On Wednesday morning, we packed up to head back to Tel Aviv to catch the flight back to New York. I wasn't in good spirits about it, and even now, writing from New York, my heart longs to be back in Israel. On the 3 hour drive down from Tiberias, we stopped at Caesarea National Park, a Phoenician settlement from the third century that passed between Jews and Romans and was home to gladiator events and Dionysian orgies. The waters of the Mediterranean were of the bluest blue I've ever seen against the backdrop of the ruins, and I thought of Hannah Szenes and her Caesarea-inspired poetry and songs. Hannah Szenes was a Hungarian Jew who risked her life by joining the British Army and parachuting into Yugoslavia to save the Jews of Hungary from deportation to Auschwitz. She was tortured and executed by a firing squad at only 22 years old, and refused to wear the blindfold when the Nazis shot her. From “A Walk to Caesarea (Eli Eli)”, which you might be familiar with because of Regina Spektor's version: “My God, My God, I pray that these things never end, the sand and the sea, the rustle of the waters, lightning of the Heavens, the prayer of Man”. At Caesarea, it all made sense.

I'm going to miss Israel pretty badly, but one day I might return. Birthright was an amazing experience, and I highly recommend it to anyone with one drop of Jewish blood. Of course, I recommend Israeli to anyone of any ethnicity, but Birthright is 100% free for anyone wishing to travel to the land of milk and honey. If you're eligible, you should definitely go. It's a beautiful thing that philanthropists have funded, and won't brainwash you or necessarily help you find God or make any sort of breakthrough, but will certainly awe you in every way and steal a little piece of your heart. It was an incredible, life-changing experience, and I found spirituality and personal identity. Pictures soon! I'm not sure how to say goodbye to this journal and conclude my writings again, but I think Wikipedia might have the answer.

Shalom (שָׁלוֹם) is a Hebrew word meaning peace, Nothing missing, Nothing broken, wellbeing, and complete, and used to mean hello, and goodbye. As it does in English, it can refer to either peace between two entities (especially between man and God or between two countries), or to the well-being, welfare or safety of an individual or a group of individuals. It is also used as a greeting to either say hello or farewell, and is found in many other expressions and names.

Shalom, Israel!