On Sunday afternoon (May 20), we had a party with our bosses at Benny’s
(the manager) house, at which Nativers and bosses thanked each other for the
work and experiences of our time at Kfar HaNoar HaDati. Then we loaded 1 piece of luggage and
whatever we wanted to leave in Israel for next year’s Nativ onto a truck, to
not see the luggage again until the airport on May 28. Monday breakfast was our last meal. After
eating, Jake, Arielle, and I went to the petting zoo to say goodbye to Akiva
(who was not at the party the previous day).
I’m going to miss him, but hopefully we’ll keep in touch, especially
with my 3 friends who are going to live on the kibbutz where he lives for their
service in the Israeli army. Around 9:30
we loaded a bus with everything we had left at the kfar and left for Jerusalem
to spend our last week of Nativ.
We arrived in Jerusalem around 12, soon followed by Karmiel and
Yerucham tracks. We left our luggage in
what was the computer room because our rooms weren’t ready yet. But a little later this afternoon I moved
back into 633 with Leah and Suzanne. The
bathroom was redone and a TV replaced the shelf above my bed, but that didn’t
matter because the 3 of us were together again.
We spent a couple hours in one room listening to different
presentations from outside groups for post-Nativ options (Masorti adult
programs, Tel Aviv University international school, David Project, Nefesh B’Nefesh)
and we had the opportunity to join the bone marrow registry.
That Monday night we had a talent show.
I must say, it went far better than I expected. I had a performance (but how could they put
me 2nd, just after the a capela singing of “Somebody that I Used to
Know”?!). Well, somehow, I entertained
the Nativ community by broom balancing (because they did it in “Wet Hot
American Summer”), making pterodactyl noises, doing animal impressions on
demand, quickly reciting the English alphabet backwards, , converting oxygen
into carbon dioxide (with the materials already in the room!), and
flailing. (I think I brainwashed people into thinking I'm funny.) Other people’s acts included a
few singing and instrument-playing performances, a dramatic poem reading by
Ira, a rap by Eric with Rozzie and Rachel, and Jake acting like Dobby the House
Elf. The first day back in Jerusalem was
a lot of fun.
On Tuesday morning, we did activities by track. The kfar track re-lived our first day’s ice
breakers for Dan, who came a week late because of International USY Board
obligations. Then we had a scavenger
hunt (in our teams from our first Erev Nativ of playing Human Angry Birds)
around Jerusalem to take pictures of important places and things that remind us
of significant pieces of the year (favorite pizza place, where we held our
first Kab Shab services, bus 72 [the bus between the kfar and Haifa], cows, first
semester tracks, Tzfat hippiness, and much more].
In the afternoon we had two activities.
For the first different items such as “tikkun olam,” “observing
holidays,” “observing the halachot of Shabbat,” “keeping the spirit of Shabbat,”
“Israel,” and “interfaith relations” were posted around the room. Ira and Rachel would ask questions like “Which
is most important to me?”, “What am I not doing now that I would like to do?”, “Which
is least important to me?”, “With which do I struggle the most?”, and “What do
I want to learn more about?”, and we would go to the sign that answered the
question for ourselves. I was absolutely
fascinated to see my friends’ responses: I was one of only two show valuing
tikkun olam most, and the plurality chose interfaith relations as least
important. In the second program we
discussed (and some people acted out) issues we expect to confront upon
returning to our parents’ homes. Though
it may be hard sometimes, I realized I’m going to need to stop myself from talking
too much about Nativ to friends.
Then that night we went to our final Masa event. We listened to Natan Sharansky and Benjamin
Netanyahu speak, sat through some horrible performances, and eventually saw a
fantastic performance by Mayumana, a stomp group.
The only program on Wednesday was called “Summing Up the Year.” We didn’t really know what this meant, but we
were spread out in small groups starting between 9:30 to 12:30. I was in the last shift, so I spent the
morning with Arielle, helping her shop for gifts for family and friends on Ben
Yehuda. After lunch, we went to the
program. In -3, we were given journals,
and as we moved down the hall, we travelled from the flight to our 2nd
semester locations with stops for our rooms, chagim (holidays), tiyulim, 1st
semester tracks, optional evening activities, Israel Experience Week/Poland,
Israel Today Seminar, Conservative Judaism seminars, Jerusalem life, and
more. The journals had questions that
proved our staff knows us well. They
also set up the different sections of the hall will great detail (the correct
masechet Talmud open for the Conservative Yeshiva, 3 beds extremely close to
each other and the chocolate spread from the moadon for the kfar, etc.). It was weird to relive the year this way. With having journaled and blogged this year,
I didn’t feel too much pressure to write long memories, but I think I might write more as
things remind me of Nativ this summer and any other time.
We made this night a kfar girls’ night out to Sushi Rehavia (a favorite
restaurant where I had not previously dined but now know is indeed delicious). A few of us couldn’t make it, but I think we
had 13 people with Rachel, and it was a lot of fun.
Thursday morning we had a program with Yossi in which we sat in a circle
and in a few words finished a statement made by Yossi. These ranged from “My
favorite Israeli food is…” to “My favorite movie is…” to “The first thing I’m
doing when I return to North America is…” to “I am Jewish because…” It was thought provoking and interesting to
hear others’ responses.
Then we filled out evaluations for just about everything possible for
the year. Also, it was on this day that
we received Nativ 31 shirts designed by a few people in our group, Kfar shirts
designed by a few people in our track (Yerucham and Karmiel got shirts, too),
and any other shirts we designed and ordered (I just got one other for my Yam l’Yam
group).
From Thursday afternoon to Shabbat candle lighting, we were free. I spent most of Thursday hanging out with
Dana and Chaviva, and that night I went to Waffle Bar with a large group. On Friday I went for a run to my favorite park in Jerusalem to have a
little time alone with my thoughts. I moseyed
around my hall and napped until it was time to get ready for Shabbat.
Before candle lighting, we took pictures in
between the buildings like we did the first Shabbat, except this time we were
much better friends. Tfillot were great
and we had a fantastic tisch, but I couldn’t get into them. I don’t know if it was from fatigue or
subconscious refusal to have emotion about anything being the last time. Then I played Monopoly with Maddy, Mia, and
Becca until around 1 am when we decided we should get some sleep. For what it’s worth, I think I would have won
the game.
Saturday morning I was extremely tired.
It was difficult for me to stay awake during tfillot, but luckily I
slept a few hours in the afternoon. Then
I hung out until Chag HaShavuot dinnertime!
Shavuot (or how I call it despite my friends’ mocking, Shavuos), is
exactly 7 weeks after the second night of Passover and is traditionally
understood as the anniversary of the Israelites receiving the Torah. Dairy is eaten because if the Torah was
received this day, it was this day that the Israelites learned that they had
not been preparing meat kosherly so they ate dairy to avoid making this
mistake. The other Shavuos tradition is
to stay awake all night studying.
Nativers went all over Jerusalem for different classes, and I sat in at
1 ½ incredible classes at Pardes. Then
we rejoined at 2 am for Nativer-led classes (I led one on "What is Judaism without Torah m'Sinai?", questioning revelation and the implications on Judaism). In between the classes we drank coffee (a
necessity) and ate ice cream and cheesecake (almost as necessary as caffeine). Then at 4:30 we headed for the Kotel, to
Robinson’s Arch (the Southern Wall) where egalitarian tfillot are
permitted. We as Nativ davened the morning
services with the Conservative Yeshiva, Shnat NOAM (great to see them again!),
TRY, and other Masortim who came. After
services, we returned to base and slept until lunch. I am happy that I was able to visit my host
family from Rosh Hashana with Mia and Julia one last time for this meal.
Sunday night near the end of chag Yossi gave us another big talk. He talked about what we should have gotten
out of this year, how we all changed this year, intermarriage, Jewish life,
Conservative Judaism, aliyah, and making this year matter for the rest of our
lives. Then he told us to go to dinner as if he had simply told us some
scheduling details for a tiyul.
After chag I went with friends to Ben Yehuda to get ice cream and
frozen yogurt. When I came back, I hung
out with Mia, Maya, and Natanya before going to sleep. It was just like almost any night first
semester.
This brings us to Monday. I woke
up early, and now regret not running.
Mid-morning the kfar track (the other tracks went separately later) went
to a restaurant for our end of the year banquet. We ate delicious food, but what Maya, Moshe,
and Dan planned was more important. They
made each of us a plate saying, “We leave you with [insert something related to
a memory or an inside joke].” Two people
from our track gave speeches thanking Rachel and Ira, Rachel and Ira spoke to
thank us, and Yossi and Maya spoke to thank us and our madrichim. After the meal we returned to Beit Nativ. We had a short program and watched a
slideshow of our year, both of which were intended to make us cry. Ira and Rachel also gave us the book A Voice Called: Stories of Jewish Heroism
by Yossi Katz (a distant relative who my dad also went to high school with).
In the afternoon, I finished packing, accompanied some friends to the
shuk for the last time and bought my last ice cafe with my last 10 shekels. Then we had a dessert reception, followed by
speeches and a presentation of a slide for each person on Nativ. We received our yearbooks and track
pictures, and then we loaded the trucks and boarded the buses for the last
time. We said goodbye to Lainey, who’s
coming back to the US in a couple weeks.
At the airport, I first said goodbye to the people on the flight going
to Philadelphia, then to madrichim who couldn’t pass security, then to the
people on the JFK flight. Then I was left
with the 6 others going to Chicago through Newark. It was sad.
I already miss my friends. I can’t
even imagine how much worse this would be, though, if I didn’t know that I was
going to be able to see at least a few friends this summer, others in the
Boston area when we’re in college, and most people going to schools between
Philly and Boston. It’s weird.
Trivia: It was about 26 hours from the time I left Beit Nativ until
I arrived at my house.
No comments:
Post a Comment