As a dream comes to an end...

Well, it is hard ot believe that there is only one week left to this five month adventure of mine. The last few weeks when I have not been writing have been filled with exciting trips, events and just savoring the last cherished times here in Israel. Although I know I will be back, and I am sure soon, it will never be like I was on this trip-here for so long, so familiar and free and open. In case any of you do not know, this was a dream of mine to live in ISrael for al ong period of time since I was bat mitzvahed here atop Masada when I was 12 years old. The fact that this dream of mine, for so much of my life, is coming to a close is like a strange reality that I must face...what is next? REAL LIFE!

Since I last wrote I have been on many trips with my group and on my own. First, we took a day trip to Ashdod, a small city south of Tel Aviv on the coast that is home to many Ethiopian immigrants. We met with people at an absorption center to learn about Ethiopian life in Israel, since we work with so many Ethiopians on the Kfar. It is so fascinating how they lead their life and then came to Israel. They practice Judaism as if it never had so much of the Rabbinical law that we follow. However, their laws of Kashrut and regarding Shabbat are nearly the same. When they first came to Israel, though, the State of Israel determined that they were JEwish in terms of the "law of return" meaning that they had the right as Jews to return to the land of Zion, but the religious Rabbis did not accept them as Jewish. They wanted all of them to be converted to be Jewish, or else they could not marry in Israel. There were many protests regarding this, because the Ethiopians did not want to convert to a religion they beleived they were-the men did not want to be re-circumsized when they had had their bris when they were babies just like every other Jewish man. Aside from the shock that they were not accepted as Jews, they moved from third world Africa to first world Israel. If you have read "The Red Tent" by Anita Diamante, just imagine their lives in Ethiopia as it was described in that book. They had to be taught about running water, toilets, cooking indoors, etc. But one thing must be remembered- they had a holiday in Ethiopia where they would go up on a particular hilltop and pray to get to Jerusalem, to return to Jerusalem, and now they were returned to the land of Zion. Many of them live in poverty in Israel because the parents do not know how to speak Hebrew well and they do not know how to live in this world, or how to do the jobs that are necessary. So, the absorbtion center that we visited helps the youth to keep them off the street and out of trouble so that the next generation will be better integrated into Israeli life. It was an interesting visit.

The next trip that we took was to the West Bank, to Judean Samaria where radical Jews have been creating settlements to take back the land they believe to be ours from the time of the bible. We saw how they live and why they choose to live in this area "illegally" since Olmert has made building new "homes" in the West Bank illegal according to the zoning laws. We learned how they get around the laws to build their homes. While this is certainly not a funny matter, it was an interesting tour because it was like one of those new developments in the US where they give you a pamphlet about how great it is and how you around...only this time they showedy ou the factory where they produce the walls that go up over night so that no one comes and stops them, the Yeshiva, the Shul and the Mikveh. It is actually a beautiful place with magnificent views that we saw through windows of the bullet proof bus we took there. At the end the man who took us there and gave us his very biased view of life there, as a resident, he told us "thank you for coming and seeing the "facts" for yourself. Now there was a great deal I learned on that day, and much of it was truthful information, but from a biased point of view and much of it was certainly not warranting the title of "facts". Nonetheless, you can't know the whole picture until you see the extremes, right? Or maybe the proper go-to phrase is "that's why they make vanilla and chocolate ice cream" as my mom always said.

The most interesting part of the past few weeks, though, was certainly my 4 day Gadna experience in which I learned a taste of what it is to be a combat soldier. Yes, I smeared charcoal on my face and decorated myself with leaves and branches when I learned about camoflauge (there are pictures that are posted here so you can see) and I shot an M-16. The M-16 is the gun that all the soldiers in Israel carry, and also the gun used for Vietnam. Yes, my father was apparantly an excellent shot on an M-16 but that certainly did not get passed on to me who did not hit the target event once (it was the gun!). Does anyone know where those guns were made? Yes, that is correct by Colt in Hartford, Conn. It is labeled on every gun, along with "Property of the US Govt." Strange to see the first time but we are allies, right? I learned a lot about the army and sat in the place of a 17 year old who would be going to the army in the next year. Gadna was developed for high school students with only 1 year left before the army, so they are about 17, to give them a perspective of what it will be like, mostly so that they are not scared and learn about it before they get there so they know how it will be. For me, it was culmination of a lot of learning about the army when I was able to understand it more and see what basic training would be like, even if for just 5 days. There were recent Ethiopian Immigrants, Israelis, Russians and another Masa group from Brazil. Our group was certainly the oldest and best behaved, but it was good to interact with others from different places and experience it all together.

Since Gadna we celebrated Shavuot on the Kfar with a big festival in which parents and others came to see the Kfar and a show the kids put on for everyone with singing and dancing. I have been going to the beach and enjoying life on a farm where they are growing the most delicious cantaloupe I have ever tasted. Last weekend I went to Eilat, which is the southern most point in Israel where it meets the Red Sea and borders with Egypt and Jordan. It is in the middle of the desert and it is crazy the resort town they build in the last like 40 years from nothing. There are the most beautiful fish there because there is a lot of Reefs, so I went snorkeling and I swear saw colors I didn't know could exist under water.

It is hard to believe that I am leaving in just one week, a number of people I know from my program and others I have met here who are on Masa pograms have already left and it is just strange and sad that this dream is coming to a close. Nonetheless, I know that I have taken complete opportunity here to grow and experience before the rest of my life begins. While it is still a mystery where it comes from, my connection to Israel and my Judaism is deeper than ever and I understand myself a great deal more than when I got here...with stronger conviction in my values and the person I am! Today there was a ceremony for us at the Kfar and it was crazy how many of the students wanted to keep in touch, how many cheered for me when I went on stage to accept my certficate and how much my program director listed that I had done here at the Kfar in this short amount of time. It made me realize that I have worked to do a lot here, even if at times it seemed unrecognized and unimpressive. In fact, I was speaking with a woman today who knew I was on the "American" program at the Kfar and began to tell me how her daughter had made an "American" friend who she loved and spoke of often. She says, "Do you know a girl named Kara?" When I told her it was me, she pointed out her daughter and it was one of the girls I have been working with to get the paper at the Kfar recycled but hse is very shy and I never actually did more than tell her what to do and say hello to her on campus. To know that she had told her mother about me and been positively impacted by my small interaction was just so rewarding to me...it made me feel powerful and accomplished. With that note, a dream has certainly been fulfilleD!