Just before midnight I registered Jesse for USY Israel Pilgrimage Plus. 29 years after I went on Pilgrimage, he'll be going. It's changed a bit. Pilgrimage cost a lot less in 1985. Everything cost a lot less in 1985. There were no regional scholarships available to me. ECRUSY has a great scholarship program. There were no cell phones and no texting. My parents weren't in Israel at the same time. And it's 5 weeks instead of 6.
Still, a lot is the same. Jesse loves USY like I did (and still do). The smiles on the faces of last year's participants are just as big. Some of the highlights have changed, but most are still the same. What teen tour of Israel would be complete without the sunrise hike up Masada or sloshing through Hezikiah's tunnels? The desert experience is incredible, but so is Tzfat. The Kotel is always amazing, but Jesse will have the choice to go to the Masorti section with his friends, the boys and the girls.
Nothing builds love for Israel like a summer youth tour. Experiencing it for a month or more with a peer group is like nothing else. Birthright is fine for those who couldn't go before, but it's no replacement for a high school tour of Israel. It's no replacement for a month of hitting the ground, really spending time in a place, and having a home base. I'm imagining Jesse in Gadna already, and reliving my own experience in my head. I'll have to dig up all my old picture. My group t-shirt, Group 2, is on my bed. It's part of a quilt that covers our bed every winter, a quilt made up of t-shirts from USY, Ramah, Brandeis, UJ, and JTS, a quilt of memories that represent the path that made me who I am. Jesse (and Gavi and Keren) already know the stories that go with the t-shirts, but maybe, before the summer, they'll have to hear them just one more time.
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