Posted on September 1, 2016 by Sam Radowitz
A senior at Hillsborough High School and a member of our SMOOCHY Board, Sam spent a portion of his summer in Israel as part of the NFTY in Israel program. Here he offers reflections on the impact of the trip on his life.
[Rapper] A$AP Rocky said it best, “Everything eventually becomes a memory, so make those memories worth remembering.” The time has come to face the sad reality; our time in Israel is coming to an end. Whether we like it or not, one week from now we will be sitting in our own homes, sleeping in our own beds, finally using our own toilets, left only with memories of these past five weeks to look back on. Simply memories.
Every memory made was precious. From the long bus ride jam sessions to covering ourselves in Dead Sea mud. From paying for unwanted pictures with gold people to trying new Israeli foods. From forgetting to close doors and opening our Hebrew vocabulary.
It may not be obvious now, but this trip changed us. It affected us. Personally, I discovered my love for pineapple juice. I recognized my obsession with my Nalgene water bottle. I learned important Jewish values and realized how easy it is for me to make a difference in the world around me.
The end of our trip is fast approaching. We must live in the moment and not think about our flights home. I learned from the best, Ferris Bueller himself, “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”
This content originally appeared on the NFTY in Israel blog, nftyisrael.org/blog, July 29, 2016. Reprinted with permission.
Reprinted with permission from NFTY in Israel.
