Our first days with the Haifa Fellows

It's been a couple of days since we blogged and after you read this post you’ll understand why.  We woke up in Neve Shalom on Wednesday, having spent a large portion of the night getting to know our new Israeli friends.  Now, both groups of teenagers are totally exhausted J

We headed to Neot Kedumim for our morning programming.  Neot Kedumim is a nature reserve which recreates the land at the time of the Bible.  Our guides showed us around the reserve and at different stations the groups (we split up into two mixed groups) were asked to complete tasks.   We found ourselves trying to get water out of a well without being able to look or fully communicate with each other, crushing up leaves to make Zatar, and figuring out how to herd a group of sheep.  Our final task of the day was to create our own lunch using basic ingredients such as eggs, flour, spices, and vegetables.  And, oh right, we first had to build a fire to cook it all.  At first we were a bit intimidated but the Americans got excited about starting the fire and the Israelis got excited about cooking shakshuka and pita, and pretty soon everyone was pitching in to make a meal for 40+ people.  The groups made fresh pita, egg scrambles, pasta with sauce, salads, apple pie, and more.  We were actually surprised that we managed to do it and it was delicious and Tamar was really surprised by how willing we were to clean up after ourselves and wash the pots and pans we cooked with.  She threatened to share this knowledge with our parents if we didn’t behave.

We knew we would also end the day in a biblical landscape – but on route we jumped forward thousands of years stopping at a modern art museum called Museum on the Seam.  It’s on the road that at one point was the seam between Israel’s Jerusalem and Jordan’s Jerusalem pre-1967.  The museum houses political-socioeconomic exhibitions and we saw an exhibit about the right to protest.  Many pieces of art were by Israeli artists telling the story of the protests in Israel the last few years and many pieces came from around the world (Iran, China, USA).  Going through the museum provoked many questions about art in general and how to understand it but also questions about how protesting fits into our notions of pluralism, leadership, tolerance, and tikkun olam.  We had the chance to reflect on the pieces and it was fascinating to hear what the Americans took away from the pieces and what the Israelis took away from them.  It definitely set the stage for conversations about the political left and right in Israel and America’s support of the Israeli government.    

We ended our day at the tent of Abraham, a tent in the dessert which hosts groups of people interested in experiencing desert life in Israel.  We ate dinner and the groups participated in programming led by fellows.  We taught each other games, dances, and cheers. At our maagal layla all 40 of us reflected on the day and talked about our needs and hopes from the group and what we personally brought to the group. It was clear that our first whole day together had really created bonds based on shared experiences and listening to the thoughts of the others.  Boys retired to their tent and girls retired to theirs as we said good night and prepared for another big day on Thursday.