I went on Taglit Birthright Israel carrying expectations
accumulated over years of listening to the experiences of friends from
my synagogue, youth group, and Hillel. Too many times to count, these
stories included the remark that Israel is about the size of New
Jersey. But none of these stories illustrates that simple fact as
vividly as an afternoon bus ride from the desert around Masada to the
green and blue of the Kinneret. Possibly the most powerful moments of
the trip for me were spent standing at Mt. Herzl, watching soldiers my
own age, people whom I had come to consider my friends, cry as they
spoke beside the graves of people they knew. Immediately after
visiting Mt. Herzl, our group was scheduled to go to a dinner and a
concert. Our tour guide observed throughout the trip that there is no
perfect or easy way to make such a transition. If forced to sum up
what most affected me about Israel, I think it is that intensity of
extremes contained in such a small space. It is this kind of
juxtaposition that makes Israel so unique and special.
-Cayla Saret