First Impressions

by Ilana Wolfe

I must admit, I found it quite strange that we were planning to spend our first Shabbat and the first few days of our trip in Tel Aviv. I’ve been to Israel multiple times in the past but had spent the large majority in Jerusalem. Outside from flying in and out of the airport, I’ve never really spent any time in Tel Aviv.

Despite my initial doubts, it didn’t take long for me to fall in love with the city. When we checked in to our hotel, I was consumed by the gorgeous beach and scores of young, healthy Israelis playing volleyball, laughing, and tanning under the strong Mediterranean sun. This is the not the Israel I had known before. Thursday night, we visited the bars along the port, and I felt like I was miles away from the Israel I read about in papers back in the States. It was fun, it was young — it felt fresh and full of life.

Shabbat in Tel Aviv was particularly beautiful. Unlike in Jerusalem, where you feel it all around you, we as a group had to make a conscious space and mental state that we were celebrating, and we ushered in Shabbat on a porch overlooking the ocean, with the sounds of kadmia boards clanking and laughter bellowing from below. We met with a local liberal rabbi, took a walk through one of the first neighborhoods in Tel Aviv, and had a picnic seudah shlishit overlooking the water. I felt as though it was the perfect blend of all that Israel has to offer — both spiritually as well as physically.

My ideas about Israel affected by my stay in Tel Aviv, I know that this is only a taste of how my thoughts, vision, and views will inevitably be challenged and develop as we continue through the trip. And that is perhaps what I look forward to most …