by Rav Aviad Pituchey-Chotam
A song of ascents. When the Lord returns the returnees to Zion, we shall be like dreamers (Tehillim 126)
“You know Rabbi, I feel like I’m in a dream, one I do not wish to wake up from”
So I was told by one of the students at 2:00 pm on an ordinary Wednesday, on the way back from the Israeli school she regularly attends now, to the home of the family that became an inseparable part of her life during the recent month.
It is now 2:00 am before the last Shabbat in Israel, and in less than 48 hours we will all be on the LY 0029 El Al flight to Toronto together, which will bring us back from that month-long Israeli dream, back to the embrace of the blessed Canadian routine. The many conversations I have had with the students in the past weeks still echo inside me, as both my heart and my head try to extract clearer, more defined components from those magical dreams – what is this program’s secret of success? And What were those dream clouds that carried the students for the past 30 days?
Cloud #1 – When a Dream Becomes Reality:
One of the main questions we’re often asked by individuals who are interested in our school is what’s the significance of our school being a Bnei Akiva school. Many times, our answers find their way into the negative space, where the Bnei Akivian identity is mostly defined according to what we are not, compared to the other schools.
This program provides our dear students with the opportunity to achieve and actively uphold the taught values of a deep connection to the Land of Israel and the Jewish state.
Cloud #2 – The Power of Authenticity
The strong Zionistic wind blowing between the walls of our school is without a doubt one of the most important cornerstones in its existence. This is expressed in the hallways, the curriculum, Israeli flags and Hebrew studies, in the extensive number of Shlichim integrated in the educational staff etc. Still, all of these wonderful components take place within the school setting, and are framed by the students as being “school-related” and “formal”. Students’ stay in Israel during this program allows them to meet the ‘true’ Israel – its people and landscapes, flavors and smells, as for them this is not a ‘mediating’ experience, rather a full, authentic perspective into the ‘true’ Israel.
Cloud #3 – Self-image
“I don’t know Hebrew”, “why do we even study Talmud?”, “It’s very difficult for me to daven” are only some of the sayings we deal with on a daily basis as BAS educators. Many students find it difficult to ascertain their standing relative to their friends and counterparts in other schools, and their wonderful integration in an Israeli school, which administrates its Judaic studies with complete and superior Hebrew, assists them in internalizing the educational and academic treasure to which they are exposed on a daily basis at our school.
Cloud #4 – Human Capital
Israelis are often times labeled according to clear stereotypes by our students (and not just by them…). This month, the students had intensive and daily sessions with their Israeli age counterparts, ‘adoptive’ Israeli parents and families, Israeli teachers, new Olim and known ‘Canadian’ faces, as well as with normal Israeli ‘street folk’ who helped the members of the group to get a true, more diverse viewpoint of the rich human mosaic that forms the multicolored Israeli society.
Cloud #5 – SO MUCH MORE THAN A SCHOOL
This is our school’s motto, which guided us when we built the program. Obviously, the majority of the schedule is spent on full-integration in schools, but the prayers at the Western Wall immediate after the students’ arrival in Israel, a trip following the Maccabees on the last day of Hanukkah, an experiential Shabbat with Mrs. Gelernter and Rabbi Mazer, or an educational tour of the Knesset for a deeper understanding of the Israeli legislature, granted the students with significant added value and contributed to the fuller comprehension of the unique connection between the Israel of the past, present and the future.
Cloud #6 – Bagrut
One of the most common words heard between the walls of an Israeli high school is “bagrut”; a word that describes 2 different parts of every Israeli boy and girl’s experience. The first part means the bagrut (matriculation) examinations, the finals that students must pass each high school year; the second part means the bagrut period (young adulthood) and describes the processes of independence, responsibility and growing up that most teenagers go through in these ages. By observing these terrific delegation members for the past 720 hours, I’m not sure I can quantify and put in words the unbelievable process the students has undergone before my eyes: their bagrut and responsibility, independence and self-confidence simply soared to newer, amazing heights.
And so, these 6 clouds, together with many other rainbow colors I could write thousands of words about, are the reason for this dreamy, colorful month –
Somewhere over the rainbow
Way up high
And the dreams that you dreamed of
Once in a lullaby
Somewhere over the rainbow
Blue birds fly
And the dreams that you dreamed of
Dreams really do come true
(Somewhere over the Rainbow/Israel Kamakawiwo’ole)
Click here to watch some highlights from the trip.
Rabbi Aviad Pituchey-Chotam is a Judaic Studies teacher at Bnei Akiva Schools and the coordinator of the Grade 10 Israel Experience
