The Rocket

Issue date: 1/25/08 Section: Opinion

Relatively few Americans choose to travel abroad these days, not counting travel to Canada or Mexico. Maybe it's because we're content with our country or simply feel the world should come to us rather than the reverse.

Regardless of why we choose not to travel, I have concluded after my first international traveling experience that Americans need to get out more often.

For many of us, the way in which we are exposed to other cultures happens through foreign exchange students who come to the United States.

While this may be beneficial to us in general, it doesn't replace the experience of going to a foreign country where the residents may not speak your native tongue, deal in a much different currency and may even have completely different customs and behaviors to which you must adapt.

It's only when people are forced to go outside their comfort zone that they gain a true appreciation for the differences between cultures and how many foreign exchange students feel when they come to the States and must quickly adapt to our culture.

My recent 12-day trip to Israel has opened my eyes not only to international travel but meaningful travel. I differentiate travel for mere pleasure from meaningful travel because, while both can be pleasurable in nature, traveling with a cause makes the memories from a visit to a foreign land last longer than the physical possessions (photos, videos or trinkets) a person accumulates while traveling.

Merely going to a foreign land to take pictures and visit tourist traps cheapens the value of travel and doesn't expose the traveler to the real reason we travel to begin with. For me, visiting the Land of Israel was meaningful not only because of the visit itself but also the way in which I chose to visit.

Beginning in September, I began the application process for a program called Taglit-Birthright Israel that would eventually lead to a free trip to Israel. This program, sponsored by private Jewish donors and Jewish organizations around the world, provides such trips to Israel for young Jewish adults from ages 18 to 26.

Many critics of the program believe that because the trip itself is "free" that somehow those who are accepted feel a sense of entitlement.

From my experience, the absolute opposite is true. Every moment I spent in Israel alongside 42 other Americans was cherished and absolutely no one took the opportunity for granted in any way.

When I landed in Tel Aviv early on Jan. 8, I had no idea what might be ahead of me. From what the U.S. media has shown, the country is in constant conflict with its Arab neighbors, Lebanon and Syria.

What I saw on TV and the truth on the ground is markedly different. The difference, of course, is that my group spent no time in the volatile areas of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Although our group did venture to Israel's northern border with Syria and Lebanon, there was no palpable tension. Overall, I felt very safe and could envision living in Israel.

The first few days after I arrived in Israel, the awe of being in such a holy place didn't fully sink in.

About halfway through the trip, I began to realize what it means to be at the very same location where Jesus, Mohammad, Moses and Abraham made history.

Even if you aren't a follower of organized religion, there is something purely spectacular about a country that's roughly the size of New Jersey and contains artifacts and relics from the time the world's three major religions were born.

This trip took the words and images of a textbook and made them come alive. Throughout my (very minimal) Jewish education, I have always heard of the holy sites in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and others. But I have never actually stood on the land, touched the artifacts or experienced the sheer amazement of merely being in such a holy and historic part of the world.

There is clearly something different from reading about the Western Wall and placing a note into it.

My short visit to Israel has changed me in many ways. Primarily, of course, I feel so much more connected to the land of my people and a sense of duty to protect it from those who would harm it.

Although many would think that such a trip would make me more religious, the opposite is true.

What few outside Israel know is that most Israelis are secular in their beliefs and rarely attend religious services. At no point in time did I feel pressured to change the way I practice Judaism, although I feel more comfortable being Jewish.

Maybe these ebullient words are merely the afterglow of just another sightseeing trip in a foreign land.

Or perhaps there is something more to what I feel.

At this point, I'm just beginning to assess how the trip has affected my life.

From this point forward, there will be a great deal of introspection and reflection as I can't even begin to process the totality of what I saw.


Dan Klein is a senior information technology major and the Web editor for The Rocket.

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