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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 28, 2000)
Gleaning a better understanding of their pasts ■ Students get a chance to connect with their culture, history, and family through a summer trip in Israel By Lisa Toth Oregon Daily Emerald The water in the Dead Sea is so dense with minerals and salt that people can float, but they can’t swim. Because of its content, the sea cannot sustain any form of life. Josh Frankel, kicker for the Ore gon football team, heard rumors but didn’t believe them. “I thought I’d go in and swim like an Olympic champ,” he said. “I soon realized that the rumors were true.” Frankel, a senior majoring in journalism, was one of 40 Jewish students at the University who at tended a free, 10-day trip to Israel in June. Hillel, the foundation for Jewish life on campus, offered the trip. As the largest Jewish organiza tion in the world, with foundations and affiliates on 500 college cam puses around the globe, Hillel of fered the intense program to college students around the world who had never been to the ancient city of Jerusalem, but identified them selves as Jewish people. The tour, underwritten by Taglit/Birthright Israel, balanced meeting new friends with educational tours about the historic sites and a reli gious understanding of Judaism. Taglit/Birthright Israel, a partner ship of philanthropists, Jewish communities and citizens of Israel, is a worldwide initiative to provide this learning experience to stu dents. Stephanie Yellin, the Jewish Campus Service Corps Fellow for Hillel, graduated from the Univer sity of Massachusetts in May and started working at the fellowship in August. She said staffing the trip was an opportunity to meet 40 stu dents before she even arrived in Eu gene to start her new job. One of the first stops on the trip's itinerary was Hezekiah’s Water Tunnel. The ancient system under neath Jerusalem was constructed hundreds of years before Christ to bring- water to the city from Gihon spring, east of the city. Yellin said actually walking through the pas sage with flashlights was much more exciting than just reading about it. The group visited the Western Wall, the only wall still standing from the second temple of Jerusalem. Yellin said there were a range of responses when the group came before the wall. Some stu dents cried, while others felt no ef fects. “When I first went to the Western Wall, all I saw was a bunch of rocks,” Frankel said. But as the trip went on, he said he learned it was not the physical rocks that were im portant, but the memories and his tory of the Jewish people that the rocks represented. “One tradition is to write a note, letter or request to God and to stick it between the cracks in the rocks in the wall,” Yellin said. Yellin added that one of the re wards of the trip was being around people who, like her, were con fused and were questioning their religion. The group camped in Tel Arad in the Negev Desert and woke up at 4 a.m. to watch the sunrise from Masada, a Jewish mountain, which features the ruins of a Jewish com munity. Yellin said Masada is a symbol of strength, honor and pride. “It’s hard to compare to anything in America,” she said. “It's not like going to visit the Washington me morial.” Other highlights included the club scene in Tel Aviv, community service work for the elderly and vis iting the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial Museum. Director of Hillel Rachel Canar said the participants returned to Eugene with a better understanding of their identities and beliefs. “This trip is so significant be cause it affords Jewish students the opportunity to learn something about their heritage, and hopefully gives them an interest in positively identifying with Jews,” she said. Yellin said she left Israel feeling reconnected with her culture, his tory and family. The trip will be offered again in June of 2001. Students can contact Hillel at 343-8920 or register on line at www.israel2000.org. Coutesy Photo Sophomore pan Gruber and senior Erik Nicolaisen help sophomore Lisa Warshaw down an incline during a hike in the Negev Desert. *29" for 500 MINUTES All with Nationwide Long Distance. Samsung 3500 250 Anytime Minutes 250 Night & Weekend Minutes 500 Total Minutes All including Nationwide Long Distance when you sign a one-year Sprint PCS Advantage Agreement. PLUS! 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