Israel Update:

Don't count your chickens...

By Kim Richardson
Nativ

Imagine going into a place where you cannot see the outside. You do not know your fate or how your life will be handled. You do not even know where you will be the next year, the next day, the next hour.

Kim Richardson (in striped shirt), with some of her Nativ friends.

All of a sudden, a door opens and a hand pulls you from the outside world, beckoning you to come out and explore. You wish you could stay in the safe, warm place that you know, but a certain curiosity is within you. You want to see what is beyond the familiar, so you decide to investigate. As soon as you put one foot through the door, however, you are whisked away.

The minute you step in the outside world, you realize that your destiny has been predetermined. You see the sights, smells and voices of those around you. You see the 22 people who will determine your fate. They are looking at you in a questioning way. Do you have feelings? Do you realize what is happening in the world around you? Some of these people look happy, some look excited, and some of them are just plain terrified. Some of these people are ecstatic to be in this strange and foreign place, yet some are acting as though they would rather not be here. What is this strange place that I am in you wonder? What have I gotten myself into?

You then realize that you are a chicken at the kaparot festival and that you are about to take the sins of those twenty-two people. You will be swung around their heads and then killed and given to the needy as their Yom Kippur meal. However strange this festival is, it is a ritual tradition, and you are proud to be part of such an important event.

Unlike the chicken, neither my destination nor my destiny was pre-determined. I chose to come to Israel, much to the dismay of some friends and family. I only hope that I will fulfill the obligation that I have as part of the Jewish people to continue my Jewish education and support Israel as much as I can.

The first month of my Israel experience, however, was handled much like that of the chicken. I did not know how my life was going to be for the next eight months. I threw myself into a world that was completely different than the one I knew. I am now, however, getting used to being in Israel and living like an Israeli. Well, that is to say, living as much like an Israeli as possible. I have learned the key phrases to use in Israel, such as "Where are the bathrooms?" or "On the cab meter, now!" The base where we are temporarily staying is located in a beautiful neighborhood, with ten synagogues within a fifteen-minute walking range. I only hope that the Fuchsberg Center, if we move in, is as nice as our home now.

The challenges felt and accomplishments achieved by Nativ 22 are more than we could have ever imagined. We have faced opposition from close friends and even closer family members. Above all odds, the twenty-two other people that chose to come to Israel deserve a lot of recognition and a lot of respect for having the courage they do. This is a time of utter importance to show support for Israel, and the Nativers have done just this. I hope that I will continue to grow over the next eight months, on my own and with my group, and come back to America with a changed perspective on the world around me.

[Posted 10/27/02]