By Adina Lipschultz
On January 18th the third cohort was lucky enough to get to experience Alma, a center for Hebrew culture and learning in Tel Aviv. This session began with an introduction from the director, Shira, and her personal story. She had a lot of very valuable advice to give and experiences to share, which sparked my personal interest early on. One thought she shared that really resonated with me was that “you can learn a given amount of information in one day, but it will take a lifetime to figure out what it means to you”. I have felt relatively comfortable with what Judaism means to me for while, however I can also say that I have been somewhat stationary in my perspectives; the longer I am in Israel and the more people I talk to the easier it is to see that my thoughts are ever changing and that my relationship with my Judaism is extremely dynamic. At this point in time I am not fully sure of what I am sure of, which is a struggle that is constantly on my mind. While at one point in my life that would have scared me, I now strongly feel that this is what is supposed to be happening. I grew up in a Conservative Jewish community, and my Bubbie who was a Holocaust survivor always encouraged me to question anything because Judaism is a religion of questioning, and that anything you know will come in handy. This mentality has really shaped my perspective, and really made me feel comfortable at Alma. Seeing people come together from any kind of background, be it Reform, Orthodox, Reconstructionist, even other religions, and study together was incredible. This kind of pluralistic learning environment only pushes one to question and grow more which is something that I can really appreciate. Shira shared with us how she believes that everyone has the right to voice their opinion because chances are that you are the only one who can have an opinion composed of what you know; this is considered to be the DNA of Alma.
After discussing how Shira came to Alma, and what her experiences have been, she took us through a learning session focused on Lech Le’cha. We were able to read through a passage and discuss in small groups before coming together as a cohort and sharing our thoughts. One thing that really stood out to me in particular was how when G-d was asking Avram to leave everything behind, he listed the different parts of what he was leaving in order of difficulty to wean him into the idea. When this idea was brought up my first thought was each thing that G-d was asking Avram to leave behind could mean something different to everyone, so this was a way to emphasize the difficulty of leaving and the commitment required no matter what is important to you. This idea of leaving something behind is one that all of us on Nachshon can relate to. We have all left things behind in the states, at our homes, schools, and many more places, but we have all come with a purpose and passion. To be able to be a part of a cohort where everyone has such a love for Judaism, and desire to understand more about what Judaism is in general and what it means to us made going to a place like Alma all the more meaningful. Having the realization that all of us care so much, want to learn from each other, and help our peers is such a wonderful thing.
Being fortunate enough to attend a session at Alma in the first week also really set the tone for me of the program itself. Being so respectful of other opinions, levels of knowledge, and upbringing is very important to me personally. Having grown up in a Conservative environment, I felt relatively limited in what I could believe. Then, I was lucky enough to attend a pluralistic camp where I was encouraged to believe whatever I wanted, and this openness did more for me and my Jewish identity than anything I learned in day school. Personally, I am used to an environment were opinions are questioned and discussed, and I was a touch worried venturing into a new group where other may not be as used to, or comfortable with, that style of learning. I am thrilled to see how my fellow cohort members reacted to such differing beliefs to their own. I am a very strong believer in the fact that being around people with other opinions can only improve your own. Either you discover that you are confident in what you believe, or you are exposed to other ideas which you may potentially agree with more. There is no down side to more knowledge, because everything you know comes in handy.
