Winter Taglit-Birthright Israel: DC Community Trip Day 10

Day 10 - The End

This morning started a particularly emotional day for us, compared to some of the less intense days we'd had previously on the trip. This is partially because we spent the morning at Mount Herzl, which is both Israel's main military cemetery and the burial ground of many of its greatest leaders and pioneers, from Golda Meir to Yitzhak Rabin and to Theodore Herzl himself. Connecting the graves we were seeing to everything from the 1948 War to the Six-Day War to incidents that happened as recently as two months ago, as well as seeing the grave of a prideful American Jew who made aliyah and joined the Israeli Defense Forces made for a difficult and solemn morning, to say the least. Our Israeli friends shared many emotional and heartbreaking stories of friends who left this earth far too soon in an effort to protect the country and people that they loved. Many of us have friends and family who have served in the American military, and even some who have not made it home. But the harsh reality of Israel's mandatory military service is something that our generation does not know - our friends, lovers, brothers and sisters having no choice to go to war. The bravery, dignity and strength of the Israeli people is truly awe-inspiring, and Mount Herzl is a gorgeous and sobering tribute in their honor.

Following this, we returned to Ben Yehuda Street in Jerusalem for lunch and shopping. We spread out on our own, often in the cliques and packs that have formed over the past nine days. Many of us left with full bellies and even fuller shopping bags, ready to tackle the challenge of how exactly all of this Israeli swag is going to fit into our already overstuffed suitcases. Do you try and shove it all in, or do you toss that pair of jeans, fearing that the camel blood will never truly come out? Is there any way to get your favorite Israeli participant through customs?

As I write this, we have very little time left together. We have one meal, a group activity, and a final trip to the Western Wall tonight. And then it is the final bus ride to the airport. Once we step through the security line in Tel Aviv, we are no longer numbers 1-45, and we are no longer Shorashim Bus 229. We're a collection of individuals who happen to be returning from a trip to Israel on the same flight. Some of us will keep in touch and see each other again, whether at community events or on our own. Some of us will never return to Israel, while others may be back sooner rather than later - and maybe that time for good.

In many ways, we are still the same people today that we were ten days ago - exhausted, and really hoping that winter weather doesn't delay or cancel our flights. But in other ways, we have changed profoundly. We may go back to cubicles and law libraries, apartments and town homes, Metro stops and traffic jams. But even as we do that, we will never forget how we felt here in Israel, together as Americans and as Jews. There is a little bit of every participant that I will take with me, whether an inside joke or a lifelong friendship. And there is a lot of Israel that I will bring back with me as well.

If I am truly the last blogger for this trip, I'd like to thank you all for reading along with us for these ten days. I'd like to thank our staff, Lani, Sarah and Ariel, for leading us through this wonderful experience. I'd especially like to thank our Israeli participants - Tom, Orin, Udi, Nir, Meidan, Noa and Yarden - for sharing so much of themselves and their country with us. As we prepare to start preparing for the "Reverse Mifgash" in an attempt to bring all of them to the United States in 2010, I will close: "See you soon, my friends."

Josh Frank, Falls Church, VA