Israel is a very unique place. There is no place on Earth quite like it.

Israel is a very unique place. There is no place on Earth quite like it. The people are unique, the land is unique, and the culture is unique. The things you see and the things you experience are things you can only find in Israel. A moment that I experienced in Israel that could not be experienced anywhere else in the world occurred on Yom Kippur.

During Yom Kippur the entire AMHSI family took a trip to the holy city of Jerusalem. Once we got to the hostel we unpacked our things and we went to eat a final meal before the fast. After the meal, we divided up into our groups to go to various synagogues around the city of Jerusalem. We sat through impactful prayers and after we took the long walk back to a square in the city to hang out and socialize. After about twenty minutes of meeting new people and talking a circle started to form in the middle of the intersection we were near.   The circle was composed of American teenagers from a variety of different Israel study abroad programs. We decided to join the circle, and within ten minutes we had migrated from the outside of the circle to the center.  This circle was special.  It was a beautiful, musical celebration of being Jewish American teenagers in Israel.  I was sitting side by side the amazing new friends I made, singing the Hebrew and Jewish snogs I know from youth groups back at home.  In the circle, people kept walking up to us and asked us what program we were from.  We replied, explaining to them that we came from numerous programs.  Every adult was stunned by the fact that the circle of song was so unified, yet most of us were strangers.  I wasn’t.  I wasn’t surprised by this because I have realized that this is what Israel is all about.  Israel is about Jews coming together. Kehilla, community is a very important part of Israel. It is a community that is different from any other community on the planet. This was truly an only in Israel moment.