^^^our Thanksgiving meal-my friend's mom was here so she hosted us all for a delicious and fun Thanksgiving in her apartment in Modiin.
^^^FaceTiming with the family back home because Thanksgiving wasn't the same without them :(
^^^and some more Thanksgiving pictures
^^^at a high school reunion on Saturday night
^^^happy birthday to me! I turned 19 on Monday
^^^ Random moments throughout the week-learning how to crochet kippas (my second one is way better, that was my first!!!), learning Torah with my special needs girls, and visiting Kever Rachel, the burial site of our matriarch Rachel.
If I had to sum up the past two weeks, I can only think of gratitude. In the two weeks since the Har Nof synagogue attack, the country has recovered and bounced back so amazingly. I am in awe of the way Israel works and feel so lucky to be a part of it. Yesterday we visited the site of the place where the matriarch Rachel is buried. Hanging in her grave is the wedding dress of Nava Apfelbaum, who went out for a pre-wedding coffee with her father and died alongside him in a suicide bombing that night. Her story feels especially prescient right now, and for some reason, I found myself crying beside her unused dress. I feel closer to Israel than I have ever felt before-a part of me is scared to go home for Passover because I have this strange and unexplainable feeling that Israel needs me. When I got home from Poland, I remember having lots of different feelings, cheifly among them, a confusion about why I had found it so meaningful and thought it was so important. I knew I had those feelings but didn't know why. But now I think I get it. Despite what has been happening in Israel, I know this is the only place in the world Jews belong. When I think about what happened to the Jews of Europe (and what is still happening-if you heard about the Jewish woman who was raped in front of her husband in what has been labeled a hate crime then you know what I mean) and all the Jews who lived before them and were persecuted and killed, I know without a doubt that we belong in Israel. This place is the home of our people and no matter how safe and secure we may feel in America or Australia or England or anywhere, all those countries will turn on us too, just like they always have. I think it took seeing the camps and the barbed wire and the decimation of an entire way of life for Jews in Poland, in contrast to the unity and beauty of Jews in Israel, in order to truly underhand that. Yes, life is not perfect for Jews in Israel, but at least we have each other and are in the land where we belong and are meant to be. Here , we don't need to be victims, here we can fight for our people and our land. XXOO RTS
Having a homeland is important. Unfortunately, many ethnic and religious minorities don't have homelands, and have nowhere to go. I feel for the Kurds, Yazidis, Coptic Christians, Zoroastrians, etc., who are persecuted constantly.
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