By Molly Auerbach
Becoming a part of The Nachshon Project’s fifth cohort has beyond surpassed my expectations. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect when initially starting my journey on this program, however, my nerves of moving to a different country for a semester were quickly put to ease when I met my first two friends from the cohort in the Newark Airport prior to our flight. As I arrived in Israel and met the other 29 people from my cohort, I knew that being a part of this group would be something so special that no other group at Hebrew University would be able to experience. Having the opening conference in Herzliya and constantly being surrounded by the cohort and the Rabbis was the perfect way to settle into Israel and get to know some of the people with whom I would be spending the semester. Starting Ulpan already knowing 31 other students helped make the transition much smoother.
The bonding of the cohort definitely did not end after the opening conference. Each ordinary day, going to and coming from Ulpan, I would walk with my friends from the cohort and constantly learn new things about each and every person. I feel so lucky to have people sharing this journey with me, and with whom I get to connect in both formal and informal settings. While all of the formal programming is a given group bonding experience, I think a lot of the bonding happens in informal settings as well, for example, after Pardes. I have found that each week after Pardes, whether it is shopping at Osher Ad or stopping at the mall to get dessert, we all get to process what we learned during Beit Midrash by simply being together and having those informal conversations. Being able to process what went on during the day with other people in the cohort allows us all to share our opinions and I have learned so much about my friends by having these conversations.
