Akko—When Going is Only Just the Beginning of the Journey

By Eric Goldberg
New York University
Originally Posted Nisan 5768

The paint is dry. The furniture is in place. Four bomb shelters in Akko, Israel have been transformed from small, dark spaces into warm, inviting community areas. And a group of 20 NYU students and a community thousands of miles away have been connected to and inspired by each other.

During winter break, I joined a group of NYU students as part of one of the Joint Distribution Committee’s Short-Term Service Programs. More than a year after the second Lebanon War was over, we wanted to make a difference in an underprivileged community -- a community that was hit with rockets week after week, where children were kept home from school and where the only places that provided safety were bomb shelters, many of which had no electricity or plumbing.

When we arrived in Akko, we were welcomed by representatives from the city government, by our JDC partners in Akko and by the people who lived in the neighborhood. For a week, we spent the mornings painting and the afternoons and evenings working with various community groups. We completed our tasks on schedule, exceeding expectations — both theirs and ours — with murals of farm animals and sea life in the bomb shelters, where children will now be able to play games; soothing flowers and birds as a backdrop, where the older residents will be able to enjoy card games and a facelift for the office building that will hopefully inspire the community to continue to improve itself.

The more we worked, the more excited the people in the community became. As we transformed their space, we helped motivate the community to take ownership of their lives. As we said goodbye to the people with whom we had formed deep connections, we said we would do more to continue to help and make a difference.

Yet when I returned, I quickly got lost in my busy schedule — classes, meetings, projects and more. The excitement of the trip began to wear off. While I still remained close with the friends I made on the trip, it wasn’t until I started writing this article that I realized that two months had passed since I left Akko and I still hadn’t sent the pictures I promised to send. I was quickly losing touch.

As we recall the story of Passover, we remember the Exodus from Egypt, we remember the Israelites who traveled for 40 years through the desert and we remember the climactic moment of that journey — the receiving of the Ten Commandments and the revelation at Sinai.

Yet that moment was not the end of the journey. What happened at Sinai was only the beginning -- a beginning that enabled us to move as a people to claim Israel as our own and that allows each generation to establish personal relationships with God to go on new journeys.

Since I began writing this article, I’ve begun to reconnect. I’ve sent pictures and e-mails. I’ve reconnected, not just because I said I would keep in touch but because I met people who had an impact on me, who changed me. And at the same time, in those seven days, I gave a part of myself too, and I want to see what difference our presence meant and will mean, long after our brushes were put away and our bags were packed.

In the past few weeks, thousands of you spent your spring breaks on other meaningful trips. You rebuilt homes in areas destroyed by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and you volunteered in Israel or other countries abroad. I hope that more of you will continue to take part in these trips. For those of you returning, I challenge you to keep the energy alive. Take the momentum, and share it with others. Continue to make a difference. Going there is commendable and worthwhile , that is certain, but going there is only the beginning of the journey.

So send e-mails. Share your pictures. Ask a friend about a recent trip they went on. And then see where you can go from there.

Eric Goldberg is a Senior at NYU’s Stern School of Business and studies Finance and International Business. He is a past president of KOACH at NYU and the immediate past co-president of NYU’s Hillel.

[Posted 8/1/08]