by: Mara Kaufman
My trip to Israel was, without a doubt, the best trip I have ever taken.

When I signed up for Birthright, I was not really sure what to expect.  Upon arriving at the airport I saw several boys my age wearing yarmulkes and immediately I panicked thinking I would be the least religious person.  I pictured being completely humiliated during the trip, as I would be that girl that does not keep kosher, pray every day, or know the Torah perfectly.  I think at one point I even turned to my dad and asked if he could quickly teach me some Jewish knowledge.  I soon got over this fear as I started talking to other people in my position.  However, upon meeting these people, I found that I was one of the few who had come on this trip without knowing a single other person.

Arriving in Jerusalem in the freezing cold pouring rain, I still was not thrilled about my decision to go on this trip.  However, that night, everything clicked.  My group of 40 college students seemed to completely bond in less than an hour.  The next 12 days flew by faster than I thought was possible.  We toured the Old City of Jerusalem, looked out at the Mediterranean Sea from Haifa, went into a bunker at the Golan Heights, stayed on a Kibbutz on the Sea of Galilee, went to the biggest dance club in Tel Aviv, slept in Bedouin tents and rode camels through the Negev, floated in the Dead Sea after climbing Mount Massada, met a Holocaust survivor and had a guided tour of Yad Vashem, and so much more.  We were all exhausted every night, but as they told us when we got there, "if you are tired, sleep in America."  And that is what we did.





Halfway through the trip, seven Israeli soldiers joined us and traveled with us for the remainder of the tour.  I have never made friends with someone, let alone someone foreign, as fast as I did with the soldiers.  They told us it was the best experience of their lives, and they have not stopped emailing and calling us since we have returned to the states.

I cannot pinpoint the exact reason why this was the best trip I have ever taken (althought I do know that it was not the food).  I'm not sure if it was the people on my trip who became my best friends in just 2 days, the Israeli soldiers who were the warmest people I have ever encountered, the unreal scenery of Israel, moving from the desert to green mountains within minutes, our genius of a tour guide who knew every since piece of history of Israel known to man, or maybe a combination of all of this.

To anyone who is even slightly considering going on a Birthright trip, I urge you to go as soon as you can - it is something you will never forget.*

*And if you go through Oranim, one of the many organizations that sends people to Israel, give my name as a reference so I can go back as a group leader!  To sign up, go to www.birthrightisrael.com.  Registration for the summer trips begins February 15th.