Today is now the 18th day that I have woken up in a place that is not home, and I love it!! Although we all come from different places all with different backgrounds, we have become a loving family of 29. Whether it’s through our tiulim, our time on the streets in Hod Hasharon, or just interacting with Mozenson students on campus, I have picked up on many differences between Israel culture and American culture. For one, the Chadar Ochel here is very different than the cafeteria at school. The Israeli students from Mozenson are a lot more aggressive when trying to get the food compared to students in the US. As we walk through the streets in “the hod” I definitely feel very safe. Compared to Philly this is very different. In Philly I feel like I need to be a lot more conscious about my surroundings where in Hod HaSharon, I feel very protected. Something about the fact that mostly everyone is Jewish or how friendly the store owners toward the American students living here really creates a Kehillah Kedosha – a holy community. One of the places that I think all 29 of us have seen this idea of a Kehillah Kedosha is at Sabres or Moshico as we like to call it. Although it is only a small smoothie stand, we, as a group, have created a inseparable bond with Moshiko the Smoothie Guy. This, to me, is one of the most unique parts of the Israeli culture, the sense of a Kehillah Kedosha anywhere that I go in the Jewish state.

Last week us, the February 2017 group, went to Jerusalem. We traveled around the city and visited different areas around the holy city. After various views of the city and Yossi giving us various lessons about the City of David and such we made it to the Kotel. When the bus pulled up to the area around the remains of the second temple, we all frantically wrote notes to stick into the wall as a prayer at our holiest spot in the world. I wrote about 8 things down on the paper which included prayers for family, peace, and various others. We stepped off of the bus and met up with Yossi. Yossi gave us a talk about what to expect at the wall and how to behave ourselves. We walked over to the security area and I could only see a very small portion of the wall. As we stepped through security, the guys and girls separated and went towards the wall. As soon as I stepped foot in the mens area of the western wall, I felt this overpowering feeling of a greater being. I began to feel the tears of overwhelming emotions roll down my face. The tears continued as I put my head to the wall and began placing my prayers one by one in the small crevices in the 2000 year old wall. After about 10 minutes I saw my friends wrapped in tefillin and then discovered the little stand run by Hassidic men. I met with a man who began to wrap the leather straps around my arm and head. He had me repeat the blessing after him and gave me tallit. I walked to the wall for some silent prayer off of the card that the man had given to me. At this very place I felt this connection that I’ve never felt before. Different than the feeling I felt after trying some very good new Israeli food or successfully ordering something in Hebrew when I’m in town. This was a connection to the 6 million. A connection with all of the men and women who are killed every year serving for the IDF. This was a connection between me and Israel.