Israel
Reflections
As a single mother, it is so inspiring to hear other women who have their own journeys and are giving me encouraging feedback to help me on my journey.
The trip here to Israel was quite a journey but so worth it! Between the forms and the testing, quite a few of us were anxious about the arrival. However, before even we made it out of the airport and onto the bus we were excitedly chatting away and getting to know each other. It wasn’t easy to get here, but we shared the experience and were happy to be on our way to our hotel where we’d get to know our roommates.
When night came many of us were refreshing our email to see when we would get the green check, or permission to leave the hotel. Around 9 pm the emails started to arrive and several of us ventured out to get a mingle at a nearby cafe. We didn’t even remember everyone’s names but we were already becoming friends. Our adventure had begun!
Tuesday
Today was so special! After an amazing Israeli breakfast of delicious salads, coffee, and juice, we met up with all of the other groups. Together we sang Shecheanu recognizing this special and unique experience we are sharing. We learned of how Momentum began with a small group of Jewish mothers in Utah asking themselves how they could change the world. The thinking is: if you change a woman, you change a family. If you change enough families, you change a community. If you change a community you change the world. We were inspired by speeches on learning and growth and we were reminded that a wise person learns from everyone, anticipates the future, and learns from their experience. From there we headed to the market with falafel, souvenirs, and scrumptious fruits and spices. On the bus, one of the madrichot shared a very interesting story about her family’s experiences with a joint religious and secular school, which helped us understand more about the social dynamic in Israel. After a tour of the Museum of the Jewish People, we had a great time socializing and then learning about a Paradigm shift with the main principles being that it is never late to learn and do better words matter, and the importance of giving the benefit of the doubt. It’s now almost midnight and I know we all wish there were more hours in the day to keep learning with and from each other!!
Traci Lerner
Jewish Women’s Connection of Atlanta
Atlanta, GA
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