By Micaela Raviv
Being given the opportunity to live in Jerusalem, the capital of Israel, has been a true blessing. Ever since I was a child, I dreamed of one day being a student at Hebrew University. My mother spent her junior year semester abroad at Hebrew U. Coincidentally, at the same time, my father was completing his undergraduate years at Hebrew U. Although they did not meet until later in their lives, I like to say that my roots are here in Jerusalem and at Hebrew U more specifically.
My father is Israeli, so I grew up visiting Israel every summer. We visited family and were relatively sedentary in central Israel, floating around the suburbs between Tel Aviv and Netanya. I remember begging my father to take us for one day, each trip, to Jerusalem. I remember exploring the Muslim Quarter shuk as a young child, fascinated by the harmony of smells, sights, sounds, and tastes. I remember approaching the Kotel as a teenager and being overwhelmed with goosebumps and spontaneous tears. I remember walking up and down Ben Yehuda Street as a freshman in college, looking for tasty meals and familiar faces. Now, those experiences are no longer memories from the past. I am living them every day for five months and I am deeply appreciative.
Jerusalem is the beating heart of the Jewish people, the Jewish religion and the Jewish State. Jerusalem, possessing what is arguably the most contentious piece of real estate in the world (The Temple Mount), is at the center of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Jerusalem, filled with the devout and the secular, Jews and Muslims and Christians, tourists and locals, men and women, young and old, soldiers and civilians, is an eclectic hodge podge. Never have I felt safer and never have I felt more Jewish. The experience of living in the 3,000-year-old Jewish capital is unexplainable. Having access to the Old City at our fingertips, enjoying nightlife at the Mahane Yehuda shuk three times a week and being given the ability to live in the center of Israel and have the freedom to explore is so unique. However, what is most special about our experience is that we live daily life here. When I walk to the grocery store, I see the Temple Mount. When we want to buy fresh produce, we go to the shuk. When we need fresh air, we walk around French Hill. This is daily life for us, something that others dream about their entire lives and never actually gets to experience.
Additionally, although people often have the misconception that I only came to Jerusalem to be surrounded by Jews, never have I experienced more coexistence between neighbors. Every time I get onto the Light Rail, it is as if I am being thrown into a prototypic melting pot. Half of the people I sit next to are East Jerusalem Muslims and half of the people I sit next to are West Jerusalem Jews. Half of the people I sit next to are religious, donning a streimel, kippah or hijab and half of the people I sit next to are young teenagers just like me. There is something so special in the air of Jerusalem. It just feels holy.
Lastly, living in the dorms has been a blast. I share an apartment with four Nachshon friends. We host Shabbat dinners together, walk to class together, and hang out together every night. It is so nice living on a campus and being surrounded by a diverse set of students. On our floor alone, the apartment next to us houses five post-army Israelis and another apartment on the floor houses five pre-college Palestinian Arabs. Talk about coexistence!
