Birthright...where do I start?

For real though...maybe with a a few pictures

The view from atop Masada

Penelope the camel

Flag football

Desert sun

Step your payos game up

Kitty eating crumbs in Jerusalem

The Western Wall

I get chained.
That's it. More to come on f book.

Sigh...I'm utterly speechless. This trip is going to take a while for me to properly digest. As I sit in Wombat's hostel in Berlin (irony?), I am trying to piece together the experience I just had in Israel. My time there, through birthright, was beyond special. I am really trying to stay away from broad generalizations and cliches here...but I'm having trouble summarizing.

What Birthright does is truly remarkable. It brings together young Jewish Americans sans prerequisites (aside from that Jew thing) and provides them with a once in a lifetime experience: A firsthand look into a country flooded with history and culture, and innately linked to each one of us. This opportunity to visit a place we, as Jews, are all connected to, is incredible.

On the last day of the trip all 40 of us, including our tour guides, medic, and bus driver (shout out to Yahyir!), sat around in a circle to share anecdotes and reflect on how the Birthright experience affected each of us. This was when it hit me how genuinely touched everyone was. I knew I felt it, but it really resonated through this group closure. There are too many stories for me to type. This is half laziness and half the fact that the city of Berlin awaits. So, I look forward to sharing them with each of you in person. Here are some highlights taken from my journal. Please excuse the extreme brevity.

Day 1-2:
Customs get at me. I swear they weren't even going to let me on the flight. My Jew interrogation included, "how many candles in a menorah?" ARE YOU SERIOUS BRO????

OD turbulence on the flight. I thought we were going down, no lie. Like...trays flying in the air and people screaming. It was THE wildest plane rides I've ever been on.

First night is on a Kibbutz equipped with a bomb shelter bar. Everyone is getting to know each other. I meet a really cool Israeli soldier who lives on the Kibbutz. She tells me about how she wants to go to film school in New York. The fact that I am in Israel is slowly sinking in.

Day 3:
Golan heights and former Syrian Bunkers. Travel to Tzfat - the birthplace of Jewish mysticism. Meet a wild dude named Avraham who's personality becomes a running joke throughout the trip. We meet our soldiers who will be joining us for the next 5 days. "Sheek" (one of the soliders) immediately spots the kid as Adrien Brody. I can't even breathe in Israel!!

Day 4:
We are in Jerusalem. Today I feel connected to Israel for the first time on the trip. The Western Wall brings it out of all of us. I see Clai Henry at a market! Small world. While walking through the same market, Tomer (one of the soldiers), turns to me and says, "this has been the sight of multiple suicide bombings throughout the years." OK, let's be out.

Shabbat dinner followed by our party.

Day 5:
Day of rest. Tomer's last night = no sleep, again.

Day 6:
The heaviest day by far. We visit Yad Vashem. Everyone is noticeably moved by the Holocaust Museum. Adam (one of our trip leaders), allows us to all reflect as a group on the grass outside the museum. We travel south to the Negev.

Day 7:
4am wake up to hike Masada! Israeli coffee is BANGING so why do we have instant coffee at all the hotels?? I need a latte. We then say goodbye (not for good) to the rest of the soldiers and float in the Dead Sea. Some of us decide to DIVE IN resulting in eye socket burns.

Travel south to Eliat aka the Vegas of Israel. The group has a great night out. I meet 2 soldiers who just came back from Gaza. One of them breaks down to me about his experience there. One of the most memorable conversations I had in Israel.

Day 8:
BEACH!!

Then we spend the night in a Bedouin tent sleeping on top of each other, singing sounds around the campfire, and toasting Obama!

Day 9:
We wake up early to ride camels. That shit if FUNNN. Penelope holler at me! We then plant a tree in some holy soil (is all of Israel's soil holy?) as gunshots ring out at a military base near the West Bank.

LAST NIGHT!! We spend it in Tel Aviv. Memorable...

Day 10:
LAST DAY! We all reflect and prepare for our farewell dinner.
Thanks to everyone who made this trip what it was. This is something I will remember for the rest of my life...

Tel Aviv is BEAUTIFUL. I will be back. Off to Berlin for now. Stay tuned...