"We got to offroad in these boxy car things." - Danny

It was pretty clear from the closing discussion thus far that everyone's favourite part of the mifgash was the jeep ride. And why not? The lunch was outstanding, they bounced around and sang songs, ate fruit off the trees, and just had an all-around blast. So I posed the question another way: "What has been your favourite part about being with all these Israelis in your face the last four days? Oh, and you're not allowed to say 'jeep' or 'ride.'"

Then the deeper thoughts started emerging. It's fun meeting people in the neighbourhood, it's cool being around so many other people our age, it's amazing to see how much Canadians can know about Israel (that's an Israeli kid speaking), it's a good challenge trying to stretch my Hebrew to new limits, it's nice to have a new family in Israel, all the good stuff.

Yesterday was a long day outside, starting with a hike in the Banias Nature Reserve, then the jeep ride, a picnic lunch, and an overview from Har Bental. After sundown, Yom HaShoah began with ceremonies in the various communities. That continued with a ceremony this morning at the school at which one of our past mifgash participants spoke in front of the crowd. She traveled to Poland earlier this year and read us a section of her journal.

In part, Hagar asked what could be done from the other side of the fence. You can sit on the porch and sip your tea and see the smoke and sit and shake your head. What can you do? The discussion came back around to thinking about Har Bental, looking out at Syria, knowing what is happening to the people there. The UN observers are there, the people come into the demilitarized zone looking for medical attention, what is Israel's responsibility? Sitting on this side of the fence playing in the bunker...

The students will meet up later tonight for their own closing barbecue and then it will be back on the bus without the Israelis. During their time together, Genesis fulfilled her dream of riding a bike on the Israel trip, they all played, learned, mourned, and sang. And Danny was able to circumvent my rules and express that his favourite part of being with the Israelis without saying jeep or ride was that they got to offroad in boxy cars. Glad you enjoyed, Danny!

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