Today we continued our journey in Jilabun. The sun was shining, the water was glistening, and the rocks were smiling. Cliche, right? But there really is no better way to describe it. It was breathtaking. We hiked along song and laughter bursting from our souls. We swam and lept in the waterfall which was a much needed refresher. After, we went to the chocolate factory (Willy Wonka would approve). The sweet smell filled every corner of the room. We saw how chocolate bars were made and even created our own with original designs. After we went to the Ben Tal lookout point. From our perch we saw Syria. From hundreds of miles away we heard the bombs. We felt the terror of those in Syria and fell silent on behalf of their pain. After, we headed back to our hotel. We dressed in black and drew spirit stripes all over our faces. We were playing dodgeball. We screamed and cheered. “Bus 4, Bus 4!” And praised avoteach (watermelon ice cream), staring at our opponents. Blue, white and red. We heard the whistle.
The battle began.
Balls zoomed past.
Tension grew.
Our opponents were big.
They were strong.
We had no chance.
Or did we?
Our opponents may have been stronger than us physically but we were stronger than them mentally. We had heart. We were a family.
“Duck”
“Look out”
“Cover”
One by one we worked and fought together. We protected each other. Earlier in our trip we learned the reason the IDF is one of the best armies in the world and it is because they always have each other’s backs. They are fighting to keep the guy next to them alive. On that battlefield we were the IDF. We fought for our brothers, and our sisters.
3-0
We won.
We were the underdogs and we persevered, just like the Jews. We fought and yelled together and on that battlefield we truly became a family.