1986-1987 Rothberg Yearbook

I knew it was her as soon as she entered the bus. Barely five feet tall, she struggled to walk down the
aisle while carrying a week’s food in her hands. She sat in the vacant seat next to me.
I acknowledged her w ith a smile. ”?
”, she asked while looking me over.
א ת ה
ה ס טו ד נ ט שלנו
״כן”‏
”” מ א ו ד נ עי ם
She talked for most of the half hour trip through the mountains to Nes Harim.
I asked a few questions and nodded at her responses. Her words were not as clear as my slow-speaking
Ulpan teacher’s. I guessed at many of her meanings, trying to establish the most basic communication.
The three months that I lived on moshav caused many changes in my experience in Israel. Obviously,
the constant speaking and thinking in Hebrew, that was required where I lived, improved my ability to
communicate in the language many times over. But of more personal importance, the project allowed me to
know, and over a period of time, be adopted into an Israeli family.
W ithin the first week, I felt completely at home there. The dog would meet me in the yard; I’d throw
my books down on my bed and then sit down in the living room to talk w ith the fam ily about the
university or how well their days went. A few times a wqek I would collect eggs at the לול (chicken coop)
near the house. Not once during my entire stay did they ask me to do this, but it was im portant for me to
do whatever work I could around the house to help out. This was part of the moshav’s way, which greatly
helped my acceptance into the family.
The Moshav Project was not for everyone. There are definite sacrifices th at had to be made: the hour
commute, the distance from academic facilities, and most significantly, the isolation from friends met
during Ulpan. But for me, the rewards of Israeli-family life more than compensated. The experience
allowed me to get a feeling for an essential aspect of Israeli society, one that forced me to reevaluate many
of my own cultural values, and allowed close friendships to be formed.