New Experiences

Coming from an Israeli family I have been to Israel many times before. On a few trips we have visited the Western Wall. Though each time I have gone with family and I was much younger.

This trip was a whole new experience. I am now much older than I was last time and I was with new people. I wasn't only with new people but with friends this time. I didn’t have my family rushing us along or needing me to be by their side their whole time. I had half an hour to spend either by myself or hugging my friends and feeling connected to the Jewish people.

Sometimes throughout the year there are times I don't feel connected to G-d or Israel. Living in America and not being a part of a synagogue it’s hard to feel connected. Even when first walking and seeing the Western Wall it didn't affect me the way I thought it would, I didn't feel much. Though once I went up to the Wall and actually touched it and said a prayer, I felt renewed. I felt a connection to not only G-d but I felt I was part of the Jewish people. I felt reconnected to Israel and I finally felt that I was back in the Holy Land. The first feeling I got there will always stay with me. This experience was with new people and in a new age.

From Left to Right: Hadas Ben-David, Roee Landesman, Sarah Eylon at the Western Wall

--Hadas Ben-David