Take It With You- Israel 2023

Hat, Water Bottle, Sunscreen, take it with you. 

Lanyard, watch, shekels. 

Be mindful of your surroundings, take it with you. 

Pay close attention, engage your senses. 

The sand in your hair, take it with you. 

The sand between your toes. 

The taste of ice cream, familiar yet exotic, take it with you. 

Chocolate croissants and rugelach piled high at breakfast. 

The sound of Hebrew being spoken in the streets, sometimes shouting, take it with you. 

The warm embrace of a synagogue in Tel Aviv with a rabbi from Brazil. 

Kids just a little older than you, sacrificing their lives to create the State of Israel, take it with you.

David Ben Gurion doing headstands on the beach. 

Sand dunes turned into the first Hebrew city in 2,000 years, take it with you. 

Shopping carts full of Israeli snacks. 

Pillow fights in the hotel hallway, take it with you. 

Logistics, logistics, logistics. 

"What am I doing here?" and "Why does it matter?", take it with you. 

Birds pooping on your head while you stand on ancient stones. 

Life without your cell phone, fully present, take it with you. 

Overcoming fears of the unknown. 

Playing soccer in the sand, take it with you. 

Putting on nice clothes to welcome Shabbat. 

Watching the sunset over the Mediterranean, take it with you. 

Small children wondering what you're up to. 

Thanking IDF soldiers for their service, take it with you. 

Talking to strangers everywhere you go. 

Seeing something that you never knew existed, take it with you. 

Being reminded of home. 

Wandering through market places, people pushing and shoving, take it with you. 

Boarding busses quickly on a busy street. 

Singing Bim Bam at the top of your lungs, take it with you. 

Dancing with a heart full of joy. 

Praying at the Kotel, take it with you. 

Seeing the destruction that should've ended it all. 

Eating freshly baked bread with zatar, take it with you. 

And ice cream. Yes, I know it's been mentioned before. 

Hearing more than 20 languages in a single day, take it with you. 

Riding elevators with nuns, monks, priests, chaperones, and sadhus. 

Floating down the Jordan, take it with you. 

Realizing that your teachers are people just like you. 

Opening your heart to the idea that there are things we cannot see that are true and real, take it with you. 

Letting your rational mind take the backseat for awhile. 

Sailing on the Kinneret, take it with you. 

And dancing the whole way back. 

Knowing that things are complicated, take it with you. 

And that there are paths to peace but stumbling blocks as well. 

Hearing the sounds of Arabic being spoken, take it with you. 

And seeing the face of everyone you meet. 

Protest signs and street art and Jews with tattoos, take it with you. 

And Orthodox, holding fast to their ideals. 

Chance meetings with counselors, friends, family, and teachers, take it with you. 

Meeting someone your age and exchanging contact info. 

Walking through the sleepy town of Zichron, take it with you. 

And the quiet holiness of the Bahai Gardens too. 

Singing songs you've known since you could know a song, take it with you. 

Opening to the possibility of prayer. 

Crying happy tears because you know it in your heart, take it with you. 

Realizing the treasure has been yours the entire time. 

Your regrets, your choices, your proudest moments, your doubts, take it with you. 

Let all that's been enlighten your path forward. 

Understanding that nothing that is real ever ends, it just changes, take it with you. 

Knowing you have a home in a desert made to bloom halfway around the world. 

Knowing you are here because of love, take it with you. 

Knowing you are love and you are loved.   

Take it with you, hold it tightly, but without clinging. 

Knowing that sometimes love means letting go.