Post Written by Katie Rice-Guter
Last night the 2016 cohort of Rubinites celebrated our send-off, and Tracy Berg (a 2014 Rubinite) generously welcomed us all to her home. She and a dozen other Rubinites spent the evening with us, sharing their experiences, stories and tips, and interrupting one another from time to time with endearing inside jokes and shout-outs of, “You know I love you!”
To me the most meaningful part of the evening was observing the way the Rubinites–people from different congregations, different professions, different hometowns–so warmly embraced each other. “Through this trip I became so much more comfortable being engaged in the Jewish community,” a 2014 participant told us. Another man said the trip is “like Jewish camp for adults.” “I’m so happy to have had this chance,” another said, “to connect with this place with these people.”
One woman told us that, after her trip several years, she still stays in weekly contact with a friend she made in Yokneam. Another woman shared that her child remains pen pals with the son of an Israeli family who hosted her for dinner. “At my home I have pictures of my family and pictures of the Rubinites,” a third told us. “Next to having kids, this is one of the greatest experiences of my life.”
The night, for me, was extremely reassuring, with advice like, “Be present,” “Be open to whatever is going to come your way,” and, “Get up early, go for walks along the Mediterranean. See the city come to life.” Um, yes. Please. I can do that.
I’ve been reading a lot, worrying about my packing list, asking Mindee lots of questions, listening to podcasts, and, on the side, using the language software Mango to learn some conversational Hebrew. This morning, as it turns out, I was assigned to practice in Hebrew four phrases that I used over and over last night in English:
“Hello!” “שלום”
“It’s nice meet you.” “נעים מאוד”
“Thank you!” “תודה”
“Goodbye.” “שלום”
Thank you to Ron and Pam Rubin and to everyone who has supported us as we begin this journey! To my fellow 2016 Rubinites: Hello! It is already so nice to meet you! And to our friends, neighbors, spouses, coworkers and kids, we will soon be saying a temporary goodbye while we depart for this tremendous blessing of a trip. Thank you for letting us make the space in our lives to make this important journey.
We’ll be filling the blog with regular updates from three Rubinites — myself, Paul Sorenson and Matt Berman – -as well as guest posts, insights, and snippets from the other 2016 Rubinites. Please stay tuned as we begin our journey on Sunday, September 11.
For now: Shalom St. Louis! Shalom Israel!
Hello to all of the 2016 Rubinites,
We want to wish you a wonderful journey as you travel to Israel for this very special “experience”. We will follow your trip through your posts and daily blog.
We’re so excited for you and look forward to hearing your thoughts upon your return to St. Louis.
With our wishes for a safe and meaningful trip to Israel!
Warmly,
Pam and Ron
Beautiful blog post Katie!!
Thank you so much, Pam and Ron! We appreciate your words and your thoughtfulness!