This past February I went to Israel for the first time.  I traveled with 33 other members of our community on Federation’s Mission Possible 2010 to Prague and Israel.  Although I’m not usually a person who cries a lot in public, on the mission something was always making me cry - whether it was my first glimpse of the Western Wall or Micha Feldman’s emotional talk to us about the rescue of the Ethiopian Jews.  There were tears of overwhelming sadness at Terezin and Yad Vashem and tears of joy and gratitude while I was praying in Jerusalem, hugging family members I was meeting for the first time in Netanya, or simply walking along the beach at sunset in Tel Aviv.  When I was asked to speak about my trip experiences at a recent Yom Ha’atzmaut celebration at the JCC, those emotions are what came to my mind first.

Because that’s what the Federation mission was to me:  an incredible educational, emotional and spiritual experience.  I felt such a sense of connection - to the people, to our common history, to the land and the sea and the mountains and the desert - a juxtaposition of our past with our present that was often intense and always illuminating. 

This emotional journey began when 19 of us arrived in Prague, a beautiful city with a very rich Jewish history.   From our tour guide, a Conservative rabbi, we learned about Prague’s Jewish community, as we toured the Jewish quarter, with its many synagogues and museums.  Our hotel was luxurious and we had a delicious group dinner in an upscale modern kosher restaurant.  It was thrilling to visit sites like the Old-New Synagogue which dates back to 1270, is still actively used by Jews today and which, according to legend, houses the remains of the Golem in its attic.   We saw a Prague where, despite the efforts of the Nazis, Judaism is very much alive and on display, and the Jewish community is strong, organized and growing.

Then, on a cold and snowy afternoon, we witnessed our darkest history when we toured Terezin, and stood in places of unimaginable horror, of immeasurable pain.  We said Kaddish together in the secret synagogue of the Danish Jews, and we cried together as we read the poetry of the children of Terezin - beautiful words that survived all of the ugliness.  My whole life I’ve heard stories, read books, seen movies and documentaries about the Holocaust. Nothing prepared me for the emotions I felt when I was standing in the place where the atrocities occurred.  Especially on a freezing cold and snowy day.

But Terezin was also a story of courage and dignity and hope, of people who tried to hold on to their humanity while being imprisoned in the most brutal and uncivilized of places.  We learned about the music, the art, the plays, and the poetry and drawings of the children. And we learned of the courageous men and women who tried to bring some kind of order and brightness into the chaos and despair.

After our educational and emotional day and a half in Prague, we boarded an El Al flight to Israel with a deeper understanding of our history and an even greater appreciation of the how important the state of Israel is to the future of the Jewish people.  We met up with the other 15 members of our group in Jerusalem. 

To share my first Israel experience in the most concise way possible, I borrowed a technique from David Letterman and made a list:

 My Top Ten Reasons to go on a Federation Mission to Israel.

10.  You get to fly on a “Jewish” plane with a Jewish star on its tail and Jewish pilots and Jewish flight attendants.  You get to eat hummus and pita and listen to Israeli music on your headphones.  And if you’re like me and you’ve never been to Israel before, you get to burst into tears when you look out the plane window and see Israel for the first time.

9.  You get great hotel rooms, complimentary 6:30 am wake up calls and huge Israeli breakfasts that make you feel the need to eat all the food on the planet.  You get the best tour guide and bus driver and a comfortable luxury bus where you can catch a quick nap, share your stories, or just sit back and relax as you gaze out at the ever-changing Israeli landscapes, watching for a glimpse of a camel in a Bedouin village or row after row of date palm trees against the backdrop of the Dead Sea. 

8. When you’re back in the United States and you see an article in the news about East Jerusalem or the Security Fence, you know where it is, what it looks like, and you understand what everyone is talking about.

7. You get to eat falafel stuffed with French fries and Marzipan rugalach, learn to bargain in the Arab Market, and if you’re one of the guys on the mission, you get to do some wild and crazy dancing on Ben Yehuda Street!

6. You get to pray together at a Kabbalat Shabbat service overlooking the Kotel while all around you there is singing and dancing in the streets as you welcome in Shabbat.

5. You get to meet the people of Israel everywhere you go…from professors and government officials to children and teens at risk and the dedicated professionals who work with them.  You see where your dollars are going when you donate to Federation and you see the special bonds we have with the agencies in Israel and with the many people who are helped by those agencies.

4. You get to visit with your relatives and friends who live in Israel - people you may only see a few times in your life but have an amazingly strong connection with.

3. You get to climb Massada, hike in beautiful Ein Gedi, visit a Kibbutz, enjoy a leisurely afternoon float in the Dead Sea, have drinks with the Rabbi in a bathrobe, be treated to a private performance of the Arad string orchestra and attend an elaborate catered dinner with our Partnership 2000 friends from Arad -- all in one day!

2. You get to visit an Israeli winery and learn that there really is such a thing as delicious kosher wine.  

And the number one reason you should go on a Federation Mission to Israel is:

1. You get to know and to share all of your experiences with the wonderful, diverse, interesting and fun group of  people you’ve had the privilege of traveling with for an incredible and memorable ten days!