Today we went to Bar Kochba!

Today we went to Bar Kochba! This is a photo I took with some sheep and goats on the way to exploring the caves. It’s crazy for me to think that people could have spent years living in those tiny caves. It’s truly incredible what the Jewish people will do for each other to fight for our community and future. I was also very interested by what we learned at the amphitheater. I don’t understand how the Jewish population has survived all of these attacks. It really shows me that as Jews we can withstand anything that we fight hard enough for. I enjoyed this tiyul today. I like how mellow it was, and I was interested by the material that we were learning.

What I enjoyed most about this tiyul was thinking about my values. I’m normally conscious of my values anyway, but I do not normally think about them in the lens of “what I devout my life to, am willing to risk, or give up my life for.” The two most important values to me are my family and best friends. These are the most important values to me because I would die and give up my life for any of them if it meant that I could save one of their lives. There is not a big difference in my mind between risking and giving up my life because if I risk my life I’m already willing to give it up. What I devout my life to is different. My biggest value is happiness, all else falls under that umbrella. In my environment, there is a lot of pressure to grow up and be successful in life. To me, success is not measured by wealth; instead, success is measured in happiness. In order to achieve this goal, I try to keep a positive relationship with my family, do things that interest me outside of school (play guitar), surround myself by honest and loving people, stay connected to my Jewish community, and much more. Each of these ethics is an example of one of my sub-values that fall under the bigger umbrella of achieving happiness. - Netanya