by Ruby Macsai-Goren
As a typical teenager, I do a lot of extra-curricular and academic activities, attend high school, and spend lots of time with my family and friends.
However, I spend minimal to no time learning about Israel. I know very little about Israel; my knowledge is extended to what I have learned from my years in Hebrew school and what I know from my Middle Eastern History class.
While I have had the limited opportunity to learn about Israeli politics, I have no idea what the culture and land itself is like.
I am incredibly excited to travel with NFTY to Israel to learn all about Israeli culture, people, climate, land, terrain, and many more things that I would never be able to truly understand without visiting Israel. Visiting such a beautiful country is one of the things I am most looking forward to.
Additionally, I am very excited to spend time with other Jewish teens. I don’t belong to a youth group at home, so this trip will be one of the first times I am surrounded by kids my age that all share the same religious background. I am also ecstatic to make new friends, and I know my Israel trip will be a memory I will keep for the rest of my life.
I know my group will be a great team of kids. I’m sure we will have a blast traveling, hiking, camping, shopping, and learning while on this trip. I expect to learn more about Israel as a place and to get to know what life as an Israeli teen would be like. In addition, I can’t wait to find out all about the beautiful land in Israel. All in all, I am incredibly excited and cannot wait for this upcoming summer!
Ruby Macsai-Goren is a 2012 NFTY in Israel Participant from Evanston, IL.
This is the first in a series of profiles of participants who will be joining us this summer in Israel on NFTY in Israel, KESHER Taglit-Birthright Israel, and the NFTY-EIE High School in Israel. We asked people to share what they are expecting, anticipating, and most looking forward to. If you’ll be joining us in Israel this summer and would like to write for this feature on our blog, send us an email at rjisrael@urj.org!
Originally posted at Youth and College Israel Programs: The Blog