Wandering Jew

I'm a marionette.

I hold the strings.

The strings start to disintegrate.

I feel myself coming back into my body. Lifting my feet takes less effort.

Each step in front of the other has a direction.

Purpose returns to my body and soul.

I still grieve all that has occurred and yet I feel more joy,

more life returns to my bag of bones.

The souls shifts.

I arrived in Haifa hot sweaty and tired. I met who would be my roommates for these 6 weeks and we got keys. I was ready to unpack and call it a night and so I did just that. Friday meant SHABBAT! The first shabbat we had together and the first shabbat in the holy land. We all got together for Kaddish on the balcony that faced the sunset and the Baha'i gardens. It was an absolutely stunning sunset. The perfect way to start my time here in Israel. The weekends here are based on the sabbath, which makes Friday and Saturday are the weekend. Meaning Sunday became my new Monday.

Sunday we began training at Magen David Adom, down the street from where we were housed. Day one I could tell this was going to be a lot. We were fortunate to have a fantastic instructor, who like many here needed to have her Israeli breakfast before doing anything. Israeli breakfast: cigarette & coffee. While being in class all day was a lot, we managed it by doing things like going to the beach and walking to the top of the Baha'i gardens. Israel being such a small country, most of the time you are near the Mediterranean sea. The closest beach was about a 30 minute walk.

Being able to walk to the beach was such a blessing. For one, I got exercise and it was blistering how so you really sweat out the toxins. Two, I could walk to a beach!! The water felt amazing. It is nothing like the Atlantic in the summer. You don't have to "acclimatize" to get in. C'mon I know you've seen the video. ;) The water at Bat Galim was amazing, the rocky, reef floor, not so much. Still we embraced it and it was good exercise. Many times within the first couple weeks me and my roommates, turned friends came to the beach and watched sunset.

Along with training at MDA and doing things in the free time we had activities with the program MASA. After we finished our first week, we took the train down to Tel Aviv where we met the other MDA group that was based in Beer Sheva. We did a tour of new facilities for MDA which included a blood bank and a milk bank. We had another destination and then free time in Tel Aviv. The Beer Sheva group had a few really amazing people that I then walked the shuk with and we went down to the beach for a sunset swim and dinner. My friend and I both learned we loved the same restaurant: Gazos. There is nothing like watching the sun set into the Mediterranean Sea.

The next morning it was back to training at MDA. It is unbelievable how sweltering the heat and humidity is in Haifa in July. Standing in front of the air conditioner was a necessity as soon as we arrived for our first responders training each morning and walking back in a t-shirt was almost unbearable. Yet I found my self smiling more, laughing more, and feeling lighter. Many evenings were spent by the beach or walking up to the top of the Baha'i Gardens. Me and my friends did this 4-6miles walk/hike once a week or so. Sometimes getting a frozen yogurt before hiking back down. We ended the second week with a surfing lesson at Carmel Beach. There is no evidence but I did get up twice!!

Before our exam I took a trip down to Tel Aviv to spend sometime during shabbat with my family. I did not grow up with public transit. It is not something I am familiar nor good at, though I do surprise myself. Now there was the added challenge of having no GPS in the North. I walked the board walk at Hof Hacarmel down to the buses. I couldn't find what I was looking for and on a whim got on a free bus to Binyamina and hopped on a train there. While en-route to Tel Aviv one of the passengers serenaded us all with his beautiful singing. I have these thought many times, and this was another "people say you are so courageous, so brave" moments. It is said with dripping sarcasm as these moments feel surreal and yet so real.

I was in class, then surfed, talked to strangers that aren't so strange on a train, then enjoyed a nice dinner at sunset in Tel Aviv. Capped off with a talking with a lovely soul I met at the hostel and a spliff. Saturday was a toasty one. I spent the morning studying with my muesli on the beach. I spent as long as I could at the beach and then walked a bit before going to see my cousins. It was a delicious meal with catching up, laughing, arguing, and smiles.

I passed my exam!! We all did. I was most nervous about the Hebrew words. Me and my roommates found ways to remember them and man did that help. We didn't start shifts the next day and were actually in Tel Aviv for a day of discussions about antisemitism and post 10/7 at the ANU museum. These days are long and yet so important. It brings together many MASA groups with Jews from around the world. All of us have dealt with antisemitism at one point in our lives. Seeing a room full of hands with people from the US, UK, Argentina, Brazil, Russia, Austria, France, Canada, etc. all go up when asked about their experience with antisemitism is mind blowing, sad and no surprise.

The ANU museum exhibits were interesting and full of Jewish culture from the beginning to now and across many regions of the world. It ended with a heavy 10/7 exhibit. There was a painting with yellow and human figures. It was something about sisters and my eyes start stinging as tears started to leak from my eyes. One thing we were always told is to let the tears go. These are safe places and it is emotional. In the words of Shrek "Better out than in I say". As I looked around I was not the only who let go of the vulnerability and let tears flow freely. My shoulder sagged as I walked out thinking about how we got here. Its... too many words and none at all. The ride back was quiet and the sunset felt heavy.

I woke up in the morning, put on my MDA shirt, pulled my hair back and said "lets do it". My roommate and I walked down to catch the Metronit to get to our next bus and then our designated station for our first shift. It was very daunting and exciting. It was a long day and I learned so much. The driver our first day hardly spoke English and somehow we made it work! We laughed as we bounced around in the ambulance, zooming through traffic with music blasting. It was different when a patient was in the van, nonetheless what a different health care experience. The next day was to be an even longer day.

Next we went down to the Nova sites and Sderot.

Wandering Jew

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