War and peace in the Negev Desert

On Dec. 23 I left for Israel for the fourth time. I was super excited because I was going on Alternative Winter Break with Jewish National Fund - the group I went on Alternative Spring Break with in March 2008.

JNF was partnering with Ramah Camps (a Jewish outreach program), which I attended for five years as a camper and I am now going on my third year as staff at Ramah Nyack. JNF's alternative break brings groups of college students to Israel's desert, called the Negev, to do community service. I could not wait to get started on the first project because I was in Israel, and with Ramah staff, two of my favorite things in life.

Although my first trip to Israel was in 2005, which in retrospect was not that long ago, my passion for Israel is through the roof. I love going to experience the culture, the food, see all the sights and spend money on pop-rocks chocolate to support Israel. People who have lived in or visited Israel know the Negev Desert is not the place to live nor to visit unless one is going to float in the Dead Sea or climb Mount Masada. Most of it is developing towns that need massive amounts of help, which is where JNF's alternative breaks come in. Although I had the terrible luck of getting a throat infection on my second full day in Israel and was therefore unable to participate in the majority of the work projects, I was healthy enough to contribute in what I thought was the most meaningful and fun projects we did before I got sick.

As we drove up to Na'ama farm one Friday, my mouth dropped to the floor of my bus. I was so incredibly excited to see the same farm I had worked at just nine months earlier on Alternative Spring Break. Like my first visit to this farm we made mud which was one of the coolest things I had ever done. The mud is used to insulate the buildings on the farm. All of us who were working on making the mud jumped in. Literally. We all stripped off our shoes, socks and work gloves and got down and dirty to mix the mud ingredients together. Even though by the end of the day we were covered from head to toe in mud, it was a fantastic bonding experience. Some of us sang and danced to the song Achim (brothers in Hebrew), which involves jumping (in the mud) in a circle with our arms around each other. It was just fun and exciting to be doing such an awesome thing, having fun while doing community service.

The reason JNF keeps bringing their groups to Na'ama farm is to help an Israeli volunteer who is donating his time and taking care of a farm for a very sick farmer. This Israeli does his own day job and in his spare time comes and takes care of a farm, even though he has a wife, a newborn baby and his own life. By caring for the farm for nothing but out of the own goodness of his heart, he is doing such a mitzvah, a good deed.

We may have done it for one day, but

As luck would have it, the next day our plan was to go to Jerusalem anyway so we would for sure be out of harms way and on New Year's Eve, we flew back to New York.

Some of you may be wondering what it is like to be in Israel during war?

Well in 2006, my second time in Israel, war also broke out while I was at Haifa University taking Hebrew classes. Some of you may remember that that war, between Israel and Hezbollah, broke out in Haifa. At the time I was 17 and freaking out that the closest rockets were hitting only miles from the university, plus we had to spend a few hours in bomb shelters. However, this time around I was calm. This is not because I don't care about Israel but because Israelis are calm. They go on with their daily routine and do not let war stop their lives. Also, I trust Israel and their military decisions.

Since returning to the states, all I've wanted to do is go back (especially because the economy is bad and tickets are so cheap). I crave to find a way to support Israel from here but it's hard and the best way I've come up with is simply to go back…which has been jokingly discouraged by people who've realized half the time I've been in Israel is in war but I can't help but to go back. Another way to support Israel is through JNF because they have tons of programs besides their alternative break trips that help's build and support Israel through individual donations, however giving money to Israel for me just is not enough, which is why I return time and again.