By Alex Kadis, Otzma, Cleveland, OH

 

Somehow a month has already passed us by. In that time, we’ve been taught about our history and our faith, helped each other overcome our fears, “rode” camels, floated in the Dead Sea, practiced yoga, attended a rally, hiked to a waterfall, moved into merkaz klita (absorption center) Beit Canada, began studying Hebrew together, watched the sun rise over the Old City in Jerusalem, welcomed in the new year, ate massive amounts of food with our new host families, celebrated a couple birthdays (Jason Winkler and Shauna Gamsey), and witnessed the serenity of Jerusalem on Yom Kippur. Perhaps most importantly, we’ve become a family.

 

Our introduction to Israel was fast-paced, exciting and highly varied. On our very first group hike, we helped fellow group members overcome their fears of very,...