1984-1985 Rothberg Yearbook

o le M
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I don’t know where to begin. You want to know what this
year has meant to me. Well, to explain that, I’d have to tell
you about how I’ve changed, about how special the people
are with whom I’ve spent this year, about how interesting it
is to live amidst a different culture for a time, about how...
Okay, so you want me to begin with the facts —what
it was really like to live in Israel. Well, to explain, especially
to someone at home whose conception of this country is
something of an evening news haze, comprised of images of
a battle-torn country filled with two-camel garages; I guess
I’d start by explaining how much my conception of Israel
has changed since the summer. For one thing, living in
Jerusalem is very different from living in Haifa. In Haifa the
One Year Program is more of the authentic “Israeli”
experience, which was great in its place, but is also a bit
dull at times. But Haifa did prepare us. We all came to
realize the full impact of the word “efficiency.” It seems
the word has been removed from the dictionary of every
public worker in Israel. To get a true idea of what this
means, you’d have to stand in line at your nearest post
office, bank or grocery store. I’d say that most of us were
ready to come to Jerusalem, although I certainly don’t
mean to imply that the post offices, banks or supermarkets
are any better here. But Jerusalem is a little America (or
Canada) of sorts, a welcome sight at first. It can, however,
get a bit frustrating at times, not knowing whether to ask
directions of the person standing next to you on the street
in Hebrew or English. Well...
Yet living in Jerusalem has overall been great. I’d say
that most of us complain a little less about Israel now than
we did at first. Although a Jerusalem winter in a dorm that
conserves water, especially hot, and offers heating only a
few hours each day, is not always pleasant, I must say
that despite everything I love it. There’s just something
about the country that’s great. We all did a lot of travelling
during our vacations, but I think that most of us felt that
we were coming home when we hit Ben-GurionAirport. We
didn’t even get as mad at the taxi driver who ripped us off
as we would have normally. We did get angry, however,the
following week when the novelty of being back had turned
into a hard reality.
So you make a lot of jokes, but what did you really
think of this year? I think that everything that you’ll hear
about it, both good and bad, is true, but the only way to
really understand it, is to do it.
MICHELLE BEN-YEHUDA
Sherman Oaks, California
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