Israel's Role In My Life

Today, Aaron asked the class what role Israel will play in our lives after we go back home to America. My first thought was that Israel will always play a huge part in my life because it is my home. It is where I was born and I feel the most connected to the culture and more importantly I feel like I can be myself. 

When I come home, Israeli culture will still play a huge part in my life because that is how I grew up. My house is full of Israeli culture, but at the same time, my family has integrated into the American society to a certain extent. I would love to live in Israel and for the culture to play a part in my life all the time. I have learned to love everything about Israel and nothing about America feels special enough to me that I feel like I have a duty to it. Israel is a whole different story. I have felt for a long time that it is my responsibility to go to the Israeli army and fight for the country's right to exist. I feel a strong personal tie to the country because it is my home.

One of 66 Israeli Women You Should Know

Women in the Israeli army generally don't get positions that require them to fight on the front line. This summer, Oshrat Bachar will become the first woman to lead an Israeli Defense Force combat battalion. She has been put in charge of the Field Intelligence Battalion 727, or Eitam. She will lead this battalion to the border of Israel and Egypt to protect against terrorist activity that began two years ago when the battalion was founded. 
This is a great thing to hear about considering that women are not able to fight on the battle fronts. Not only is a woman on the front line, but she is the leader of the battalion. This is a huge achievement and can possibly lead to many more women being accepted to fight for Israel. 

Patriotism

Israel. I have never seen a more patriotic country. This week we celebrated two very important holidays, Yom Hazikaron and Yom Ha'atzmaut. Yom Hazikaron is the Israeli memorial day for all the fallen soldiers. This includes every soldier that ever died, no matter whether it was during a war or not. There is a huge difference between Memorial Day in America and in Israel. In Israel everyone goes to the army so every single person in Israel knows someone who died in the army or at least someone who knows someone who died. On this day, we are all brought together as one to remember our friends and family that died fighting for this country.
On the night ending Yom Hazikaron, Yom Ha'atzmaut or Independence Day begins. The atmosphere turns from the saddest day of the year to the happiest day of the year in an instant. Everything becomes a party. Everyone is out on the streets partying, hitting each other with inflatable hammers, and spraying foam and silly string all over each other. 
It was amazing to experience the fact that one day we were very sad and remembering all those that died to protect the people and the land of Israel, but immediately after we celebrate their accomplishments and how they were successful in their mission to protect Israel's right to be an independent Jewish state. 

Israeli Humor

Wednesday night, all of EIE went to a Cobi Oz concert in Jerusalem. He is a famous Israeli singer that sing a variety of songs ranging from classic Ashkenazi style music to classic Mizrachi style music. In between each song, he would provide some explanation as to what he was about to sing and what the significance of the song was to him. He liked to make these explanations humorous, but one time stood out above the rest. Cobi made a joke referencing the Holocaust. All of the new American arrivals were so taken aback by this, while all the EIE students who had been in Israel for months were rolling on the floor laughing. 
Until then I had forgotten that Israeli humor is so different from American Jewish humor. In Israel it is part of the culture to make jokes about the Holocaust, but to Americans who take the Holocaust very seriously, this can be a very hard thing to get used to. 
I was amazed at how only a few months can make such a difference in a person's culture. It may not affect the person's values that come from their original culture, but it certainly affects how they interact with people. 
Now that I think about it, this part of Israeli culture began to affect the students of EIE even before now. When we were in Poland, everyone was making jokes about the Holocaust at the sites of the mass murder of the Jews. Even while we were at Auschwitz, you could always hear a joke being made. Despite the darkness in Israeli humor, it is always coming from a place of happiness and relief.

Yom HaShoah

Yom HaShoah is the Israeli national Holocaust remembrance day. Like all Jewish holidays, it begins at sundown on the night before. On the day of, there is a siren that goes off at 10 a.m. to remember all the lives lost during the Holocaust. The siren lasts for 2 minutes and throughout the day, there is a somber atmosphere. Radio stations play only sad songs, documentaries and ceremonies are the only things found on television, and there is virtually no laughter heard all day.
One thing that I really find fascinating is the fact that when the siren goes off, no matter where you are, everyone stops and stands. Even cars stop in the middle of the highway and stand. I have always wanted to witness being on a highway during the siren. Today, we were able to see it from far away on Highway 1, but it wasn't the same as what it would have been if I were standing on the Ayalon Highway, the fastest highway in Israel. 
I found it very interesting that many of the cars didn't even bother to stop. I only saw two cars that stopped within the small area that we could see. It was a little disappointing to see that even though the siren went off and Yom HaShoah is a national holiday, people didn't care to pay their respects to the millions of Jews that lost their lives during the Holocaust. 
Today we also learned about some of the general views of Palestinians and Arabs about the Holocaust and its effects. According to our teacher, many Arabs refuse to acknowledge that the Holocaust even happened. I assumed that the drivers that didn't stop were Palestinians that just didn't recognize the significance of the Holocaust, but it still bothered me a little that they couldn't even stop for a moment to even think if they knew anyone who had any relationship with someone who lived during the Holocaust. 

Yom Ha'atzmaut

Yom Ha'atzmaut is Israel's independence day. Israel became an independent state on May 14, 1948 and has been thriving ever since. As Yom Ha'atzmaut nears, Israeli culture is at its peak. Songs about Israel are released, decorations are hung, children in schools prepare for ceremonies with songs and dancing, and Rikudei Am or Cultural Dances are seen all over the cities.
I personally love to listen to the radio on Yom Ha'atzmaut because not only are the songs all about Israel, but they are all happy and praising. Although some of them have a slow beat, the message is positive. One song that I really like that makes me think of Israel's culture is Zikukim by Moshe Perez. This song talks about a girl who has had troubles in the past but wants something to make her happy in the present even though there is possibly a risk. 
The lyrics can be directly related to Israel. She has had some troubles in the past, but in the future she just wants to be happy and thrive despite the dangers. It is very interesting to me how Israel is personified. It makes the culture and personality of the people of Israel be more emphasized. Songs are a great way to express not only the history of the land of Israel, but also Israeli culture.

Yam 'L Yam

This past week, during Pesach, I participated in a 5 day hike from the Sea of Galilee to the Mediterranean. We woke up at the crack of dawn to begin each day with the start of that day's hike. We would stop to have breakfast along the trail and around noon we would stop to cook ourselves some lunch. Lunch was so much fun to cook. We got to experiment with what they gave us and we were able to make some delicious dishes. Then we would hike some more and the guide would give us a map so we could navigate ourselves through the trails to a checkpoint. Despite getting lost a couple times, we were eventually able to find the checkpoints. We would continue hiking and eventually reach our campsite for the night where we would pitch our tent, have dinner, go on a small night hike, and sleep. 
Before Yam 'L Yam, I was excited, but I was also a little worried. I had never been backpacking or anything close to it where I was hiking for 5 days straight and I had also never been camping. I was worried that I would have a hard time walking up huge hills and adjusting to whatever nature had to throw at me. 
After Yam 'L Yam, I was very proud of myself. It made me realize that no matter what task I am set up to face, I am able to make it through. It was difficult, but not as bad as I thought because I was always having fun. There was always something to look at, whether it was the view or a lizard crossing the path. 
Yam 'L Yam is an experience that each person who wants to get to know the land of Israel should do. Throughout the week we walked through water, forests, plains, fields of goats, and rocky terrain. Thinking back to how Israel looked prior to 1948 (swamps) and how Israel looks now (agriculturally rich) is mind blowing. The early pioneers must have had to work from dawn until dusk and possibly more to change the landscape to make it suitable for living and farming. It is a really amazing thing to think about.