ok wow… so I’ve been in Israel for about 3 weeks now, which is a long time to encapsulate.. so here goes nothing…
thus far, the trip has blown all expectations i had, which granted were few, completely out of the water.. ill start with the most important first and wander along from there.. i have decided to travel indefinitely… the image that is in my head is from forrest gump where he starts running one day (not as a little kid) and then runs and runs and runs until he decides to stop… maybe ill travel for a week, maybe for a decade, but the most important part is that this is my little experiment with the universe… i have come to believe intellectually that the best way to live one’s life is to LET GO.. just let it happen… this is much easier said than done as im sure everyone reading this will agree upon reading it, but i feel like i am in the position to be a guinea pig and report from the front lines… so im going to put idea into action and just see what happens.. so i wake up everyday and the “you should do this” or “how are you going to do this” or “where’s the money going to come from”s start flooding my brain and i push them away and sit up and start my day.. all i can say is, so far, so so so good…
i mentioned in my pre-trip e-mail that the purpose of my trip for me was to meet saints… interestingly, i feel like in this new found world view… i just want to meet people who embody things i would like to embody… and saints certainly still apply.. in this regard, i feel i have done smashingly well so far and have ensconced myself in a little wedge of israel filled with just amazingly real and deep and touchy-feely and wanting-to-grow people who are unknowingly pushing my boundaries and allowing me to let go a little further everyday…
in terms of highlights and all that stuff, i would say the biggest highlight is an introduction to a jewish identity.. while many jews would not consider me jewish since my mom isn’t jewish (my dad is) and i wasn’t raised in the least bit jewish, i have been introduced to what in some way are “my people”… i hesitate to use this word because i truly feel like the world are my people, but i will explain.. people’s sense of humor, the amount of people that wear glasses, the number of nerdy intellectuals, how similar people look to me, how similar people think to me, the questions they ask, i feel like i am around a bunch of me’s (but of course at the same time different).. i have learned about jewish and israeli history and have done 3 shabbas dinners (if you haven’t done shabbat, you haven’t lived imo)…
and most importantly, i have discovered how much i love to sing.. i swear, ive said like 10 times so far that if i could just sing and dance for about 10 minutes every hour i would never need to sleep… it makes me smile so much and just feel so happy and feel God so tangibly that I just recommend it more than I can say… and I love the devotional music so much… it’s hard to put this stuff into words but I guarantee it will really stick with me..
the first 17 days of the trip were on a program that sends western Jews to Israel all for free to get an introduction to Judaism and Israel (and I’m sure there’s a lot of propagandistic reasons as well, but my experience was overwhelmingly positive so I don’t care)… We basically just went around and were wined and dined and shown the highlights of this country, from floating in the Dead Sea (WAAAAAAAY overrated in my opinion) to hiking Masada and in the Negev desert to crawling through caves where Jews hid from Romans to learning how to make chullah to learning Jewish songs and prayers and way too many things in between… lots of great speakers but most importantly great people…
it was 42 of us Americans aged 21-26 and we got to know each other as well as I’ve ever gotten to know 42 people in 2 weeks… we talked about our dreams and fears and desires and worldviews and went outside of boundaries and just really connected.. and even had spats just like MTV’s The Real World… it was a really incredible experience but that being said, being guided around a country in a tour bus is not my idea of a good time in retrospect so I don’t know how much I’ll be doing “tours” in the future… but I truly love all the people I travelled with…
Since the trip has ended, I have been in Jerusalem just having even more of an amazing time meeting new people and doing all kinds of things… Shabbat just ended (it is the time of rest from Friday sundown until 1 hour after sundown Saturday) and for Friday dinner me and 2 friends went to a Rabbi’s house who has hosted whoever wants to come for 30 years and it was about 100 of us from all kinds of countries getting to know each other and enjoying company..
that reminds me, my dancing has been a BIG hit… everywhere I go I have been dancing and have been cheered on…. I have been to 3 weddings so far which are CRAZZZZZZZZZZZZZZY and amazing and so much singing and dancing I dont need to sleep for a week afterwards but they form big circles and it’s so fun going in the circles and popping because everyone is just like WHAT IS THAT?? lol.. but it’s been great.. at the most recent wedding, i met a hip-hop dance teacher who said she could set me up with classes here potentially and also will teach me hebrew for FREEEEEE…
so anyway, after the dinner we went to this hassidic pep rally where there were 300 guys or so on bleachers just singing and praying and they were all wearing the silk robes and huge cylindrical fur hats.. it was seriously out of a movie.. then back home to sleep and then today we went over to a friend’s house for shabbat lunch (I swear all these people do is sing and eat!) and I just met a ton of new amazing people and we had a freestyle music jam for about 2 hours… life is good, God is great..
so… like i said, i think this might just be the beginning… that’s the sense I have right now, but who knows, maybe I will wake up tomorrow and realize it’s time to go home… no plans, I’ll let you know how that way of living works… the trip has been way more than I thought it would be and I really truly feel spirituality moving to the forefront of my life in action, not just in thought… So hopefully next time you see me, you will say SHIT.. YOU SURE SMILE A LOT… WHAT HAPPENED… anyway… I love you all and thank each and every one of you for getting me to where I’m at now…
Tomorrow it is off to Jordan for a few days to see lovely Petra and check out the desert… so I hope this e-mail finds you so well and so fulfilled and if not, that’s cool too 
Until we meet again
SHALOM SHABBAT (that’s some 2006 ish)
peace in the middle east
Brit is Otis
p.s. oh yah i got to celebrate my first ever chanukah in israel.. how cool is that!
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