From San Clemente to Jerusalem...My Journey Commences

Chag Sameach! After an evening of indulging in cheesecake and cheese blintzes for the Jewish holiday, Shavuot at Chabad of San Clemente, I became even more excited for my upcoming trip to Israel! My excitement stems not because of the Israeli cheesecake of course, but because I will be living in Jerusalem, a city with so much Jewish history and spiritual life. How appropriate, as Shavuot is one of the three Shalosh Regalim, the major religious and harvest festivals where Jews traditionally would make pilgrimages to Jerusalem to pray and feast. 

Let the countdown begin! I have only two more days until I board the plane from Los Angeles to Philadelphia and finally, onward to Israel. As I prepare for my trip, running last minute errands, I now have one suitcase packed and one more to go- what else would you expect from a fashionista? So, what should one bring on a trip to Israel? For one, light summer clothes that are good for the heat. After Birthright two summers ago, I noticed that Israel gets HOT!  My attire for this trip ranges from business appropriate outfits for my internship, workout clothes for hiking in Israel, bathing suits for dips in the Mediterranean Sea, formal dresses for Shabbat, to going out dresses for my nights in Tel Aviv. This list reflects just a few of the activities that will keep me busy this summer! 

As I say goodbye to my hometown friends and family, reality is setting in that after two more days in California and almost 24 hours in transit, I will be back in Israel!  I am so excited to meet everyone in the program, but I am also lucky enough to have three great friends from Boston University also participating in Onward Israel! Meet Katie, Isaac, and Elana and read what they have to say about their hopes and expectations for this summer.

Katie Pulverman is studying Film & Television at BU and will be interning at Go2Films in Jerusalem. Katie remarks, " I love being in Israel! This will be my first time being there independently (not on a tour or with local hosts) and I'm really looking forward to that. I can't wait to learn more about Israeli film in my internship and I hope to learn some more Hebrew."

Isaac Levy is undertaking a dual major in History and International Relations at BU and will be interning at The Center For Near East Policy Research in Jerusalem. He comments, "My goals this summer are to gain experience in a professional field while immersing myself in Israeli culture. I hope to learn about the nation's history and deepen my ties to my ancestral homeland."  

Elana Schwartz is studying Health Science at BU and will be interning at Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem. She says, " I decided to do Onward Israel because ever since Birthright, I have fallen in love with Israel and will basically look for any excuse to go back! I went back last summer for three weeks just to visit and it was a totally different experience than Birthright. I am glad that I will be in Israel for a longer period of time this summer and it seems as though we are forced to be a little more independent through Onward, which I like. Since we will be living there for two months, I think we will be able to learn more about Israel and explore on our own. I am hoping to learn and improve my Hebrew! My internship is at the Hadassah Hospital in the maternity ward. I expect to learn a great deal and I hope I will be able to do some hands on work. I am extremely excited about this internship because my dad and grandparents both work in this field, so it will be nice to discuss this experience with them. This will actually be my first internship dealing with my field of interest so I am really hoping to love it and get a better insight as to what I would realistically be doing after school."

Shalom for now!

- Camille Pilar Phillips