As you all probably know, on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, we, the Americans and Israelis of Metro LeZion had the chance to take on the madrihim role that is usually held by our JC's, Max, Aliza, Zohar, and Addi. We can proudly declare that we have run a tikun olam themed camp for young Ethopian Israeli teens, grades 7 to 9, however, our work was not over just yet.
On Sunday we got together with our chanichim (campers) one last time; it was time to volunteer and act on everything we discussed and learned at the seminar about tikun olam (repairing the world).We were all sent to different places in Rishon to begin the volunteering, such as Asaf Harofe, a farm, a home for holocaust survivors, and a home for adults with autism. I was sent to Asaf Harofe, a hospital on the outskirts of Rishon. While there, we played with some of the sick children. Recently, we've been discussing the idea of barriers - whether it be barriers of emotion, or physical, but more common, barriers of language. I thought of this a lot when I was at this hospital. At one point, Yuval Bensal, one of the Israelis, and I started to play with a little girl. We were just playing, trying to make her laugh, when one of the adults pointed out something funny; I speak English, Yuval speaks Hebrew, and this little girl spoke Arabic. It was really funny to see all these languages come together - something we've been discussing a lot in these past three weeks - in nothing more than a simple game with a sick three year old child. The fact that we were able to still play happily with this child showed me how much Diller has impacted me and changed me. Although it was something small, and I could definitely use a much better example on a larger scale, just this little exchange between us and a three year old showed me how Diller has affected me.
Before this trip, the Hebrew language truly intimidated me. It was something extremely complex and hard to understand. But, after spending such a long time in Israel, Hebrew and Israeli culture and everything I had previously been scared or nervous about, doesn't affect me in the same way. I can't describe in words the utter appreciation I have for all the things I've learned and come to know about Israel. I love Israel and everything this country has to offer.But, before I get into that...
After volunteering, we got back to Ramat Eliyahu and Mai, my co-leader of the day from the Israelis and I, prepared everyone for the rest of the day, as we would be visiting the deaf museum. We continued the conversations about barriers, as the deaf have an obvious barrier with communication - something that also exists between the Americans and the Israelis with the language barrier. Sometimes we have trouble expressing ourselves to each other, and it can prove to be a problem when someone wants something and the other person doesn't understand.
When visiting the museum, I think we were all able to appreciate the barrier of communication a little bit more as we understood how it directly related to our lives. Going through the museum, we put on headphones and were not allowed to talk or make sounds so the idea of being deaf could be more realistic. We were led through by a deaf person and thus able to simulate the life a deaf person faces every single day. We were even given our very own names; Max, for example, was simple "glasses", while I got to be "figure skating". We had so much fun and learned so much through this amazing experience.
To sum up the day, it was an amazing addition to this life changing experience I've been going through for the past three weeks. I loved being the leader of the day, even with all it's challenges and dilemas, I had so much fun and learned a lot.
P.S. Mom, Dad, Adam, and Eric - I had an amazing time and its going to be very hard to leave but I cannot wait to share everything with you.
-Rachel Forman
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