Crunch Time

School's out for summer here at Tzuba. We have many taking their AP Exams, studying for finals in the next few days, finishing papers and sending them in. It's weird to think we'll all be done with school here, but it's weirder to think of the plane ride home. Four months has flown by like no other. I have experienced the many different sides of Israel while being here and I will forever look at this state in a different but supportive way. In a land ridden with conflict, there is so much to learn and experience - the people you can converse with at a Yom Ha'atzmaut dance party in Jerusalem, the food you can try in a neighboring Arab village, the sights you can see as you weave your way through the Judean Hills with your destination set at the always-lively city of Tel Aviv, a symbol of old and new alike. If there's one thing I've learned in all my months of Jewish History (took that final yesterday), it's the Jews' concept of "collective memory." Nothing goes forgotten in Jewish history. From the beginning when Abraham began to wander Canaan all the way to the current time period, our collective memory has shaped the Jewish people and the state of Israel into what we are today. It reminds us of what Jews have been through and how we have survived for thousands of years against many different adversaries to finally posses our own Jewish state and be proud of our Jewish identities. After my EIE experience, I am more than proud of my Jewish identity. I am extremely filled with a sense of responsibility and even a sense of strength to be a Jew. These past four months have been life changing at the least. I'm very happy I got to share my experiences through this blog, but every person on this trip has many more experiences and I'm sure they would love to share.
Just to update you about what we have done the past few weeks:
- School
- the Yoms: Yom HaShoah, the Holocaust day of remembrance in Israel, where we listened to the two-minute-long siren and relived memories from Poland. One week later, it was Yom Hazikaron, the day of remembrance of the fallen soldiers in the IDF. The night before the Yom, we travelled to the Kotel for the national ceremony in honor of these fallen soldiers. There, we heard the President of Israel, Shimon Perez, speak about how many years ago, at the site we were standing on, the paratroopers of the IDF landed and successfully taken over Jerusalem during the Six Day War of 1967. He spoke of their determination and the courage they possessed, just as the fallen soldiers we remember had been the same. After a bone-chilling, emotional singing of Hatikva, we returned back to Tzuba. The next day, in our Jewish History classes, we visited the kibbutz's cemetery, where members of the Israeli independence group palmach were buried, along with two fallen Golani soldiers that grew up on Tzuba. Each year, the kibbutz holds a ceremony for these two soldiers, filled with music and kind words about them. This day was as quiet as the coming night would be loud. In Israel, there is a major transition at the end of Yom Hazikaron into Yom Ha'atzmaut, the day of Israel's independence. We attended (and danced in) Tzuba's transition ceremony, but then were surprised with a special treat - we were going to Ben Yehuda Street in Jerusalem for the night to have some fun. Dressed up in blue and white everything, we paraded through the flooded street of Israelis to a dance party not too far away. It was definitely one of my most memorable experiences, seeing everyone transition from mourning to intense joy and just having a ton of fun. It made me feel right at home with Israeli culture; now I really understood the importance of a Jewish homeland and that it needs to be celebrated each year.
As things start winding down on Tzuba, we're frantically working to make it the best ending a semester like this can have. We have groups working on designing t-shirts, sweatshirts, sweatpants, and more, while other groups are working on skits for the final banquet or putting together a yearbook for us to relive our memories in. More to come in my last blog post, but again, thank you all for reading. I'm glad I could share my stories with all of you and I'll have much more to tell when I get back...but that's not for another week or so - don't rush me.