Written by David Sayet '13
Before the flight took off I became engaged in a fascinating discussion with the man on my left and the woman on my right. The man was a 23 year-old Orthodox Jew practicing Yeshiva. The woman was an old, well-spoken, Liberal Atheist Israeli who resides in New Jersey. As I talked to the man informally about politics while the plane taxied, the woman intruded our conversation immediately saying, “what do you think about gay marriage?”
The next three hours consisted of us breaking down and assessing the problems of abortion, gay marriage and assisted reproduction through an amiable and intense discourse. These conversations stretched my mind, by engaging with viewpoints that I had never had the chance to discuss with in a back and forth dialogue of such a high intellectual level. Both the woman and the man were both so well versed in all aspects of Judaism.
The woman and myself also asked the man about his studies and his customs. When I discovered that he only studied the Torah the liberal woman to my right became aggravated. Then he became aggravated, telling her that all that matters is the one truth and that is the Torah. In response to them both I pulled out one of the books in my backpack. Life of Pi. What is this about? They both asked. “It does not matter the religion of the boy in the story,” I told them. “He struggles with choosing a religion and in the end he does not choose. All that matters is that he looks for g-d.” “He connects with g-d.” Said the man. “Exactly,” I replied.
The man then went to pray in the back of the plane. I waited a bit and then decided to follow the Rabbis and young Yeshiva boys to the back of the plane to observe their prayer. I had never before seen this and asked one of the Rabbis to explain. I found it fascinating and continued to socialize with anyone on the plane who was willing to talk. I ended up talking to a bunch of women on “Birthright for Moms” for two hours. A group of mothers who travel to Israel to reinvigorate their connection to Judaism and bring this renewed faith back to their household. With five hours left in the flight I decided to return to my seat to get some rest. However, I had already decided that this was the most interesting, enlightening, and entertaining flight of my life.
Upon landing I felt an immense excitement despite the lack of sleep. All of my conversations on the plane had exponentially increased my sense of spiritual connection with the trip and my desire to dive right into the heart of Israel!
The group travelled to Caesarea, an old Roman ruins town north of Tel Aviv. Think Ancient Rome, meets Parthenon, meets Jerusalem, meets a beautiful Miami coastline. In the middle of the city sat an old reconstructed theater.
As I walked through the theater I immediately noticed a group of Africans dancing in the middle. The rest of group had already sat down to listen to one of our tour guides, however my friend Zack and I convinced one of our other tour guides, (the great and marvelous Tal!) to let us go down and join the dancing. Within moments, around half the students danced hand in hand with a bunch of Kenyans to Hakuna Mattata. This experience was unforgettable! I waved good-bye to one of the men I had danced with and we both said “no worries!” as we parted ways. It made me realize how many people, from so many cultures find Israel to be such a sacred place! Quickly after a group of people from India joined us in the theater as well!
After Caesarea we travelled to several other destinations. All gorgeous and just as inspiring and breathtaking. However, the airplane ride and dancing to Hakuna Mattata definitely stand out as memorable times on the trip so far, and I can’t wait for more to come!
For now, Hakuna Mattata everyone!