DETROIT
JEWISH NEW S

Metro Detroiters put their

stamp on the Burrell Boom

school they helped to

beautify over spring break.

•

••

Belize break

alternative spring trip blends Judaism, social action and fun.

I,

by Danny Hurvitz

A _

- hen I first signed up for
"Party Later, Save The
* World Now," an alternative
spring break trip to Belize sponsored
by the Schulman Millennium Fund at
the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan
Detroit, I wasn't quite sure what I was
getting myself into.
I hadn't practiced Judaism since my
bar mitzvah and didn't feel strongly
affiliated with my culture or religious
tradition. I also didn't even look at the
itinerary. It was spring break of my
senior year and this was my vacation,

r

that's what mattered. As it started get-
ting closer to departure, I looked at
the agenda.
The trip included many fun activi-
ties and excursions, things not nor-
mally found on a community service
trip. Yes, we would be performing vol-
unteer service in a Third World coun-
try, but we also would take part in an
ATV tour through the rainforest, feed
howler monkeys in the wild, relax on
a beach, snorkel on a barrier reef, tube
through cave rivers, climb Mayan ru-
ins and, what scared me most, scream

through the tree canopy on a zipline.
I've always been terrified of heights,
and climbing onto the platfoinis high
up in the rainforest's trees was no ex-
ception. But, because of the amazing
people around me, some of whom
I didn't know before the trip, I was
able to conquer the fear and zipline
through the rainforest. It was an expe-
rience I will never forget.
The itinerary also included Shabbat
services on Friday and Saturday, with
a day of rest Saturday. This scared me
because of my hiatus from the Jewish

world. Like many teenagers, I've been
questioning my faith. I was raised a
Conservative Jew in a kosher house-
hold. After my bar mitzvah, I stopped
going to Hebrew school and stopped
going to services altogether. Years of
Tamarack Camps had kept my faith
alive, but after the Western trip that
ended, too.
This trip's tight sense of commu-
nity made the services enjoyable, and
even raised my belief in Judaism. To
be with more than 20 people in Belize,

continued on page TT4

teen2teen May 19 . 2011 TT1

