These questions are just preludes; what everyone really wants to know is what you’ve learned. Anyone who’s been, as compared to anyone who hasn’t, is an “expert” – and the Write On For Israel trip was education-packed. The innumerable lectures, classes, discussions, interviews, and tours in our schedule covered as broad a range as possible in a ten-day trip.

But what did we really learn?

Khaled Abu-Toameh explained Israeli journalism. Neil Lazarus provided his unique interpretation of advocacy and debate. Tour guides on kibbutzim talked about the founding of the kibbutz movement and living and working in Israel. There was a lot to take away.

Yet, when I was asked what I had really learned, I had trouble answering. Did I know how Israelis live? What they care about? Is Israel doomed? Will Israel survive? How to advocate? We talked about all of these things, but I believe the trip was meant to prove something else entirely:

Israel isn’t a sentence, or even a paragraph. Like the United States, Israel is an epic novel, a heterogeneous tapestry of different peoples and beliefs. Apart from the politics and religion, that’s what makes it worth saving.

One day, we were driving to the northern border. As usual, as soon as I hit the seat my eyes closed. A few hours later, I woke up to a loud voice on the microphone. Disoriented, I turned to the front of the bus to see a tall, aggressive-looking man, with hair similar to staff member Amnon Ophir—that is to say nonexistent. The man was Retired IDF General Kobe Meron, who had joined us to give his perspective on Israel’s neighbors to the North.

One of the places we visited was the site of the recent Nakba and Naksa day protests. On the anniversary of Israel’s independence in May, and again in June, thousands of Syrian protesters crossed the border at the Druze village of Majdal Shams. Despite his 20 years of service in the army, Meron did not hesitate to criticize the way that situation was handled. Used to more hostile situations, the soldiers didn’t know how to disperse the crowd or use the kind of control that the situation demanded. As a result many people were injured.

On the bus back from the border, I was surprised when, after 45 minutes, I was still awake. I found myself contemplating Israel’s precarious situation at its northern border. Israel’s adversarial relationship with its neighbors has thankfully been quiet in the last few years, but anyone who has studied the Middle East conflict knows that can change on a dime. I was just thankful that there were – and are- men such as Kobe Meron who valiantly protect Israel’s borders.

On the day we visited the vigil, it was the fifth anniversary of Shalit’s capture. Visitors spilled out onto the sidewalks and into the streets. Trees and fences were covered with fluttering yellow ribbons containing messages from the tent’s visitors. However, the most striking display was inside the tent. Covering the walls were photographs and posters with Gilad Shalit’s face. At the time of his capture, Shalit was not yet twenty, and we could see that he was not much older than us. For me, visiting the tent, meeting his relatives, and seeing the walls dedicated to Shalit succeeded in showing me yet another face of Israel – a compassionate one – that needs to be acknowledged.

We were met by Laura Bialis, our tour guide. She began our Sderot experience by inspiring and astounding us with her shocking personal stories. One particularly horrifying story that really made an impact on me was of her friend who, when the warning sirens went off early one morning, was debating whether or not to stay in bed. He ultimately decided to play it safe and run to the bomb shelter, a wise decision. The bomb fell on his house, landing where his head would have been on his bed.

That moment, when we were standing in Israel while seeing the entirety of neighboring Gaza, made me realize how close and compact everything is and how threatened Israel’s borders are. A tank happened to be driving past on the Israeli side of the border, and Laura Bialis ominously muttered, “Oh no.” Our hearts sank. A false alarm. But being where we were, we couldn’t help reacting as we did. At the end of our trip, we were asked to reflect on what we found most powerful, and for me, the answer was Sderot.

Suddenly someone began singing “One Day” by Matisyahu and everybody powerfully joined in. Of all of the Hebrew songs we tried, “One Day” was the only song that our entire group fully sang together.

This song is about the day when there will be no more war, violence or hate in the world. In the chorus Matisyahu sings, “All my life I’ve been waiting for, I’ve been praying for, for the people to say… That we don’t want to fight no more, they’ll be no more wars and our children will play.” It suddenly hit me that I was sitting in the middle of Jerusalem with a pluralistic group of teenagers singing the hopeful lyrics of a Jewish pop artist about future peace. Then I realized that with Write On For Israel we were truly making a difference for our country.

As the first year winds down, each WOFI-ite chooses a project that he or she will complete during the second year of the program. This year, the projects ranged from planning the rocking “Other Side of Israel” party, to creating this magazine. Since oversight by WOFI staff is greatly diminished in year two, it can be very easy to shirk responsibility and not give 100% effort. This portion of the program attempts to simulate what the situation will be like on college campuses; it takes control of the program from staff members and puts it into our hands.

For my project, I worked alongside Nathan Immerman to bring a little bit of Israel Advocacy to our Conservative youth group, United Synagogue Youth (USY), where we both serve on the Executive Board. In February, we held a regional weekend convention in Cleveland, drawing Jewish teenagers from around the Midwest. These events take place in different cities four times a year and usually focus on a unique study theme. These range from relationships with each other to issues facing Judaism today.

For this convention, Nathan and I decided to shift the focus to the “other side” of Israel, the parts of Israeli society not seen by most tourists, like the internal crises Israelis deal with on a regular basis. At one point we split into small groups, and with each group, I passed around an assortment of pictures taken during our cohort’s Israel trip this past summer. Using these pictures, I explained many of the problems in Israeli society not so apparent to the outside observer. I was surprised by how well I knew the information, having only been exposed to it through WOFI. It was a wonderful experience to share what I had learned with others. All in all, the weekend was a great success, and everyone I talked to said they learned so much about what truly drives Israeli society, its successes and its problems.

I am truly indebted to the WOFI program, and it was only through planning this USY weekend that I realized this. WOFI not only taught me about Israel advocacy. It taught me how to take the information that I learned and communicate it to others. It gave me the ability not only to advocate for Israel on a personal level, but to teach others how and why they should advocate for the Jewish state. That is the beauty of the second year. It let me see just how impactful one person can be in the fight for Israel’s worldwide legitimacy. For that I am grateful.

“Hello, my name is Adam Rosenberg, and I am a senior at Hudson High School. First, I would like to thank your office for co-sponsoring HR 1905. It is crucial for Congresswomen like Marcia Fudge to support sanctions on Iran and recognize the importance of a strong Israel-U.S. relationship.”

These words looped through my head as I stood in front of the Longworth Office Building across the street from the Capitol. I was surprised and nervous to have the opportunity to talk to Maheen Siddiqui, Legislative Counsel (on foreign affairs!) for Congresswoman Fudge (D-11). I was excited to make a difference, to implement my research on Israel, and most of all, excited to advocate. All that was made possible through Write On For Israel (WOFI), a two-year Israel advocacy program that monumentally changed my life for the better.

The first WOFI year was rough: lectures, notes, presentations, seminars, films, writing assignments, and a never-ending number of PowerPoint slides. Next, we travelled to Israel on a political advocacy trip. I loved every moment of it. From there, WOFI lead me on a journey of Israeli advocacy that placed me on the Hill and with AIPAC.

Attending the AIPAC Schusterman Advocacy Institute High School Summit in Washington, D.C., Nov. 6-8, was extremely informative, especially when it came to learning lobbying techniques. I attended an Advanced Public Speaking class at the convention (I was very glad I had when I was in the office of Marcia Fudge). I also learned about Congress, fundraising, petitions and much, much, much more.
The U.S.-Israel relationship is not self-sustaining. We must continue to submit positive energy towards this relationship to keep it going for the safety of Israel and America.

The sixth annual conference brought 407 high school students from 28 states representing 130 different schools.

In addition to WOFI, the Northeast Ohio delegation included Alyssa Schor, Sydney Ungar, Jacob Popper, Nate Shiffman and Noah Ickowitz representing BBYO and Hallie Israel and Matt Fisher from The Temple-Tifereth Israel. Leora Hoenig of Cleveland BBYO and Ari Milgrom of The Temple-Tifereth Israel attended the trip as advisors. Noa Rabinowitz, AIPAC staffer from Beachwood, helped ensure the delegates had a good experience.

For WOFI Fellow Alana Friedman, the most memorable event was lobbying for Israel at the Capital. The ten teens from Northeast Ohio prepared short speeches on different topics Congresswoman Fudge needs to know about Israel: Iran, the peace process and the need for foreign aid. “It was an amazing opportunity to be able to talk to someone in Congress,” said Alana.

Esther Bergson, another WOFI Fellow, was initially unenthusiastic about attending the AIPAC conference. That changed.“The setup of the seminars was impeccable, creating an interactive environment that encouraged every student to make a contribution to the discussion,” reported Esther. “Everybody came together to create such a strong and reassuring environment that anybody – educated about the conflict in the Middle East or not – would feel completely comfortable.”

“Meeting hundreds of other high school students was an interesting experience for me,” said Esther. “I was shocked to find so many young adults that I could relate with and have a good time with. The AIPAC High School Summit was a life-changing experience.”

A few days after the WOFI trip ends, I walk towards the Kotel, my arms linked, with two friends from Nesiya, a pluralistic Israel program I participated in the previous summer. To my right is my friend Timna, an Orthodox Jew from Jerusalem who strictly keeps the Sabbath. To my left is my friend Shahaf, a secular Jew who never keeps the Sabbath and has little belief in G-d. The animosity between secular and religious Jews is passionately alive in Israel since many believe their way of faith is the correct path.

Now walking this path through the Old City I am confronted with the situation of two individuals whose backgrounds imply that they may reject the other. Instead, we talk about the separation, about believing in G-d, if we believe and the benefits of being a believer or not.

I am filled with hope. Even though we come from different backgrounds and have drastically different beliefs, we are able to forge a lasting friendship that is filled with respect and love between us, and I hope one day this will come to resonate throughout Israel.

To kick-off Shabbat we went to the Kotel on Friday night. Seeing all the people praying and hearing all the men cheering and singing made me feel closer to my Jewish heritage than I had ever felt before.

The next morning we went to synagogue. We had a few options and I chose the Italian Synagogue, but when we were not allowed in we went to The Great Synagogue. I was very disappointed because I was interested in what an Italian Synagogue would be like (and we had to walk an extra 15 minutes in the heat to get to the Great Synagogue). To make matters worse, The Great Synagogue turned out to be a great letdown. I did not understand anything that was going on in the service!

After leaving the synagogue, we went back to the hotel and relaxed for hours, the first time during the whole trip…literally!

After our chill time, we listened to two different political speakers and we went to the Gilad Shalit tent where his family and supporters gathered for the anniversary of his capturing. This was a very emotional experience and made us feel a sense of closeness to the conflict. When I heard that Gilad was finally released, I was ecstatic because I got to see firsthand what his captivity was doing to his family.

It was a hot, humid evening in June as a line of Palestinians, exhausted after a long day’s work, lethargically approached a checkpoint. Watching this scene, knowing that these people just wanted to get home and see their families, I began to sympathize with those who are forced to show identification and other documents to Israeli authorities. Even though the process may only take each person a few minutes, it is tedious and wearisome.

However, by reading articles and listening to speakers, I realized the importance of the fence for Israel’s security. Since the fence’s construction, attacks and suicide bombers have decreased significantly. Even ambulances must be stopped and checked to prevent weapons and bombs from being smuggled into Israel. Unfortunately these highly secured checkpoints are required to ensure safety to innocent civilians.