Shalom Beit Shean

After my last week volunteering in Beit Shean, I don’t even know where to begin to try and summarize my experience living and volunteering in this wonderful city. These past 3 months have made such a tremendous impact on my life and I have loved every second. I came to Israel on the OTZMA program to try and figure out what I want to do with my life, to find a direction, something I know will enjoy doing and something I will be passionate about. I knew I liked working with kids and the idea of teaching had definitely crossed my mind, but I never had any formal classroom experience and I wasn’t completely sure that was a track I wanted to pursue. Volunteering in the schools here has been amazing! I have loved getting to know all the classes, teaching them songs from camp, and helping in other aspects of the English classes. I was able, especially with one of my fourth grade classes, to really connect with the kids in the class and get them to love English by singing. Through my time here I decided that there is no way I should not be working with kids and I actually felt extremely comfortable in a classroom setting, but I want something more. I want to teach, but I also want to be involved with informal Jewish education through summer camps, youth leadership programs, etc. All of these things I had thought about before as options, but until Beit Shean I didn’t see how easy, fun, rewarding, and natural it really is to pursue this.

         This past week I have felt more appreciated than I ever have before. I have said before that the people in Beit Shean are wonderful and appreciative and just all around amazing, but this week was extra special. I had 2 goodbye parties at both of my schools and then a final goodbye party from the partnership. At each of these parties I received all kinds of gifts and tokens of appreciation from all the kids, Liat (my teacher), the school, my host family, the partnership, the city, and more. From my pillow with the whole 4^th grade class to the hand drawn cards of all the kids, to cakes and flowers and soaps of the like, pictures and memory books, certificates and more. It was so unbelievably touching and I will treasure each and every thing as a memory of my time here in Beit Shean. Beyond all the stuff though, was were the real magic lies. The things that people said, the way everyone has been acting is really hard to describe in words. There is a mutual feeling of admiration that I have felt over the past few weeks with everyone I volunteered with and within the partnership. It’s funny too because all I have been doing is just being myself and sharing what I already know. Whether it’s singing the moose song in class or staying up late to make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for the class, everything has been so easy and fun for me to do. There are a few relationships I want to highlight with people I have really connected with.

         Gaya: I have a bunch of students that are my secret favorites for various reasons, but Gaya is extra special. Her English is amazing, and I am still amazed to this day about how she learned her English and how smart she is in general. I started visiting her outside of school because she wanted me to come and speak English with her since there is such a lack in Beit Shean, but now we have bonded together a lot and our relationship is built on much more than talking English. She is like a little sister to me, and her family has become like a 2^nd host family. She is so wonderful, so full of energy, so enthusiastic about English, my songs, and just spending time with me in general. She is absolutely adorable and hard not to instantly fall in love with! I will definitely miss her and her craziness when I leave.

         Tomer 4^th grade: Gaya is the 4^th grade at Tomer school, and she and I have bonded, but I have formed a special bond with not only her, but her whole class as well. The 4th graders at Tomer have become my #1 fans and have completely fallen in love with my songs. They are each amazing in their own way and I will for sure miss walking into a room and having every person in it be genuinely excited I am there. They are my song buddies, my little friends, and I will miss the whole class.

         Liat: I could not have asked for a better teacher to work with than Liat. The only reason I even started teaching the kids the songs was because Liat asked me for songs from America. She already had a base of songs that she used to teach the kids, and I think they are so cute and it’s such a great idea. Anyway I was so happy to be able to contribute in a really unique way from the other otzmanikim around the country and I owe it all to Liat! =) She also was a big part of my goodbye party from Tomer which was so amazing and I loved the pillow and picture book she made with the kids! I also really enjoyed getting to know her on a personal level. We had a lot of fun as she made fun of me for my obsession with baseball, orange and blue, falling all the time, and all my other ridiculous tendencies. I also loved getting to meet her family, especially her son who is absolutely adorable! I will miss Liat inside and outside of the classroom, but I am so glad I got the chance to work with her!

         My host family: My host family has been so welcoming and caring, and really just simply wonderful. I have really become like part of the family, playing with all the little babies, hanging out on Shabbat, eating lots of food, and constantly being entertained by Nissim’s craziness and sense of humor. They made me a wonderful book of photos that showed my journey through Beit Shean, and it is really something. My Hebrew has improved so much hanging out with them and speaking back and forth in Hebrew. Really I owe all my skills in Hebrew to them and Nissim’s agreement with me in the beginning that he speaks in English and I speak in Hebrew.

         Lindsay and Alex: Even though I think I drove them crazy sometimes with all my songs and such, I really had a great time living with them. Lindsay was like my partner crime, as we had a lot of our volunteering together and we spent a lot of time together. She was my girl-talk buddy and I am so happy I got to know her better during the whole part 2. Alex has become like my brother—literally he sometimes acts like my brother from home. Whether he is helping me not kill the computer or saying something that prompts me hitting him with a towel, he has acted just like my brother would. I am glad I got the opportunity to really spend some quality time with both of them, and I think we are so lucky to live in such a wonderful, warm community, where together we were able to make an impact on the city and have the most amazing experience ever.

         Moriah: Moriah our amazing soldier friend that we worked with in the chug has been so amazing. She is so much fun and one of the only people our age that we really hung out with in Beit Shean. She always wanted Alex, Lindsay, and I to work on our Hebrew, but I think she was pretty happy with mine =). She definitely helped me in chug though, as my Hebrew is far from perfect. I had so much fun working with her on the chug, and dealing with all the crazy kids. I’m so glad I got the chance to know her and form an awesome friendship that will carry one beyond our time in Beit Shean! I will definitely miss her soo much, but I know I’ll keep in touch with her after I leave!

         Chen. I really don’t think words can do Chen justice. Chen has been a beyond amazing coordinator, and I can’t imagine how Beit Shean would have been for me if it were not for her. Everyday when I see her she brightens my day and although we make fun of her for talking on two cell phones at once, and always running around doing 5 million things, she has done so much for us and I cannot thank her enough. She is the whole basis for my experience in Beit Shean being so amazing and I love her so much! She was one of the people that really helped me to focus on education as a career track and I think that my admiration for her works both ways, as she always seems to have this confidence in me that I will be amazing. I also loved getting to know her family, she has 3 crazy adorable little kids and one more coming =) I love Chen more than words can say and keeping in touch is a given!

         All of these people and many more have left such an impact within me and have enabled me to leave an impact in Beit Shean. I really have become a part of the community here and it truly is like a 2^nd home. I have been so touched by everyone in the city and it is so bittersweet to leave. It’s so sweet because I look at all that I have accomplished in only 3 months and all the people who have appreciated my time here, my songs, and my contribution to the city, and I am so grateful to have had this opportunity, It’s bitter because my time here has flown by so fast and it’s so sad to leave it all behind. I will miss so much about Beit Shean, but I am excited to keep in touch with all the friendships I have made and to come back visit my home in Israel. I have traveled all around Israel at this point and have seen a lot of the beautiful and amazing country, but by far the place I am most connected to is right here in the Valley of the springs! Shalom Beit Shean, or more appropriate, Lehit Reot (see you later).

my host family! =)

me and gaya! 

one of my peanut butter and jelly sandwiches I made =)

Liat and I! =)

Chen! <3 

the whole gang at one of our final dinners...

surprise party at bicora! 

all my stuff from tomer and bicora! 

6th grade at tomer =)

pillow from Liat and the 4th grade

my beautiful book from Liat and the 4th grade!

goodbye party from the partnership..so sad to leave!

 * I have lots of cute pictures of the kids and I at school from the goodbye parties but I can't put them on blogs or facebook because of school safety laws, but if you want to see more let me know =)

Gallil Minnorities Tiyul

Last week we finally had our first Otzma seminar in north! We traveled to the Galil to learn about the populations who live within the region, which are not typically focused on during a trip to Israel. We started our trip by meeting with someone from Shorasim, a small Jewish village in the Galilee of about 80 families. She gave us a general overview of the region and the consequences of living within very different populations. Not only are there both Arabs and Jews living in the region, but each people has different variations that make them distinctly separate and live life very differently. For example, within the Arab population you have Muslims, Christians, Bedouins, and then Druze (who really don’t consider themselves to be Arabs).

         We then went to Sachnin, a large Arab city, to meet Arab university students who were studying to be English teachers.  We discussed all kinds of topics with them from the political situation in Israel to how annoying the stray cats can be everywhere. Of the girls I spoke to, they all liked living in Israel and felt it was their home. They expressed a strong connection to the land and their families who were rooted here, and that Israel itself was where they belonged. However none of them felt connected to the Israeli community and they didn’t feel like the government was supporting them. None of them had any Jewish friends and one girl said she was afraid of Jewish people (which was interesting because she didn’t seem to be afraid of me). I think the fear is of Jewish Israelis, not really Jewish people, because as American Jews do not appear as threatening. Most of them did not like the government or the fact that it was a Jewish state; they wonted some sort of combined state for Arabs and Jews. They did not want a second state, and if one was created, they emphasized they would not leave to go to it. One of the most interesting things I heard though was in a response to a question I asked. I asked one of the girls if given the situation, if she thought that anything could be done by Jews or otherwise to make the her feel like a part of the community and integrate into society. She told me no, that nothing could be done to make her want to be included in a general Israeli community, because it is all rooted in her and her friends’ families. They grew up being told to live separate lives and were raised to stay in separate communities from the Jewish people. The whole experience was very interesting and something most Israeli Jews never even get a chance to do.

         We then hiked to the Peki’in village, where we experienced Druze hospitality. We ate authentic Druzian food and spoke with a Druze man. The Druze people are a people that are very loyal to the country of which they reside. Having said that, all the Druze people living within original 1938 borders are very loyal to and supportive of the state of Israel. They are so loyal that they demanded to have the obligation to serve in the army like any Jew. The non-religious Druze men are the only Arab people who have an obligation to serve in the IDF. The Druze people loved Israel and unlike the Arab university students, they felt very much a part of the Israeli community.

The next morning we went on a walking tour of Akko and then went to the Western Galilee college in order to speak with both Israeli and Arab students who study together. The dean spoke to us and explained that the mission of the college was to give everyone an opportunity to study without the restrictions of Jewish or Arab. The students are encouraged to leave the politics and their differences at home and work together to achieve all their individual goals. The Arab Israeli citizens here were a more positive about their relations with Jewish Israelis. We spoke with several different students again covering a wide range of issues, but mostly what I took from  this visit was that in some places at least, if both populations work together they can coexistence and live peacefully together in a community,