazing we were. I know that I was really lucky.

Highlights include:

*Hanging out at Kibbutz Ma'aleh Hachamisha during our first Shabbat.

*Night out on Ben Yehuda Street, although I can't remember a time when I thought that was fun. :)

*Picking potatoes for Table 2 Table. Granted, I only did it for about 10 minutes b/c it was freakin' hot that day! It was well over 100 degrees -- turns out it was a hamsin.

*Lots of educational programs about the history of Israel and the Arab-Israeli conflict...never boring, believe it or not.

*Har Herzl, the Arlington National Cemetery of Israel.

*The absolutely insane MEGA. Billed as the "largest Jewish disco in the world", it was quite an event.

*The new, ultra-modern Holocaust museum, Yad Vashem.
(I know that given the subject matter of the museum, it's probably out of place to say this, but I will anyway..this was the coolest part: The guide has a Madonna-like headset, and all of the people on the same tour have cool ear pieces attached to a walkman-like device. She talks quietly into her microphone, you hear it loud and clear in your ear...it was an amazing use of technology for education, especially with a group of 50 people.)

*The obligatory "Climb Masada before sunrise, hike to the waterfalls at Ein Gedi, bathe and float in the Dead Sea" day. Clearly awesome, although I vow never to hike up or down that damn fortress again...I don't care WHAT path! (For the record, I went up the Roman and down the Snake.)

*Tel Aviv at night, which meant dinner with Dani and Gilad.

*An amazing guide at Independence Hall. I love that place. (Think Independence Hall in Philly -- same concept, much different story.)

*A night at Kibbutz Tuval...a beautiful place in the middle of nowhere. But it's a Jewish middle of nowhere, surrounded by a bunch of Arab villages, so it's actually really excellent.

*Tzfat, hanging out for a good hour with Andy and Callen.

*Kayaking with Jordan ON the Jordan River.

*A very "Shabbati Shabbat" service overlooking the Kinneret Lake.

*The delicious wine and cheese at Kibbutz Nachshon.

*For 5 nights, we had Israeli soldiers with us. I can't tell you how much they added to the trip in terms of the participants' connection to Israel. They didn't want to leave, and we didn't want them to go!


So now I am in Jerusalem, and I am mostly resting. I am trying to catch up with old friends (I haven't been back in SEVEN years). Right now I am staying with Mara and Josh; Mara was a participant on EIE when I was the resident advisor, and now she lives here. I got to see Amira Bar Shalom and Yonatan (Nitzan is at camp, Ran is in the army, and Yehuda was working late). Cha Cha Bari is here in Jerusalem for a conference, so I will know I will eat a waffle with her at some point. And the some other characters from my past are rounding out my last few days in Jerusalem.

On Thursday, I leave for Egypt for a one week tour of my own. Not sure how I feel about being a participant rather than an organizer, but I think it will be okay.

I will leave with you another quote (although I am not sure who said it) from an early pioneer:

I come to this country to transform the landscape and by doing so I will transform my soul.

*P.S. Hit Marzipan Bakery and the Waffle Lady with Bari. There's something about both of those place that only Chas make complete!

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