The twenty-first century development of social networking – Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and who knows what is next – is truly amazing, radically changing the way we interact with each other, and how we share information. What I find most exciting about it is that it sparks in me something that was first seeded over 20 years ago.
When I was sixteen years old, I traveled in Israel for six weeks with Israeli peers. I remember each of these teenagers by name, and if it weren’t for the passage of time and human aging, I would recognize them like it was yesterday if they walked into the room. My experience in Israel – the things I saw, the places I visited, and the ideas that I encountered – are forever shaped by those people and they continue to impact the way in which I experience Israel. Like any cohort of friends, as time goes on, I am no longer in touch with many on a regular basis, but the connection lives in my soul and will forever serve as part of the collective, authentic voices that make up “my Israel.”
Responses
Until I experienced a real mifgash, I hadn't experienced the wholeness of Jewish peoplehood. From that moment, I understood that mifgashim was not just something that made Israel more real or "authentic," but rather something that made the Jewish people more complete. In it's essence Israel education is peoplehood education, and an effort not just toward understanding something that is outside of ourselves, but something that is ourselves.