Thursday, July 28, 2011

July 26, 2011

            Today was a day that was both extremely enlightening and incredibly sad at the same time. We started our day today with a tour of an army base, Naura, which is located near Afula. We met a few soldiers who talked to us and gave us information about the IDF.  Most of the Americans had never seen an army base before, so this was a really cool experience. We saw a bunch of tanks and artillery machines and even got to climb on top of them! Then two Israeli fellows, Yuval and Omri, led a discussion about the army and our opinions on Israelis being obligated to join the army. Through this discussion, we were able to hear how the Israelis felt about the army and the fact that they all had to go to the army in 2 years from now.

            The military is something that is a huge part of every Israeli’s life. It is something that they think about when they are young, dreaming of which unit in the army they will go into. They all know someone in the army, whether it be family, friends, or members of their community. As Americans, we tried to put ourselves in their shoes, and this brought up many questions about whether we feel obligated to protect Israel as well, or if we would be scared knowing that we would be entering the IDF in two years. This activity made all of us think and consider what our life would be like if we lived in Israel.

Next we went to have lunch and then had a break for about an hour and a half. Following was a transitional game led by Shir and Nevo. The staff then led an activity involving the 5 legs from Avraham Infeld’s speech: Israel, Family, Language, Covenant, Memory. Also we talked about the speech given to the U.N. before the statehood of Israel took place. Following this a terrific family talked about their beloved son who passed away in the I.D.F. It was pretty much a question and answer activity. The night was over and every fellow went back to their respective homes.

            From these activities we truly were able to take our previous knowledge a step further. In the first staff activity we all developed standpoints on certain items. For example a picture of a baby reading a prayer book made us all have different opinions and because of this we all learned more about our Jewish identities. After this meaningful experience for all, we listened to Arbel Reich’s parents. Arbel died in the I.D.F. This experience showed us all how parents of soldiers feel; the good and the bad. This connected with Omri and Yuval’s discussion from earlier. With both of these similar activities in a short time, the Diller cohort was able to reflect and see the risk soldiers must take. The day was truly inspirational and left us all wanting to learn more.

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