A couple of weeks after graduating from college, I went on Israel Outdoors’ Israel by Foot Birthright trip for 22–26 year olds.  It was my second trip to Israel, having gone the first time to play soccer in the JCC Maccabi Games between 9th and 10th grade with a TBE friend, Alana Rosenbloom.

This trip gave me the chance to see and experience more of Israel. While I valued the chance to visit historic sights, I’ll always remember waking up at 3:00 am to hike Masada to watch the sunrise at the top, where it was insanely hot even at 4:00 am, and then “swimming” in the Dead Sea.

I was also struck by the contrast of the quiet of Jerusalem on Shabbat before sundown to the bustling markets filled with people partying after sundown. And I really enjoyed the graffiti art tour of Tel Aviv.

But what was most meaningful to me was the chance to get to know Israeli peers, the IDF soldiers who spent about five days with our group. They were quite open about their beliefs and personal conflicts about being in the military, political state of affairs, and US media portrayal of Israel. Not that I am an expert in military protocol in the US or Israel, but I was surprised to learn that the soldiers are not required to follow orders that they do not believe to be morally sound. And I was fortunate to be assigned a hotel room with a female soldier who is a commander of soldiers from overseas.

The people in my group were from all over the US and I was struck by how fluid the group was, not cliquey at all – perhaps the beauty of going with an older group.