Final Thoughts

Well here I am, back home in Santa Barbara, relaxing and counting down the days until I leave for college. Things are much simpler here. There are no sirens, no rockets and no war. In fact, most people in Santa Barbara have little to no idea of the events taking place in Israel and Gaza. Its as if the Middle East is another planet with little to no connection to the United States. It seems only my Jewish friends have any opinion on the matter. But despite the general public's ignorance, Israel continues to be extremely important to me. I think about my trip every day, and specifically I think about the people I met. Every time I hear of rocket alerts, I think of the dozens of people I have a personal relationship with scattered all across Israel. I have definitely mentioned this before, but being in Israel during the war has made the whole conflict personal. Whenever I hear about a rocket strike or an Iron Dome interception I think back to my personal experiences and envision a rocket flying over my head, just like that day at the beach in Herziliya last month. Israel has become much more personal. That, I think will be the lasting impact of my trip. Another very impactful experience came last week at Friday evening Shabbat services. I saw my friends Daniel and Itay, whom I had met and hung out with 7500 miles away in Haifa. That, to me, was an amazing experience. The connection between CBB and Leo Baeck had finally come full circle. I had stayed with Itay's family in Haifa and worked at his school and he was now at my synagogue in my hometown. We both had a chance to experience each other's culture and life and are both better because of it.