Studying abroad in Israel

I Just Got Home and I'm Going Back

By Harriet Lerman
University of Wisconsin

During winter break I had the opportunity to go on the United Jewish Communities (UJC) Contemporary Jewish Affairs Institute. The Institute was a ten-day trip to the Ukraine and Israel for student leaders from campuses across the United States. The main focus of the trip was to see how UJC works with Jewish communities worldwide and the needs of the different communities. The trip presented our group with interesting issues that many of us had not considered before as a problem for world Jewry.

Being in Ukraine gave me a very different view of a Jewish community than I was used to. There is still a great deal of anti-Semitism there and many Jews have married non-Jews to give their children better lives in society. This was all very new to me and it was hard to see the struggling Jewish community that is slowly gaining strength. Many parents are choosing to send their children to Israel to have better lives and reinvigorate their Jewish spirit. The ideal of Israel is still very much alive in Ukraine.

After four days in Ukraine we were off to Israel. The trip to Ukraine had worn us out, but somehow, when we got on the plane for Israel in the very early hours of the morning our spirits lifted. Everyone was anxious to return to Eretz Yisrael, though we have all kept our experience in Ukraine close to our hearts.

When we arrived in Israel, we saw many tour groups arriving into the madness of Ben Gurion airport, but it wasn't quite as packed as I had remembered it to be. My first trip to Israel was on the Alexander Muss High School in Israel program four years ago. I remember having the hardest time getting from the entrance to the baggage claim not too far away. It became clear to many of us that this trip would be extremely different from when we had last visited. However, I felt so much safer and at home in Israel then I did in Ukraine.

We spent Shabbat in Mitzpe Ramon, which brought back memories of walks in the Negev. During this time we heard stories from olim of all backgrounds and quietly contemplated life in Israel while sitting on the edge of the Makhtesh (crater). While I was sitting there, I looked at all the paths in the crater. All the paths – no matter how winding and long – came together in the middle. Some may have merged with others, but they all became one at the end. This thought stayed with me throughout the rest of the trip.

On our way to Jerusalem we stopped at a moshav on the border of Gaza and at a small city in the West Bank the next day. I realized that the people living there were affected by the conflict more than others, but they also made life go on as usual. However, when we were in the West Bank overlooking Palestinian and Jewish villages one thought came to mind. I had come to believe that there were strict borders between these places, but once I saw them up close, I could see that there was nothing holding anyone back. There may be one checkpoint on one road, but it is easily avoidable. So how do these things get blown so out of proportion by the media?

Maybe these are the things that my parents worry about when, for the past two years, I have been planning to study abroad at Hebrew University my junior year. I do have some of the same fears that they do, but somehow I push them aside.

Going on the UJC Institute only reinforced my plans to study in Israel no matter what the situation. I have a sense of belonging in Israel more than anywhere else, and I don't see my near future not taking me there.

I saw many sad and devastating things in Israel that are being changed by the help that people receive from world Jewry. But I also experienced this in Ukraine and there are atrocities all over the world. So when the world is always focused on the problems in Israel, I see where it can get scary. Currently the program for Hebrew University at UW-Madison has been canceled, but I am still planning to go. I am not sure what might happen in the next few months, however my heart is in Jerusalem and for the moment that's where it will stay. 

[Posted 4/30/03]