By Eliana Adler
I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to travel to Israel this summer with the help of the generous Susan L. Lichter Memorial Scholarship. I went for four weeks with my age group from the North American branch of Habonim Dror, a Jewish, Labor-Zionist youth movement. I learned about Jewish history, the history of my movement, and about the nuances and different perspectives of Israeli society. I also made a lot of amazing friends and had a lot of fun. I have been going to Camp Tavor, which is a part of Habonim Dror, since I was 8 years old. Tavor, and the movement in general, have been very influential in helping me develop my Jewish identity. It was really meaningful to go on this trip with so many other teens who have grown up in the same movement. Because we all had similar educations and experiences from growing up in the same organization, I felt connected with these teens even before I met them, and the friendships I developed with them throughout the trip were very impactful.
One of the first things we did on the trip was go to an archeological dig near Tel Gezer. After getting a tour of the different parts of the site, we went underground into one of the caves and were given the chance to dig around and see what we could find. Whenever somebody found something, there were excited shouts from around the room. Not only was the dig an exciting educational experience, it was also a great way for us to bond at the beginning of the trip. In the end, everyone found at least one pottery shard or bone. The things we found were placed into buckets and sent off to a lab to be evaluated. The pottery shards found by tour groups have actually helped to uncover parts of Israeli history, such as ancient tax records which were the first archaeological evidence to support that the Hanukkah story was an actual historical event. It was incredible to see for ourselves the amount of history that could be discovered in such a small space, and being able to uncover these things for ourselves was an experience I will never forget.
Eliana posing at the archeological dig site
Another unique opportunity we had on the trip was the chance to have dinner with a group of Palestinian teens from HaNoar HaOved, Habonim Dror’s sister movement in Israel. We got to see what
their meetings looked like and participated in activities in small groups to get to know them better. It was difficult to have actual conversations with them because we didn’t speak Arabic and they didn’t speak a lot of English, but it was still really cool to meet them and interact with teens who, even though we have very different backgrounds, are still part of connected movements.
The topic of language barriers was a recurring theme throughout the trip. We met with a Palestinian woman named Musa multiple times during the trip. We had some meaningful conversations with her and really got to hear her perspective of the social divides in Israel. She told us about how the language barrier impacts society and how important language education from an early age is. When we start learning a language from an early age, we learn it faster and get a better understanding of it. So much of the fear we have of people who aren’t like us can come simply from not understanding them. One example she gave us was when you are sitting on a bus and hear people talking in a language you don’t know, it is easy to assume the worst about what they are saying. If Israeli Jewish schools taught Arabic to their students from an early age, it could eventually help reduce that fear. This insight has helped me realize the importance of language education.
Another highlight of the trip was our hike in Ein Avdat, in the south of Israel. I really loved the opportunity to hike and see beautiful landscapes that you can’t see here in the US. During that part of the trip, we stayed at a youth hostel in Sde Boker. From there, we hiked to the entrance to the National Park, and then up to the top of the canyon. It was a beautiful hike, and was one of the hardest ones I’ve been on, especially since we did a large part of it before breakfast. I also learned a lot on the hike about the environment of the area. One cool thing I learned was that the plant Eshel (or tamarisk in English) has adapted to be able to use salt water. If you touch the leaves, there is salt on them that the plant filtered out in order to use the water. Learning this really amazed me, as this is an adaptation unique to that area and is so different from anything I had learned about Michigan plants.
I also feel much more connected to my Jewish identity now than I did before my trip. The high holy days had new meaning this year as I remembered my experience in Israel and looked forward to a continuation of the learning I started there. Also, when having conversations about religion or Israel, I feel much more prepared and able to participate in discussions than I was before my trip. Over winter break I will have the opportunity to go to Veida, Habonim Dror’s winter seminar and democratic decision-making event. There I will be able to see friends from my trip to Israel, learn more about how the movement functions, and get involved in making movement decisions. This will allow me to continue the learning I started with the generous help of the Susan L. Lichter Memorial Scholarship.
To learn more about subsidies for teen Israel experiences, visit JewishAnnArbor.org.