While many Penn students are trapped in a cubicle or classroom for the summer, some have been spending their time making memories they will not soon forget.
Close to 90 Penn students recently returned from a 10-day trip to Israel. The annual event was organized by the Lubavitch House, a center for Jewish students at Penn, in conjunction with Birthright Israel, a program that provides Jewish young adults with the opportunity to travel to Israel for free.
In addition to visiting religious and historic sites such as the Western Wall and the new Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial, the students rode camels, floated in the Dead Sea and re-enacted the daily life of Galilean villagers from over 2,000 years ago.
The goal of the trips is for students to "get a sense of the culture and politics" of Israel, said Rabbi Levi Haskelevich, the associate director of the Lubavitch House who helped organize the trip.
"Israel is the best place to learn about heritage -- it's more intense, fun and enjoyable," Haskelevich said.
The students traveled around Israel in two buses, complete with tour guides and security guards. At night they slept in hotels, hostels and even a camp of Bedouin nomads.
The trip caused many students to reflect on their Jewish heritage.
College junior Steve Eidelman said, "I had lost touch with Judaism -- it was becoming a nonfactor in my life. [I felt] if I was to become more Jewish, it would have been arbitrary. But after going [to Israel], it really thrust upon me a real sense of identity about being Jewish and the state of Israel all mixed into one idea."
College sophomore Jessica Weinstock was similarly enlightened.
"I feel a lot more connected to my heritage and what it means to be Jewish. I feel that I share something with people who are Jewish -- a shared past," she said.
"I learned a lot more about my history and religion than ever before. It made me really proud to be Jewish, too," Weinstock added.
Many students were struck by the sense of connection that they felt with Israelis.
"I would be walking around and someone would be like, 'Are you on Birthright?' and after [I said] yes, they would be like, 'Welcome home,'" Eidelman said.
Wharton senior Dan Kline was impressed by the strength of the Israelis.
"I got a greater appreciation for the Israeli people, that they stand up every day against the terrorists who try to kill them," Kline said.
"They're proud -- they want to show Americans their country. ... They say, 'We choose to live; we choose not to give up,'" he added.
In an effort to learn more about Israel, the students met with Rannan Gissin, the foreign press and public affairs adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.
Eidelman said that Gissin spoke about the importance of maintaining a Jewish majority in Israel.
"It's interesting to see how the religious side ties in with the political side," Eidelman said.
Because of the overwhelming number of activities that students participated in over a short period of time, the trip organizers decided that next
semester they will hold one-hour weekly sessions in which students can meet to "internalize" the trip and talk about their experiences.
If the program goes according to plan, organizers may take students who participated in the weekly meetings on another trip to Israel next summer.
This article appeared in the Jun 9, 2005 edition of The Summer Pennsylvanian.
