feature

by Rachel Berlin

Teen Mission 2010

Life-altering experience draws teen closer to her roots and her people.

Brian Lipson, 16, of West Bloomfield, Marckenson Sylvestre of Birmingham

and Dv Toiedano, 17, of Migdal HaEmek pray at the Western Wall on the

final day in Jerusalem.

Noam Shaft, father of Hamas-kidnapped Israeli soldier Gliad Shaft, holds a TM10 T-shirt signed by teens for the

Shalit family at the protest tent outside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's resident In Jerusalem.

From left to right: Olivia Brodsky, 17, of West Bloomfield brushes her teeth with help from a bottle of water at the end of the second day of the Sea to Sea Hike. Zachary Neistein, 16, of West
Bloomfield and Rudy Schreier, 16, of Beverly Hills hold a fish in the Mahane Yehuda Market in Jerusalem. Melanie Goldman, 15, of Bloomfield Hills, Natalie Labes, 15, of Sylvan Lake and Evan

Arbft, 14, of West Bloomfield framed by the sunrise from atop Masada.

Israel
Between long hikes, bus rides, early
' t's 3:30 in the morning. You're mornings and jam-packed days, we've
exhausted, hungry and not ready all been in a constant state of exhaus-
to face the challenge that lies tion. But then there are the special mo-
ahead of you. But you face your fears. ments. The inside jokes, the free time
You take the first step and begin the to bond, the hikes showing the beauty
treacherous climb up Masada.
of Israel — the days are filled with Juda-
It's hard, but then again, anything ism and self-awareness. These are the
worthwhile is never easy. At times, moments when we truly understand
you feel like you want to give up, but the trip's meaning and how much our
then you feel something else. A force time in Israel will affect us in the long
inside you tells you to keep on going run.
— a feeling that things will be worth it.
As I write this, we have not reached
Finally, you arrive at the top, at the end of our trip, but already I feel
a site so rich with history that some myself becoming a different person.
have a hard time taking it all in. Par- I've been an active member in the
ticipating in early morning services as Jewish community participating in
the sun came up, I can honestly say BBYO, attending Tamarack Camps in
that I have never felt closer to God.
Ortonville and growing up at Temple
Just like Masada, our Teen Mission Israel in West Bloomfield. However,
2010 trip forces many of us to face I've never been sure if God's truly
challenges that later reap rewards.
there, and I've always felt I could be

i

TT2 teen2teen August 19 . 2010

more in touch with my Jewish roots.
Celebrating Shabbat in the Holy
Land, putting a prayer in the Western
Wall and visiting the Old City have
definitely put things in perspective.
Not only do I feel closer to my peo-
ple, but I've also realized I want to
live my life as a proud Jew, one that
appreciates how much our ancestors
fought so I could be free.
When we leave, there will be tears.
Sad goodbyes will be murmured;
promises of plans will be made. How-
ever, in the midst of sadness another
feeling will spark through — a feeling
of accomplishment and hope.
We went to Israel and cemented our
love for Judaism and the Holy Land.
With this new-found knowledge of
what it means to be a Jew, the 2010
Teen Mission participants will bring
home not only souvenirs, but also a

tradition of faith to continue for the
next generation.
I've always considered being Jew-
ish like the wind. I can't see it, but I
can feel it. Since being on this trip, I
now not only feel what it means to be
Jewish, but also can see it, smell it and
hear it in the world around us. When
I return to Michigan, I hope to spread
this feeling to my friends and family,
while bringing our community closer
to Israel.

Rachel Berlin, 15,
of Farmington Hills
wrote this while still
on the Detroit Jewish
Federation's Teen
Mission 2010. She
and the other
108 local teens
returned home earlier this month.
To see more photos, go to
www.jewishdetroltorg/teenmission.
The JN is a co-sponsor of the trip.

visit JNt2t.com