My Birthright

Two weeks ago I had one of the best army weeks in my short lived military career. Instead of a normal week of work, I was selected to accompany a birthright trip for several days. For anyone who doesn't know, birthright is a program where Jewish kids aged 18-26, who have never been on an organized trip to Israel before can come to Israel for a week and a half with almost everything fully paid for by wealthy benefactors. The theory is that all Jews would have a chance to visit Israel and hopefully form a meaningful connection with the land. For me, this basically means that I got to hang out with college kids for the week. Needless to say it was a rocking good time (although Michelle was not thrilled that I was spending a week with 20 year old college girls infatuated with Israeli army uniforms). We did a range of touristy things ranging from riding on donkeys, hiking in the north, and kayaking on the Jordan river. Because the legal drinking age in Israel is 18 we also took a tour of the Golan Heights Winery. In addition to having a ball, it was my job to answer all sorts of questions about life in the army, life as a new immigrant, and cultural differences between the US and Israel. Needless to say I told them lots of hilarious stories from the past 9 months. If you've been reading my blog you would know what they were.