Reunion at Beit Rutenberg

We’re back from our home stays and more challenged than ever!  Our weekends were quite similar in many ways and quite different in others.  The overwhelming experience was a great one.  Our adoptive families picked us up, brought us home, and made us feel that we were part of their families. There was a lot of hugging and cheek kissing and tons of food!  We discovered that we have to turn the opposite direction for hot water in the shower, if we ask for toast we get a grilled cheese sandwich,  and Israeli Jewish mothers like to feed their children as much as Jewish American mothers.   Oy gevalt!

Some of us spent our weekends at Shabbat tables with huge Shabbat meals and attending synagogues and some of us spent our weekends visiting and shopping at Druze villages.  We went to malls, movies, and ate out at sidewalk cafes.  Although there was no Chinese food consumed this Christmas, there was a small Christmas exchange between Ari, Carly, Alyssa, and Brynn and, even though it was different to be in Israel for the holiday the girls decided it was a holiday full of love from their new best friends, and it was amazing to be in such a beautiful place full of new “havayahot” or experiences.

We experienced several challenges as well.   It was hard for many of us to communicate with our extended families when conversations lapsed into Hebrew.  There was a lot of hand gesticulation we just didn’t get… We also began to notice many cultural differences – many of our host families spoke about the Arab population in very black and white terms while we are constantly being pushed on this program to explore the grey.  There was also much more smoking and cuss words than we were used to, and we were practically shell shocked during our time at Israeli high schools.  Teachers having a hard time teaching the 40 students in their classes, students being asked to leave class, and student cigarette breaks between classes were among the differences.  In addition, most of us were asked if we were even Jewish.  We were challenged to think about what accounts for these cultural differences (we have several theories at the moment) and why we would even be asked if we were Jewish or not?  Is it because we don’t live in Israel and speak Hebrew?  Is it because we look so different from Israelis?  Why don’t we fit into Israeli perceptions of what Jewish is?  These conversations are only beginning to be had with our Israeli counterparts and we look forward to continuing them throughout the year, especially when they have a chance to experience American Jewry.