I have always been fiercely independent, sometimes to my own detriment. Ever since childhood, I have insisted upon finding my own way. I will take the unexamined path under all circumstances, and against everyone’s better advice. It was with this attitude that upon graduating from a prestigious university with a highly specialized (and painfully received) […]

Today is Yom Hashoah, the (specific, calendar given) day when we remember the victims of the Holocaust. In Israel, this is a national day of remembrance that is like nothing I have ever seen. In America, we have Memorial day, in which we are supposed to remember the soldiers who have […]

Here in Ramla the ISC #2 group is settling in and feeling more and more at home and a part of the community. When we first arrived, Erez and Chava, our coordinator and house mom greeted us with friendly Israeli smiles. The seven of us began to unpack, found […]

Tu B’Shevat, the Jewish New Year of Trees, has long been my favorite holiday. As a vegetarian and wilderness enthusiast, how could I not love a holiday that celebrates nature and its fruits? Just a couple of weeks ago, me and the other members of the Israel Service Corps […]

I started playing soccer at age eight, a time when this was still an unusual thing to do in America. But, I loved it and gave up many other sports to pursue competitive soccer, a choice that suited me well in my travels around soccer-crazy Europe. After graduating from […]

“Aliza, you are with us. You are from Peru.” Gladys grabbed my hand and pulled it up into the air. It was the Ramla Ulpan Rosh Hashana Party, and the immigrants from Peru had just been called upon to show their national pride. The party was just starting […]

What an opportunity!!! Only a handful of people on earth can say that they spent part of their evening last night with a head of state, more specifically the Prime Minister of Israel, Ehud Olmert. I had known for about 2 weeks that this night would come and that I had […]

When I was stressed and when I was eating poorly, I knew I had one respite: Shabbat. Friday night in Israel is my favorite time of the week. While the weekend in America is a time for people to go out, run errands and complete chores, Shabbat in Israel is truly used as the day […]

This week we began volunteering individually. A group of us are at Gimnasia Atidim, one of the three high schools that serve Ramla. We’re all working on various different projects, from just helping tutor students in English to starting a school newspaper.
Eliza and Sarah have taken on the challenge of teaching a group of oleh […]

(Real World Update Update)
Apparently somebody actually reads what I write.
For instance, here are some updates:

Nomi has 35 things that she can possibly do in life after her chamesh chodasheem b-ramla (five months in Ramla), and making Alliyah is number 32 on that list.

Sarah moved in today. She’s a 24-year-old graduate of Albany who majored in […]