The entirety of the North American Seminar was amazing and really very eye opening. So many parts of this great experience I will keep with me forever. For example, one of the most meaningful moments of the whole NAS occurred on the Sunday we when we returned home from the group Shabbaton. All of us—the Israelis and Americans—after only four days of knowing each other, all 40 of us participated in a community-wide volunteering service called J-Serve.
At J-Serve, there are many programs to choose from that aided in giving back to our own community of Greater Metro-West; admittedly to join my friends who were mostly all doing one program, I signed up to participate in an activity called “Buddy It Up.” This program consisted of teens or other volunteers playing games with people with Cerebral Palsy, although I was not aware of this before I signed up.
When we were first brought into the room where the Cerebral Palsy patients were waiting, I was surprised when I realized what I had signed up for. At first, I was very hesitant to approach some of the patients, seeing as many did not have the ability to speak or move. Scared, I did not see how my presence could be of any help. For most of the first five minutes, I stayed where I was, sitting in a chair, attempting extremely-hesitantly to try to grab the attention of any of the patients. Finally, I accepted that none of the patients wanted to talk to me or interact with me, telling myself: “they are happier without me bothering them.”
After a few more minutes of me just sitting there in solitude, finally one of my friends came over. It was a new friend, one of the Israelis, who I had only met a mere four days prior and whom I had only become a little bit close with. That friend pushed me to interact with the patients even after arguing with her for quite some time, making excuses for my inactivity.
Finally, I mustered up the courage, with my new Israeli friend behind me supporting me, to walk up to one patient and talk to him. As I later learned, his name is Robert, he loves soccer, he helps out as a nurse at his hospice center, and he enjoys pizza. We hung out, passed around the basketball, ate pizza, and even went for a walk together. Altogether, it was a really great bond that I was able to form.
This moment was so meaningful because of the support I was able to receive from an Israeli whom I had not even met a week prior and with whom I was not even very close with in comparison to some other Israelis; this really shows a lot about the bond that the Americans were able to form with the Israelis.
-Max Needle
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