ein shabbat cmo shabbat b'yerushalayim (theres no shabbat like shabbat in jerusalem)

Last week for me was an incredibly difficult week.  I think that because I did not feel anything before I left for Israel, it all hit me at once.  Speaking hebrew was incredibly difficult, and I tried to (and still try) to speak all the time, but it just feels like there is a never ending list of words and rules and conjugations that I will never know.  I had one REALLY bad day, and then that night our soldiers that live with us and are basically our counselors--they run activities, talk with us, etc-- woke us up in the middle of the night to show us a little bit of what it means to be in the army.  At one point, they yelled at me to do seven push ups   and I had no idea what she was saying (obviously...they didn't teach us the word push up in hebrew class at BU) and it just felt so so shitty.  After it was over, I went back into my room and SOBBED.  I told my roommate that I felt like I didn't want to do it and I wouldn't be able to survive it.  Immediately after, my two chaylot (soldiers) came into my room.  It had been obvious that I was having a lot of trouble with my hebrew and they made me feel a lot better.  After they left, Amy and I sat and complained about all the stupid little shit that pissed us off and after we got it all off our chests, I breathed a sigh of relief and started over....and there is nothing better to restore a sense of meaning then spending a Shabbat in Jerusalem. 

I got to Jerusalem on Friday morning and my two friends (rachel and amy) and I immediately went to Machane Yehudah--the shuk in Jerusalem.  It's so incredible to see a place PACKED with people, with everyone getting ready for Shabbat.  I was spending the weekend with Heddy, my friend who went to Brandis, worked for Hasbara with me, and made Aliyah a month before I did.  It was so so nice to have someone to talk with who knows me from home, and who understands my ridiculous crazy loud Zionism.  It was also nice to talk with someone who isn't in my Garin (even though I love them) about being in Israel, and making Aliyah, etc.  We went to her boyfriend's family's house for Friday night dinner and I had the most delicious split pea soup.  It was really really nice.  I really like doing Shabbat, and I missed it! I feel like I havn't done it since BU and it really is such a nice thing to do.  After we hung out for a while, Heddy and I walked back to where we were staying for the night and on the way we decided to walk by the Gilad Schalit tent.  I had never seen it before, and it really hit home.

There is something really really incredible about this country, and I think that the situation with Gilad Schalit really exemplifies it.  In Israel, when a soldier goes missing or a soldier dies, the whole country grieves.  In America, it doesn't hit home, because how many people (at least in my life) do I know that are American soldiers.  But here, that soldier could be my friend, or my neighbor, or my boyfriend, or my brother.  Now that I'm living with 15 boys, 14 of whom want to be in combat, I get it.  I understand why Gilad's parents have given up their lives for their son. 

After we passed the the tent, Heddy and I ran into 6 or 7 people that we knew.  That's another thing about Israel--"wherever you go, there's always someone Jewish".  I ran into a camper from Sprout Lake who had just gotten back and she was so sad! I remembered what it was like to leave camp at the end of the summer (especially Bogrim year) and I really felt for her!  And then I told her that I had just made aliyah and how if you can't be at camp, at least she gets to be in Israel...the place that she learns about ALL THE TIME at camp.  And we talked about TY and Machon and Year Course and it made me so grateful for Young Judaea. It really is the reason why I'm here, and it made me think about how I really do want to do something in my life for people like YJ did for me!  

And then today we had a really great discussion about the army, and about Israelis that don't go to the army, and about what we're doing.  We talked about how the army is like "the people build the army builds the people" We talked about it what it meant that the army is a "nation's army".  And it made me so proud.  It made me so happy to be a Jew, and I love that I am joining an army not just for Israel, but for all of the Jewish people in the world.  It's really really an incredible concept, and there is nothing else like it in the world.  

I'm feeling really good about being here, and even though I'm having a lot of trouble with my hebrew, I know it's the right thing, and I know if I keep working hard, I'll be good.  

YAY Israel!