Written by Naomi Bennett
7:10am - January 15, 2014 - Jerusalem
I woke up that morning in Jerusalem, non jet-lagged, comfortable and aware of my surroundings, having spent the last semester at Rothberg International School at Hebrew University. But today was different - the Nachshon Project was beginning here, in Israel! I left the Kfar at around 7:45am to take the bus to meet Rabbi Todd in town. I crammed into a car packed full, later realizing full of marzipan rugalach, and we drove to the airport where I met the first cohort of Nachshon fellows. At around 10:30am, the first seven of us Nachshon fellows piled into a shuttle that took us from the airport to the Shefayim Kibbutz Hotel, which was to be our home for the next seven days.
At this point, I don't think we really know what we had gotten ourselves into. We had the basics, a leadership program for like-minded individuals, all coming from summer camps around the United States that would study together at the Rothberg International School spring semester and then return to our respective summer camps this upcoming summer, bringing our new-found knowledge about leadership and Israel. I think it sounded pretty awesome, and I was pleased to be accepted after the interview process. As the first year and so the guinea pigs of this program running, this is all the information we had, plus a schedule of shabbatonim for the upcoming semester. With these thoughts in mind, we arrived at Shefayim and dropped our things off in the main communal room. Over the next few hours, more people trickled in from the airport and we naturally began learning about each other's hometowns, universities, majors, and a bit of who and what we wanted to be when we grow up. Having all come from camp counselor positions, we fell into that familiar role, and the breaking of the ice was natural. It wasn't until after dinner that the organized opening mifgash began. These icebreakers were our first actual programming as a group, and so it began! We had five different icebreakers, one after another without a break. Personally, I think this was a super affective way of getting to know the group quickly, because every single game was different, allowing us to meet more people. There was a good balance between the silly aspect of the icebreaker and the more thoughtful parts, helping us open up to a new group of people. We were immediately relating what we were doing to our own camps back in America, and it was clear we were all on a similar page when it came to the games we play with our campers. I think this also brought us closer. As the counselors who usually run the icebreakers, it was fun to be on the other side of the game. As these games came to a close we all headed to the rooms, continuing the getting to know you conversations from the day.
That first day was overwhelming and exciting. We were finally meeting each other face to face, having only seen little tiny boxes of our faces on the monthly webinars prior to January 15th. Now, we were actually together in a room, together in Israel, singing songs, popping balloons, and working on puzzles blindfolded. Last semester at Rothberg was no doubt fabulous and life changing. But I think there is something special about this group of people, actively aware of our intention to perhaps one day lead the Jewish people. I am excited to continue my year here in Israel with a new community and friends.
