Imagine the opportunity to experience modern Israel firsthand, to learn about Jewish history in the land where it happened. Imagine the opportunity to study Hebrew at a prestigious Israeli university, to take on intellectually stimulating coursework and receive credit for it at your home university. Imagine studying the sacred texts of our tradition. Imagine the opportunity to become an integral part of the Israeli progressive Jewish community and to show Israeli citizens that American Jews care about them.
On September 12, 2004, eight 18-year-old high school graduates from around the United States traveled to Israel and became part of Carmel: A Progressive Beit Midrash and Israel Study Program, hosted by the University of Haifa and the Leo Baeck Education Center. Until January, many of us had been planning to continue with the status quo – to attend college back in the United States. Some of us had never even visited Israel. But after only three months, everything has already changed. I’ve come to realize that the lifelong quench for Jewish learning and the lifelong struggle with defining my Jewish identity can only begin here in Israel. Israel cannot be the end of a quest for knowledge. It must be the beginning.
When I leave Israel, I will remember the small experiences: being thrust into a shuk (open-air market) on the second day of our program with little experience communicating in Hebrew. I’ll remember the powerful yet subtle rabbinic ordination ceremony of the head of our program and the wonderful Shabbat dinners with host families and the spirited shirim (songs) afterward. I will remember spending 10 days studying and traveling Jerusalem; taking a Slichot night-tour of Tiberias that ended watching the sunrise over the Kinneret; and spending a month in the desert on kibbutzim – hiking, exploring, and learning about desert agriculture.
Beyond the memories, Carmel has given us a tremendous opportunity: the chance to define our Jewish identity and our Jewish and Zionist values. With the opportunity to travel the country in which Jewish history was created, to study at a premier Israeli university and in a progressive Beit Midrash paralleled by no other, we become stronger Jews and stronger leaders.
I’ve only been in Israel for three months, but I can already say that my life has been altered by my experiences with the Carmel Program. I know that I have already accomplished incredible goals and that the rest of the year only holds more potential.
