Edition 3 - An Eventful First Few Weeks
Before I get into what I had initially planned to share in this bi-weekly newsletter, I want to say that I am safe. I left Israel and I am now in Romania. I will write a bit more about my experiences in Israel during the war near the end of the email but I want to paint a picture of what my first few weeks in Israel were like before diving into the my first-hand experiences with the conflict.
A Meaningful and Educational Start
The first few weeks with Yahel have been extremely meaningful and educational. As a cohort, we spent a few days together in Rishon LeTsiyon (South of Tel Aviv) learning about the Ethiopian Jewish community, beginning our intensive Ulpan (Hebrew classes), and bonding as a community. We started meeting with Non-Profit Organizations and schools in Lod where we will have the opportunity to volunteer and work at over the next 9-months. We received our host families who have been extremely kind, welcoming, and life-saving over these first couple of weeks. Some highlights below:
An orientation day filled with bonding, learning about Yahel’s creation and values, and moving into our apartments in our cities.
Our first Shabbat together in the apartment complete with a group challah braid session, dinner together on Friday night, and lunch together on Saturday with my host family.
Yom Kippur spent with a good friend from back home who has been staying in Rishon LeTsyion - watching the community shut down and seeing children and parents wearing white and roaming the streets without cars was astonishing. Even families that aren’t religious were pushing strollers and having special outdoor family time throughout the evening.
Beginning a fantastic Ulpan course (Hebrew classes) - I can already visibly see improving my ability to speak, write, and understand the language.
Experiencing a traditional Buna (Ethiopian coffee ceremony) from an incredible Ethiopian Jewish woman who had an extremely fascinating history to tell.
Shabbat and Erev Sukkot spent in Haifa with some of my roommates and the Haifa fellows.
Meeting with 5 placement options (across the non-profit and elementary school sectors) focused on servicing the Arabic community in Lod. Each of these organizations are run by the Arabic community in Lod and focus on real difficulties from women’s/mother’s support groups to after school programs for students that come from hard home lives.
Having the opportunity to see 6 different friends from Brooklyn, Manhattan, and my other solo travels who all happened to be traveling in Tel Aviv during Sukkot.
Weekend of Oct. 6th (Shabbat + Sukkot)
Thursday, October 5
Thursday started with a few hours of Ulpan followed by Sukkot learning in the Sukkah of our of our Lod host families. In the evening, my host family was able to find a Hoshana Rabbah (7th day of Sukkot) learning session in English in a town not so far away and offered to take me. The community that hosted the shiur (learning session) seemed to be an English speaking community of semi-recent Olim. The people were incredibly kind and had so many amazing and insightful thoughts to share.
Friday, October 6
On Friday morning, I traveled to Tel Aviv to have brunch with a friend that I met during my previous solo travel in Jerusalem. This friend had just returned from Jordan and was back in Israel for a few days before heading home to Essex. After this, I traveled back to Lod for Shabbat. All of my roommates had decided to head up north to Haifa for the weekend but I was so exhausted that I wanted to stay in Lod and experience Shabbat there with the community. At night, I went with my host family to a Shul nearby for some Simchat Torah dancing and then back to their apartment for dinner. It was such a lovely and relaxing evening.
Saturday October 7
7:00am - Sirens, boom, boom
8:00am - Sirens, boom, boom
9:00am - Sirens, boom, boom
My roommates are away for the weekend. My phone is off for Shabbat and the holiday. I’ve never heard the sirens before.
9:30am - Knock, knock, knock
I come to my front door, not knowing who was knocking. I was surprised and relieved to see the father of one of our host families in Lod. I let him in and the first thing he said was “Do you want to not be alone right now?”. At this point, it was obvious what was going on and he was right - I didn’t want to be alone. I grabbed my phone, ID card, and credit card (all as a ‘just in case’ precaution) and we walked back together to the rest of the family.
Along the way, he pointed up at the sky to show me the lines that the rockets from Gaza create and the “poof” that the Iron Dome rockets create when they make impact with those from Gaza. We saw someone outside on his cell phone so we asked him if he knew what was happening - typically there is some sort of recent escalation where citizens can expect something like this to take place but that wasn’t the case this time. The man explained that Hamas terrorists had made their way into Israel on foot and that sirens had been going off throughout the southern part of the country all morning. At that moment, my host father immediately knew that he needed to turn his phone on once we got back to the apartment - if what we had just heard was true, then he knew that the IDF would be calling in soldiers like him from reserves despite completing his service 10+ years ago. He was right. A couple of hours later I watched him tell his 4 children that he was being called to serve. They cried, they hugged him, and they packed his bag full of Bamba.
By this point, my phone was on and I had started my round of “I am safe but there is something happening here” text messages to my immediate family, close friends, and others on my fellowship program. I stayed with the family for the entire day, we chatted, we had lunch, and we did a very intense 3D Harry Potter puzzle. By the end of the day, I got word that the fellows in the South (Lod and Rishon LeTsiyon) would have the opportunity to move up North to stay with our fellowship organizer and her family. In the evening, I briskly walked back to my apartment to pack a backpack for a few days - some t-shirts and shorts and my passport (again, just in case). While packing, I had to run into the stairwell of my apartment building for safety when another round of sirens rang - because our building doesn’t have safe rooms or bomb shelters, the stairwell is the safest place to get to quickly. Later that evening, I made it up to Zichron Yaakov where I would stay for nearly a week.
During this week in Zichron Yaakov, we collected food and good donations for soldiers, volunteered at a local army base to pack food for soldiers, practiced our Hebrew by reading books to the family we were staying with, painted one of the daughter’s bedrooms, and cooked together. Thank goodness, this area was completely safe while we were there but despite our general physical safety there was an intense, looming emotional presence.
FAQs
What is going on with the fellowship now?
On Tuesday, October 10th, we found out that the fellowship was being suspended. While upsetting, I know that this was the right decision for the current situation. My ultimate hope is that this war ends soon - the amount of innocent lives being caught in the crossfire is disheartening and sickening. When it is safe to go back to help rebuild and the fellowship restarts, that’s where I will be. The need will be different than it was when I first signed onto this project, but it will be stronger (especially in mixed cities like Lod) than ever before.
What is your plan given the situation in Israel?
I told myself when the war started that once an Israeli told me that I should leave the country, I would do so. I took the fellowship being suspended as just that and so did most of the other fellows. I have been in Romania now since Thursday, October 12th. Candidly, it was one of the first El Al flights I could find (plus Romania has been on my travel list). I have been taking it slow and absorbing what I experienced during my last week in Israel. While I continue to absorb, I’ve decided to travel for a little bit. I am not quite ready to come back to the States (although, I know I have many homes there if/when I decide to head back). For now, I am “accidentally backpacking” because that is all I have with me. I’ll be in Romania until Tuesday, October 24th - then I’ll be heading to Dublin, Ireland! What’s after that? Not sure yet, we shall see.
Will you still be sending these bi-weekly emails even though you aren’t in Israel?
Great question - candidly, I have no idea. I would love to keep my loved ones posted on my life and selfishly, I would love to look back at these later in life to read about my experiences during this crazy time. I don’t know what the cadence will be moving forward as that depends on what I am doing. Nevertheless, keep an eye out! Maybe you’ll find an Emma’s World Adventures newsletter in your inbox soon.