Bedouin tents, hiking Masada, walking through the streets of Jerusalem, giving care packages to people in Sderot, and then the people inviting us into their homes and giving us such kind hospitality. Israel is a place of love, but also a place of contrast, and a place of pride. The country is beautiful, and has so many unique experiences that can occur while here. It is amazing how a country surrounded by enemies can be so open to people, and so kind to visitors who come here.

Imagine walking down a street and seeing buildings with plaques on them, Meir Dizengoff’s house, first prison and city hall, first house built. Travel down a couple of more blocks and the architecture is more modern with clothing stores and ice cream shops surrounding the beach. As you continue walking the sleek design of skyscrapers transforms into old stone buildings, cluttered together. The stone looks like pottery, and the alleys travel down a hill. The atmosphere has gone from living in Miami to feeling like you have time traveled to the ancient Middle East. Israel is more than a country of pride, but it seems to be time machine. Only in Israel can you find ancient cities of the Philistines and Israelites combined with movie theaters and night-clubs. It is surreal to be here and creates this feeling of joy. When there is such an atmospheric change so close together a feeling takes over you, where you feel that you could never be sad again, because you’re surrounded by something so beautiful and familiar and strange.

Only in Israel is a Jew both an accountant and a soldier. It is a very common stereotype that Jews do not fight, that they only care about education and money. In America there are a lot of Jewish doctors, jewelers, and people in the financial field. I personally have two financial advisors, two lawyers, a neurologist, and a CPA in my first family. It seems everyone follows a path of higher education that leads them to jobs where they are sitting in big offices or large cubicles. At schule the Men’s club has successful doctors, lawyers, engineers, and all different types of jobs that require years of dedication to getting a degree. And out of all of those people, not a lot of them have served. They have not fought. In Israel both the garbage man and the richest person in Tel Aviv share public similarities; they served in the IDF. It is something beautiful that despite everyone’s differences, whether they are Arab, Druze, Bedouin, Jewish, everyone is the same for two or three years of their lives. Everyone shares this national pride, and though not everyone agrees with select policies of the country, you still want to serve. I can not imagine everyone in America wanting to serve, and willing to volunteer for special units, which is how Israel builds many of its special units. I feel that only in a country with true patriotism, where the divide is not based entirely on political parties, can such a beautiful national identity form.