I spent this past shabbat with a new group of seminary girls who are beginning their year of Torah study in Israel. Along with the other madrichot (counselors? there really is no translation for this kind of job, at least that I can think of), I led a discussion group with (most of) the girls before shabbat rest. We started with the point of why anyone would want to spend a year in seminary, traveled along to the importance of spending a year learning Torah, and stopped while discussing integration into Israeli society.
I have to admit, I was quite surprised to learn that most of the girls were in agreement that they wanted to get outside the “American” bubble, but felt that it probably wouldn’t be feasible. One of them explained by saing that even if they ignored the language gap, there still would be a huge cultural gap that they feel would take a long time to overcome- manners, dress, customs, what’s acceptable? what’s not?
It got me thinking.
I grew up in Israel since they age of eleven. At the time, I thought I was pretty old to be making aliyah (a.k.a a massive life change), but seeing it through their eyes, I realize that I was really quite young, young enough to integrate and understand the culture, mannerisms, and behavior. Yet old enough to keep up my American side.
I was never able to understand why all sem girls were so clique-y, and didn’t seem to appreciate the awesomeness of Israeli life. Here they were, in Israel, a year away from their parents, yet it seemed like they just didn’t care about the world around them. All they seemed interested in was keeping up with they latest fashions and hanging out on Emek. This opinion is shared by a lot of people in Israel. Who did they think they were seemingly judging everyone?
Well, that theory came crashing down on shabbos. Sure, there are those who really don’t care and are happy to stay within their little bubble. However, I think most of them really are interested in penetrating Israeli culture and life. Otherwise they could’ve attended seminary in America or gone onto college. Thinking about it, it’s really an admirable decision- putting your life on hold to learn Torah in Israel.
It seems as though the tables have turned, and I’ve unknowingly become the judgemental one. Maybe we can just remove the judgement once and leave it up to G-d.
