I felt extremely lucky and proud to be Jewish.

Coming to Israel and completely immersing myself into a new culture and environment is something very scary, yet at the same time extremely special. I wanted to take on this challenge and leave my friends and family back in America for two months for many reasons. I know that when I leave this trip, I will most likely have changed in a lot of really good ways. One of the goals that I have for my time in Israel is to discover myself more and explore my Jewish identity. Already, I have learned a lot about myself and already, I feel the role that Judaism has here is very different from that in America. For Shabbat this past weekend, we went to the Western Wall to celebrate. I absolutely loved it there. Everyone was absolute strangers, yet we were all dancing and singing together. We all had one common theme, being Jewish. Wherever we were from, we all knew the same prayers and songs that Jews have been singing for hundreds of years. I felt so amazing, and for the first time in a while, I felt extremely lucky and proud to be Jewish.

The next day, we visited many different synagogues in the area. The first one was a Sephardic synagogue, and it was really beautiful. We then went to a conservative synagogue.  Going to shul was an optional activity, and at home I never would have expected myself to voluntarily wake up early to go, however here I really looked forward to going. Another goal that I have is to see as much of Israel as I can. The Tiyuls really help with this. This past week, we also visited Masada and then the Dead Sea. I loved hiking up Masada. We stayed on the mountain for a few hours, and at the very end we yelled “shenit metzada lo tipol” which means “masada will not fall again”. The words echoed right back to us. Learning all about the Zealot sect of Judaism and their life on Masada, and then visiting the spot was so interesting and memorable for me. That trip will no doubt be one of my favorite ones that I get to go on during my time here. The Dead Sea was also really great to visit and see.

Another one of my goals is to make a lot of memories, and really enjoy my time in Israel. I have already tried many new things, and made a lot of new friends, so this has already partly happened, and I am definitely enjoying my time here. I will always remember the Tiyuls that we go on such as when we went to Masada, the Dead Sea, and shabbat at Jerusalem. I have made a lot of memories, and I know that there is more to come. My experience so far has been so positive, and I can’t wait for the weeks to come. I have learned so much in core, and seen so much of Israel. I am so happy that I decided to go on Alexander Muss.