Being a high school student living in Israel is very different. You learn to respect all types of different aspects of Judaism and you have many different experiences when traveling. Our topic for this blog is about explaining a moment that would only happen in Israel. This is very easy to write for me, because Israel is different from America in so many ways. I learn something new every day and I am always creating new memories.

On March 1st, my group went with the JDS students to Sderot. Sderot is a Western Negev city and former development town in the Southern District of Israel. It is less than one mile away from the Gaza Strip and has been a huge target since 2001. We went to Sderot to give gift baskets to different families who have extreme PTSD from the missiles and bombings that have happened in their hometown. When I was at Sderot, I learned that usually when the missile alarm goes off, you only have seven seconds to get to a bomb shelter. This is why when you go to Sderot you will see a bomb shelter every twenty feet and each house has its own personal bomb shelter. Visiting these families was probably the most interesting, inspiring, and eye-opening thing I have done. Every time we would walk into their house, they would have so much food for us. We just kept eating, eating, and eating. Their kitchen islands would be filled with different kinds of warm pita, salads, cookies, chicken wings, rice, carrots, and chips. It was very inspiring to see how much hospitality they were giving to us even though we have never even met them before. We were complete strangers to them and they took us in like we were family. The director of the group who was leading us was telling us that most of these people live in poverty and can’t afford to live anywhere else in Israel. Some students on my trip were confused because some of the houses looked nice, but we later learned that real estate is beyond cheap here, because no one wants to live one mile away from the Gaza Strip. You have to live your life in fear and raise your kids in a place where missiles fly over your heads when tensions are high. Also, thats why when they were giving us so much food, I was so thankful and taken back. I have noticed that in all of Israel though. Israelis always go out of there way to make sure you are well fed, feel safe, and are constantly making sure you are enjoying yourself.

The reason I picked that as my ‘only in Israel’ moment is because there has never been a time in my life where I got to be one mile from the Gaza Strip. I had the honor of listening to people’s stories about how they live a life with bombs flying over their heads. It really made me thankful for the life that I have and made me feel stronger to Israel. It shows that even when I go back home I can still help the people that live in the Sederet and raise awareness of what has happened their.