Written by Rebecca Perl '15 (CHUSY)
At at least in one point in everyone's life, you have a
moment of pure realization. Sometimes these moments are in the grocery store
buying peaches; sometimes they are while helping to paint a house; sometimes
they are reading a book or straight from waking up from a deep sleep. Sometimes
they're in the desert of Mitzpe Ramon at 4:45 in the morning. At least that was
when mine was.
After touring the north of Israel, participating in weeklong IDF training, or Gadna, HaEvent and Free Weekend, visiting Tel Aviv, and beginning a tour of the South, we stopped in Mitzpe Ramon to rappel down cliffs and spend a night sleeping in the desert under the Israeli moon. The afternoon before my "realization," we went rappelling down cliffs. I was very afraid of heights, but I promised myself that I'd do it. Not only did I rappel down that cliff, but I was the first to go. I conquered my fear of heights and I felt awesome.
That night, I saw the most beautiful sunset of my short 16 years of life. We slept under a clear sky, full of stars, billions of years old, far away in other galaxies. I spent most of the time awake, staring up at the amazing sky. It was true perfection. The next morning, our staff woke us up super early to daven shacharit by ourselves while watching the sunrise. I chose a spot away from everyone else, and instead of doing traditional prayers, I sang songs that I felt spiritually connected to. When I ran out of those, I sat and thought.
Last year was a difficult one in terms of everything, and I know I do not want a repeat of last year. I thought about how I can become a better person, how I can change my ways to be the best I can be, and how I can help myself and all of the people around me.
From that moment forward, it has been what I strive to do. These moments spent alone and together with friends in the desert and all around Israel were the moments that meant the most on Pilgrimage. They are moments that I will look back on in 20 years and I will know then, as I know now, that they were life changing. I learned that things can be fixed. I learned to look at things with clearer eyes. Most importantly, I learned that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. And we, as the Jewish people, hold a vast amount of beauty. Because Israel is all ours.
After touring the north of Israel, participating in weeklong IDF training, or Gadna, HaEvent and Free Weekend, visiting Tel Aviv, and beginning a tour of the South, we stopped in Mitzpe Ramon to rappel down cliffs and spend a night sleeping in the desert under the Israeli moon. The afternoon before my "realization," we went rappelling down cliffs. I was very afraid of heights, but I promised myself that I'd do it. Not only did I rappel down that cliff, but I was the first to go. I conquered my fear of heights and I felt awesome.
That night, I saw the most beautiful sunset of my short 16 years of life. We slept under a clear sky, full of stars, billions of years old, far away in other galaxies. I spent most of the time awake, staring up at the amazing sky. It was true perfection. The next morning, our staff woke us up super early to daven shacharit by ourselves while watching the sunrise. I chose a spot away from everyone else, and instead of doing traditional prayers, I sang songs that I felt spiritually connected to. When I ran out of those, I sat and thought.
Last year was a difficult one in terms of everything, and I know I do not want a repeat of last year. I thought about how I can become a better person, how I can change my ways to be the best I can be, and how I can help myself and all of the people around me.
From that moment forward, it has been what I strive to do. These moments spent alone and together with friends in the desert and all around Israel were the moments that meant the most on Pilgrimage. They are moments that I will look back on in 20 years and I will know then, as I know now, that they were life changing. I learned that things can be fixed. I learned to look at things with clearer eyes. Most importantly, I learned that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. And we, as the Jewish people, hold a vast amount of beauty. Because Israel is all ours.
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