Back to the Homeland, Again
- Jewelya
- Aug 9, 2024
- 6 min read
This year has been a brutal challenge of getting over one obstacle and then slamming into another. I always find a way to get through. Resilience, it's the Jewish way.
Not much really happened after our family celebration in May. I saw some of the few friends I had left, went to the river almost daily, and did some hiking and biking. The Northern Lights show we had was probably one of the most exciting things I have seen in my life. I still can not believe the exquisite show I got to see in the middle of nowhere, Heath. There I was listening to the owls, coyotes, and foxes while talking with strangers that stopped for the light show too. I thought I would have to wait till I went to Iceland to see them and there the Northern Lights were, in my backyard.
I visited the Isabella Stewart Gardner museum with my mom. I've always wanted to tour this glorious building in Boston. I learned that Isabella had in her will that all the art and artifacts were meant to stay in their place. That's why after some art was stolen, they left the now empty frames hanging.
It was a beautiful museum. The way the art was set up with mirrors facing certain directions really pulled the eye in. Some rooms had a royal elegance while others had a medieval darkness too them. We enjoyed a lovely time seeing this place. When we left my mother and I had a conversation about how Jesus heavy the art was.
Maybe it's because we are Jewish or maybe it's because we cannot understand how people can create so much art about one being, who was in fact Jewish! Nonetheless it was a beautiful museum and it was nice to wander through with my mom. It did spark a thought in my mind about my connection to my Judaism. If you have read previous posts, you will know that my passion for Israel stems from my mother and summer camp. Zionism, Theodore Herzl, and Young Judea played a major part in my moms passion for Israel. She has called it home on many occasions. Through wars and hard times Israel is still home for her, and I feel the same way and I have spent a fraction of the time as her.
After the massacre that occurred October 7th I felt a pull to go to Israel and help in anyway I could. I got in touch with organizations back in November of 2023. Winter orientation was in early November with ski season not long after that. I have learned the older I get that things will happen when they are meant to.
As May moved into June and antisemitism was still rising and the situation seemed unchanging I felt so helpless. It affected my mental capabilities in many ways. I sat by the river many times contemplating decisions. Summer I have more time to do things as I am not tied to the mountain. My close friend from New York met up with me for a hike/walk. We talked about anything and everything. One of my very few friends left after 10/7 and a friend that I can talk about my love for Israel with. At the end of the hike there was a garden with herbs and fortunately for us! A fawn was resting under the trellis covered in vines. It was magical and took my breath away. I swear little things like this make much bigger impacts these days.
So I hiked, biked, chilled in the river, spent time with my dad and family for fathers day, and yet my mind went to one place: Israel. I started looking at organizations running volunteer trips. Many of the trips were 4 weeks spent helping on farms, making meals, tying tzitzit, etc. I kept searching and came across the opportunity to come for 6 weeks and volunteer with MDA- Magen David Adom. I dug deep and saw I already missed the first one and the next was leaving in less than a month.
I scheduled a phone call for the 4 week one as I could speak with them earlier. All of this time is still very vivid to me. I scheduled my call for the MDA trip for June 19th, the earliest appointment available to call. The trip with MDA started July 4th, very fitting. The talk with the first lady went well but I had my heart set on the 6 week trip. June 19th came and I had a long conversation with someone from the trip organizer. She gave me information to mull over. The trip is 6 weeks with a 10 day EMT certificate course. Now when they said you can become an EMT in 10 days I thought "this could be too good to be true, and sign me up". There is reciprocation with the United States with EMT hours. A few days later, I heard back from the trip organizer that I was accepted and to start packing.
In about 10 days, actually a little less, I got ready for my trip. I told the friends I still had that I was heading to Israel and tried to make plans before I was gone for a couple months. I hung out with friends by the river and really cherished my golden hour sunsets in the field behind my place. The highlight before I left was hiking mount Greylock with some friends. Mount Greylock is the highest point in Massachusetts. I have only ever hiked it once, before my second hip surgery. It was a good 8 mile hike which we did with laughs, falls, and jokes. We even saw a young porcupine strolling at the top.
As we are trekking back down, it started to rain which turned into to absolute pouring rain. Thank g-d for some tree cover but we had soaked shoes and sopping bodies. Walking down our ideas about food changed as the cold rain seeped into our skin. There's a restaurant not to far that we like to go to. It started out with the idea of sandwiches and a cold drink and morphed into a hot coffee with chili or soup. I had my seat heaters on for the ride to the bar and still had shivers through meal I was that sopping wet. On my drive home I stumbled upon a doe with 2 fawns down the street from my home. All in all, it was a blast and we made great memories.
My journey to the homeland was rapidly approaching. Packing was going to take some thought as I have NEVER left the States for more than 3 weeks. I was done packing sooner than I thought, making sure to pack the most important items: Mad hippie face products, Dep hair gel, overtone extreme red dye, and Trader Joes conditioner (the items I can't get in Israel). I packed up everything, learned how to do my injection for chronic asthma, and made sure to have a lobster dinner with my parents followed by a breakfast with bacon the day of my flight. The things you do before flying to Israel, if you know you know. It was July 3rd and when I landed it was July 4th. I am not big on celebrating so it did not phase me much.
After the most typical El Al flight with children running and loads of turbulence, I landed in Israel an hour earlier than expected. Walking down the ramp this year was bittersweet. I felt this knot in my chest unravel as I felt the vibrational energy of being home. Then I saw the hostage posters. I looked at each one as tears came to my eyes. It is crazy to think about the criticism Israel has been getting considering they did not pick this fight, that is for a later post though. There I waited for 10 hours. My trip organizer was meeting us at 4:30pm in the Ben Gurion airport. So I sat, rotating between different seats and a bathroom stall. Literally in the bathroom I put toilet paper on the seat just to sit down and close my eyes for a few minutes. I think at one point I really did sleep for 5 minutes or so. In the midst of waiting, I was approached by people who work for Haaretz. They took a photo of me and did an interview for their forum "Holylandings". It sure was an exciting welcome.
Link to article-
Link to my moms Facebook with the translation for free
Israel the Homeland
I sat and I sat and then eventually the time came. I met some of the others that will be with me in this cohort for 6 weeks. Then it was off to the bus and to Haifa. Haifa would be my home for this program, a city I have done little to no exploring of.
The journey began...
Beautiful blog. Looking forward to sharing Israel with you again when I arrive for my 10 days with about 100 pounds of donations for the IDF. This will be a difficult experience but a necessary one.