Deena Kleinstein '15 (Hagalil)

Two years ago in Israel, the Kotel reached into my soul and supplied me with the most touching memory I have ever had. It was my last Shabbos before I would return to America, and my emotions were running wild. 

I was informed that we would be walking back to the hostel at about twelve at night. Capitalizing on the short time we had left, a group of girls and I rushed down to the deserted Kotel and pulled up white plastic chairs. We sat, we sang, we prayed. 

In the moment full of silence and prayer I have never felt closer to Hashem and my heritage. That serene moment at the Kotel will stick with me forever and continue to supply me with smiles every day. I could not be more excited to continue my spiritual journey and love for Israel this summer on USY Israel/Poland Pilgrimage.

Michaela Master '15 (CRUSY)

This is a picture that I took while on Israel Adventure Plus Pilgrimage this past summer. This was the morning after the Desert Experience; our staff had instructed us to pray our own personal shacharit. Everyone really used this opportunity to have some private prayers by setting out all over the canyon. It was a moving experience to see how we were all so spread out- and yet I still felt connected to our prayers nonetheless. This reflects my relationship to Israel: although it might be on the other side of the world, I still feel that I have a personal connection with it, regardless of distance, and enhanced by my religion.

Lessons Learned on the Horizon

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.