The Grand Finale

I decided to officially stop blogging. The last few months have been full of adventures as I have been busy going to ulpan, working, volunteering, and trying to live my life to the fullest. However, I found little reason to share them because these experiences have neither been out of the ordinary nor provided something to gain from by reading about. Therefore, I am sitting down to write one last blog. These blogs have been an accounting for the last five years of my life and it is only appropriate to give it a grand finale. And what is better than ending my journey than with how it started: on Kibbutz Tzuba.

Last night, was an alumni event for NFTY-EIE. My brother, friends from Camp Eisner, and other alumni that have transformed in numerous ways since their high school semester abroad, came back to reminisce and share their stories. As I shared my journey from EIE to going back to America; from high school to three incredible years at seminary; from college online to my acceptance for a masters at Harvard University; from an American Reform Jewish girl to an Israeli orthodox woman- I shared my transformation and realized the impact that these four very special months had on my life.

I was proud to help represent orthodox Jews to some of these teenagers who may have never met one. I was proud to say I was different. I was extremely proud to tell them that they shouldn't fear straying from the normal path, to ask questions, to test their beliefs, and to never stop growing. EVER.

As these kids leave their semester abroad in the next two weeks, exactly five years after I left mine, they will undergo incredible changes. Hopefully, I'll see some of them in Harvard. Hopefully, I'll see some of them in Israel. Hopefully, I'll see some of them at my shabbos table in the years to come. And lastly, I hope that I never forget that the person I am today started with one question:

What does it mean to be a Jew?