We did all of that?
A speech I am reading for the Confirmation class tomorrow night.
Thank you Francine for inspiring me to post this speech. (sorry its kind of long!)
Second semester of my junior year I participated in a program called “EIE”. I spent my semester living on a kibbutz where I took all my required high school classes and more. The curriculum of the program was based on our Jewish History course. Six days a week for three hours a day, I would study Jewish History starting all the way back from the creation of the world to the year 2000. As a class we would intensely analyze and discuss a certain event in chronological order, and then within the next few days we would go on a field trip to the location where the specific event occurred. It allowed me to learn about history in a whole new perspective by just looking right in front of me instead of reading out of a text book. I also participated in an intense Hebrew Ulpan program six days a week for two hours a day. During the semester, I went on several one-week trips which allowed me to experience Israel on a more hands on level. I participated in an army boot camp program called Gadna, where we ran, ate, slept, and acted like soldiers. During Passover, I hiked from the Sea of Galilee to the Mediterranean Sea with an Ethiopian youth group. After I finished my final exams, I hiked through the Negev and snorkeled in Eilat. Not only did I have the chance to travel all around the country, but I also went to Prague and Poland for a week to learn about the Holocaust. We visited several ghettos and concentration camps where we had the opportunity to see right in front us where six million Jews were murdered. Not only was I able to go to school and do exceptionally in my classes and travel all around Israel, I made 65 best friends from all over the United States.
I knew that throughout these four months that I was in Israel my life was going to be different when I came home. I knew that my life couldn’t have gotten any better, and what I was experiencing was truly extraordinary and one of a kind. I realized the great impact EIE made on me as I remember telling my dad that I wanted to start having Shabbat dinner and go to services every Friday night. When I came home, I began to understand that I was a different person. When I hung out with my friends my mind was on Judaism and on Israel. My mind was continuously playing movies in my head of the great view of the Judean Hills that I would see when I would look out my window at the kibbutz. My semester in Israel has affected me in a way that only made my life more complete. I am more mature and I have a different perspective on how I want to live my life. During the trip through the concentration camps, I wrote a journal of what I was seeing and how I was reacting to it. At the end of our time at Birkenau, I wrote “There’s a lot of things I realized are not as important as I make them out to be. I feel as if my priorities will soon change and as I see it with my own two eyes there will be a drastic change in my values and priorities.” As I look back on what I wrote in my journal, I know that my predictions were correct. My morals, values and priorities have changed in such a drastic measure that I know will affect the rest of my life.
Ever since I came home, I still feel that great passion for wanting to include Judaism in my everyday life. I realized that my studies about Judaism has allowed my decision making process to totally change. Today I am a different person. Throughout my experience on EIE, I began to recognize all the struggles the Jewish people had to go through in order to reach freedom. It has always been a concern of mine that the Jewish people struggled and have continued to struggle because all they want is to be Jewish. This concept has affected how I make my everyday decisions. I wouldn’t even think about getting a tattoo as it resembles in my mind the Jews that suffered in the concentration camps. I want to marry somebody Jewish because I want to continue the traditions of passing down our religion from generation to generation. There are issues that I am confronted with everyday that are affected by everything that I have learned on EIE. What clothes I wear to school, what I eat for lunch, what I talk about with friends, and what I do on the weekends are just some of the everyday things that are affected by what I learned. EIE is a wonderful program that allowed me to grow in such a physical, mental, and spiritual way that is unlike anything I have experienced in my life. I know that my life after my semester in Israel is never going to be the same, if anything it is only getting better each day.
Thank you Francine for inspiring me to post this speech. (sorry its kind of long!)
Second semester of my junior year I participated in a program called “EIE”. I spent my semester living on a kibbutz where I took all my required high school classes and more. The curriculum of the program was based on our Jewish History course. Six days a week for three hours a day, I would study Jewish History starting all the way back from the creation of the world to the year 2000. As a class we would intensely analyze and discuss a certain event in chronological order, and then within the next few days we would go on a field trip to the location where the specific event occurred. It allowed me to learn about history in a whole new perspective by just looking right in front of me instead of reading out of a text book. I also participated in an intense Hebrew Ulpan program six days a week for two hours a day. During the semester, I went on several one-week trips which allowed me to experience Israel on a more hands on level. I participated in an army boot camp program called Gadna, where we ran, ate, slept, and acted like soldiers. During Passover, I hiked from the Sea of Galilee to the Mediterranean Sea with an Ethiopian youth group. After I finished my final exams, I hiked through the Negev and snorkeled in Eilat. Not only did I have the chance to travel all around the country, but I also went to Prague and Poland for a week to learn about the Holocaust. We visited several ghettos and concentration camps where we had the opportunity to see right in front us where six million Jews were murdered. Not only was I able to go to school and do exceptionally in my classes and travel all around Israel, I made 65 best friends from all over the United States.
I knew that throughout these four months that I was in Israel my life was going to be different when I came home. I knew that my life couldn’t have gotten any better, and what I was experiencing was truly extraordinary and one of a kind. I realized the great impact EIE made on me as I remember telling my dad that I wanted to start having Shabbat dinner and go to services every Friday night. When I came home, I began to understand that I was a different person. When I hung out with my friends my mind was on Judaism and on Israel. My mind was continuously playing movies in my head of the great view of the Judean Hills that I would see when I would look out my window at the kibbutz. My semester in Israel has affected me in a way that only made my life more complete. I am more mature and I have a different perspective on how I want to live my life. During the trip through the concentration camps, I wrote a journal of what I was seeing and how I was reacting to it. At the end of our time at Birkenau, I wrote “There’s a lot of things I realized are not as important as I make them out to be. I feel as if my priorities will soon change and as I see it with my own two eyes there will be a drastic change in my values and priorities.” As I look back on what I wrote in my journal, I know that my predictions were correct. My morals, values and priorities have changed in such a drastic measure that I know will affect the rest of my life.
Ever since I came home, I still feel that great passion for wanting to include Judaism in my everyday life. I realized that my studies about Judaism has allowed my decision making process to totally change. Today I am a different person. Throughout my experience on EIE, I began to recognize all the struggles the Jewish people had to go through in order to reach freedom. It has always been a concern of mine that the Jewish people struggled and have continued to struggle because all they want is to be Jewish. This concept has affected how I make my everyday decisions. I wouldn’t even think about getting a tattoo as it resembles in my mind the Jews that suffered in the concentration camps. I want to marry somebody Jewish because I want to continue the traditions of passing down our religion from generation to generation. There are issues that I am confronted with everyday that are affected by everything that I have learned on EIE. What clothes I wear to school, what I eat for lunch, what I talk about with friends, and what I do on the weekends are just some of the everyday things that are affected by what I learned. EIE is a wonderful program that allowed me to grow in such a physical, mental, and spiritual way that is unlike anything I have experienced in my life. I know that my life after my semester in Israel is never going to be the same, if anything it is only getting better each day.