A Reflection from Israel -- by Jessica Galant

So I haven't really had the opportunity to write a written reflection on my amazing Birthright trip to Israel this winter break (which everyone should do by the way..register now!!)It will take about 10 pages and I will do it eventually. The experience was so much more than words could give it, but I will do my best. In this blog, I want to describe one part of the trip, the unexpectedly most moving part of the trip and something that truly changed my outlook on life and Israel.
On the second to last day of the trip, my busmates and I (Bus 686 pride!!)went to Mt. Hertzel, the military cemetary in Jerusalem. Here, the soldiers are buried along with government leaders, Yitzhak Rabin, and Hertzel himself. The first important thing that was pointed out was the fact that war heroes were buried next to average soldiers. Each soldier was the same in the eyes of G-d and all were buried facing the Kotel. They fought for the same purpose, dying for the same cause. Let me just preface these next couple statements with the fact that I never cry. It's like my tear ducts don't work or something. But, for some reason the next experience was too overwhelming for my sheltered heart. We went to the fresh graves, 3 new mounds of dirt to represent fallen soldiers within the past week. The thing that got to me the most was that, in America when I have gone to cemetaries and see the years of birth and death, the majority of the deceased are in their 60s, some 40s and 50s, but few younger than 30 unless there is a tragedy. However, at Mt. Hertzel, the majority of the graves were for 18, 19, 20 and 21 year olds...my peers. That was too much for me. I saw my brother's face in their headstones. I didn't know them but I felt that they would have been my friends. I wondered what their favorite book was, where they liked spend the weekend, if they had a girlfriend or boyfriend, and saw their faces. I felt the cool wind on my face and saw my friends around me. I felt cold. Empty. It wasn't fair. Why was it them and not me? And then, I thought, I am a soldier. We are all soldiers, fighting for what we believe in. I believe in love, freedom, happiness, family, friends, Israel, and the expanding universe. I will never forget that day. I will fight until the day I die for what I believe in, for myself and for them. May they rest in peace. Alav/Aleha Hashalom.
---- Jessica Galant, '10