Our last few hours in Sde Boker were celebrating the New
Year and saying good-bye to all of the other North American fellows. At 11:45pm
on New Year’s Eve, our cohort gathered together to walk to the crater behind
our rooms. After we counted down to 2015, we pulled the string to explode party
poppers. As one fellow suggested, we should mentally let one struggle that
affected us in 2014 go as we popped them. It was a very unique and fun
experience to celebrate the New Year in Israel next to a large crater in the
desert!
After saying bye to the other North American fellows, we
departed Sde Boker on a bus with the Montreal cohort. Within minutes, the bus
was silent because everyone was sleeping. I could not believe that that was the
last bus ride of our Israel journey.
Once we arrived at the airport, we walked inside with our
luggage and rested for a few minutes. Quickly, we formed a circle on the ground
and began an activity. Gabi and our JCs, Philip and Rachel, gave us little
pieces of paper and prompted questions. In front of each person, there was an
envelope with their name written on the front. The purpose of this program was
to write little notes to the other people in the cohort. Some of the prompts
were: “Write to someone who you admire” or “write to someone who has inspired
you.” Even though we were all exhausted because this activity happened at
2:30am, it was a great way to reflect on our relationships within the cohort
and our time in Israel.
A few hours later, we answered a few questions from the
airport security, checked our bags, went through security, and had time to eat
and shop. Within an hour, I quickly bought falafel to eat on the flight,
Bissili and Bamba to take home, and Ahava products for my parents. I definitely
took advantage of the duty-free shopping items!
Once in London, the entire cohort ate lunch at a place
called Giraffe. We ate great food and had fun eating together! We had a
five-hour layover. Two of those hours were free-time, so I went and bought many
packages of Cadbury chocolate to bring home to family and friends.
Though I was very sad the trip was over once I got home, I
absolutely loved my time in Israel. Our days were packed with programs, leading,
volunteering, learning from speakers, and driving through the Upper Galilee and
some other parts of Israel. It was evident that all of our hard work for
planning programs and talking with other fellows had paid off. We exceeded our
goals of community week and loved our homestays.
I enjoyed being the “Moshe,” or Leader of the day, for the
last day of Community Week. Even though I had been a little nervous of how the
day would go, my committee and I took one program at a time and had an overall
successful day.
One of the highlights of the whole Winter Israel Experience
for me was learning about Liran, a soldier in the 2nd Lebanon War
who died serving his country. He grew up in Kiryat Shemona and was a positive
contribution to the society. He was a fantastic student and leader in a youth
group. His father, Tzion, explained his personality and attitude and how that
drove him to be a combat soldier for the IDF. Though he passed away at a young
age, he left a strong legacy. After hearing about Liran, I am inspired to help
my community and be active in many different programs.
I am so thankful that we had the opportunity to go to Israel
after the Israel Summer Seminar was cancelled. I believe it greatly impacted
all of the cohorts and helped to strengthen the fellows’ leadership, Jewish
identities, Tikkun Olam, and connections to Israel, which are the four pillars
of Diller Teen Fellows.
