Thursday, March 3, 2011

Maddy's final reflection

Right now 4:00 in the morning I’m jetlagged and miss Israel so much.

Coming back to the states wasn’t easy. I miss all the signs being in Hebrew, and yesterday instead of excuse me I said, “ sleecha” to someone. My family all called me to see how the trip was, and each person asked me
what was your favorite part? To this I answered, "From the outside Israel is small but from inside Israel, it’s huge. Everything we did was so different, for me it was hard to compare them."

I miss the unplanned moments that when I think about, still make me laugh. The feeling of getting to the top of Masada was amazing. And I will never forget how I got to the top and out of relief, excitement, and exhaustion I just fell onto the top. I had mixed feelings about the Kotel; of course I loved it and would go back in a second. But if you’ve ever been, you will notice the men’s side is six times as big as the women’s.

We learned about many things: how the temple was built and destroyed, the story of Masada, and much more. Yes, I remember most of that but what I will never forget is the children’s memorial and Yad Va Shem. As I walked through, and first saw all these smiling faces, of children, then of the reflections of millions of candles that represent child deaths, I kept thinking to myself, I can’t compare to these children, nothing I have ever experienced is even close to what happened to these children.

If another trip were possible my name would be the first on the list. For me Israel is my safe place- my getaway- and yes, you might think that doesn’t make sense, Israel always is in danger- but it makes sense for me, and I think for everyone else whose ever been.

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