With The Community Behind Me

Hours away! I keep telling myself: hours away.

After years of dreaming, months of preparing, and days of packing, I can finally say that my flight to Israel, my flight to soon serve in the IDF, is only hours away. I will arrive in the holy land on the 18th, escape into quarantine for a week, and then make my way to Kibbutz Erez for a few months. The Aliyah ceremony and all won't be a thing because of COVID, but my dream will finally meet reality, and my feet will soon touch the holy ground as an Oleh.

Reflecting back on this summer, on my time spent at Young Judaea Sprout Lake, I can confidently say how grateful I am. I am grateful for the community I have, the lives that touched me, and the lives I hoped to have changed.

Before this summer, I think some people thought I was a bit crazy. Instead of spending my final summer at home, relaxing, spending time with family, and just simply hanging out; I decided to accept a job where sleep was only a fantasy, and where I'd only return home days before my Aliyah flight. This summer saw me working everyday from 7:00 to midnight, focusing entirely on my campers and counselors in my unit, and very little on this next step in my life. But, I loved it, and I would do it again and again and again if I had to.

In a time of COVID, where darkness and bad news seem to always prevail, camp reminded me of the good in the world. It isn't the pool or sports or arts and crafts that makes me happy at camp, but it is something greater. At camp we create a community, a world, where we live everyday the values that are near and dear to our hearts. Our camp director always likes to say that "we live the way the world ought to be." A world filled with light and not darkness, a world filled with smiles and special moments, and a world where everyone is meant to belong. I was lucky enough to live this world for the last two months, living in a community isolated from the rest of the world, where we get to live how we want, and in the best way possible.

But at camp we also hold one more value close to our hearts: The State of Israel. We learn about the importance of Israel, and just how every people deserve a home, so do we, the Jewish people, deserve a home of our own. Israel is a place where every Jew can belong, live, and find their place in safety and comfort. When I always think of camp, I think of Israel; and when I always think of Israel, I think of camp. Maybe it's because camp is where I grew much of my love for Israel, or maybe it's the Israeli counselors who came that made a difference in my life, or maybe the Israeli flags one can see from any direction on our camp grounds. No matter what, camp lives in Israel, and Israel lives in camp. And, as it says in the fireplace room of our camp staff house, Sprout Lake is where you get "a taste of Israel in the Hudson valley."

And now, hours away from my flight to Israel, and barely a day since I've left camp for good, I am filled with bittersweet emotions as I'm about to embark on this next journey in my life. I am beyond excited to arrive in Israel, meet my Garin in person, and start this next chapter. I am excited to live on Kibbutz Erez, improve my Hebrew, and to enlist in just a few short months. This is everything I have dreamed of, and it's finally happening.

However, this time has also been a little sad. I can't believe, after almost a decade in the movement, that I will be leaving Young Judaea and specifically Sprout Lake. I can't even begin to count everything camp has given me throughout the years, and the happiness I have felt every time I have been to or even thought about Sprout Lake.

The other day, as I was preparing to leave, I said to my Rosh Macahane, a little teary, that "it's hard to leave a place I love so much and not know when I'll be back." There is no more living 10 months of the year for 2 months at camp, because now I don't know when I'll get those 2 months again.

Despite all this, the sadness and the happiness during this transition period, what camp has shown me is the community I have behind me. Between the countless phone numbers I have received, invitations for Shabbats and holidays in Israel, and the well wishes and love; I am so grateful for the Sprout Lake community, and everything they have done for me. Going to Israel as a lone soldier isn't the easiest thing in the world, but camp has shown me that I'm not doing this alone, and that I have the community behind me.