For Natalie

A good friend of mine is currently in Israel, and its been amazing getting to spend sometime with her. Let me start at the beginning, it all began innocently enough, I decided that I wanted to go on an adventure during my last vacation before real life began. In short I made what has become a standard right of passage for Jewish young adults: I went on Birthright. Without much foresight into my multitude of options for said trip I signed up for the first one that caught my eye. Little did I know that seemingly innocent enough decision would irrevocably alter my life. What I didn't realize at the time was my trip was run by Mayanot, a Chabbad run organization. This was in short a religious trip, and I was in short a secular, liberal, and very ignorant Jew. I met Natalie right form the beginning and the two of us plus another life long friend David bonded instantly. The two of them were very religious in my eyes, they believed in god! I didn't think sensible people believed in god. My secular rationalism wouldn't accept being religious as a rational decision. On Birthright I was exposed to ideas that were very foreign to me, teffilin, shabbat, god, just to name a few. I'll admit my curiosity was aroused by many long, late night conversations with Rabbi Rappaport a man scarcely older then myself he exuded a quality that I couldn't pinpoint but that deep down I wanted badly. That was how it all began for me, when I left that trip I had received no great revelation, just a new curiosity, and an exposure to a ancient culture that I believed had nothing to offer me. But that was enough I was now no longer so ignorant of my own ignorance, I now knew I didn't know anything about Judaism and I decided I should for my own sake learn more. That was it, I thought I'd learn a bit fill in some gaps of my education and move on. Now over two years later I'm sitting in a Yeshiva in Israel I've been here almost nine months and my current plan is to go home and keep learning. And last night I found myself sitting down with a dear friend talking about god, life, love, etc. She gave me a mirror an in that mirror I saw myself more clearly then I have in a long time. She was there for the beginning, she's seen my evolution. We all fall victim to short sightedness it hard for us to see ourselves clearly when so much is going on around us. Luckily for me I've been incredibly blessed throughout my life to have people who grant me clarity and give me a sounding board and love me no matter what comes bouncing back. So thank you to Natalie and the many, many others who have seen and helped me evolve. I can't say that I've seen any of this coming but I am in my moments of clarity so happy I've had the opportunity and the courage to pursue it to my own logical conclusions. Shalom Alechem from Eretz Israel.