By: Michal
Landau, MBI Vav/Gilboa
I was going to write an
article about going to Tzahal [ed note:
Israeli Army] next year, but I deleted the paragraph I had written,
realizing that I’m not sure if I’m even going, or maybe hesitating to commit
myself to my words. I’ve been wanting
to go back to Israel (I left at age nine) since we left. I’ve been planning on
joining the army since my first summer at Gilboa, when I fully realized that
Israel was home, and, as close as anything in the States got to being home,
there was always something missing. I have since then been contemplating what
it was that was missing, if it existed in Israel, and if what I had here was
close enough to disregard the “missing”.
What is happiness anyway? What is Truth? As unrelated to my dilemma as
those questions are, they add to my confusion in deciding where to be next
year.
As I am typing this, I sit at the Central
Office, on my NY visit to meet with my Garin, Garin Tzabar, and look at
colleges. So maybe after this weekend I’ll have a better idea of what I want,
but somehow I think I’ll be more confused.
My
garin rocks as a kvutsa. We are all Israelis living in the States, and are all
in the same dilemma. When we meet, we have peulot about the army, we talk about
our identity, and the parts of us that are Israeli and American. We talk about
what it means to go to Israel, and what we can expect. We dance in hotel rooms
(where our seminars take place) and play soccer on the roof. There are
currently 28 of us, increased from 20 our first meeting, and 25 at our second.
Most of us are either finishing our last year of high school, or our first year
of college. We have our first Canadian this meeting. I have never been part of
a cooler kvutsa. There is a strong
sense of responsibility for each other, and an understanding that has to do
with our background and our future. We share a concrete goal, and the decisions
we come to will have major consequences in our life. It is really scary to make such a big decision, but really
fulfilling. I wouldn’t want to be in
any other situation.
If
you are interested being a part of Garin Tzabar, it is not too late to join.
Call Meirav, madricha, at (914) 637-2280 or isrscouts@aol.com
Hot
off the presses…Workshoppers have recently packed up and moved to
Jerusalem! Here they are living at the
fun and fabulous Kiryat Moriah seminar center.
They have only been at the center for 2 days so far, but have already
hiked around the Dead Sea where they rappelled like crazy, visited Ammunition
Hill and have participated in intense daily seminars.
On
Shabbat they will walk to the Kotel (Western Wall) and after that they will
spend the day with the British Garin. The British Garin is a group of 3 Habonim
Dror Bogrim who have recently made communal Aliyah. (see article in last month’s batnua for more details!)
More
on Workshop next month!