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How is it possible that one year can have such a lasting impact? I participated on Nativ thirty years ago when it was still in its infancy. I was on Nativ 6. Not many days go by when I do not think about things that happened that year and how I am effected by them even today. As I look back on my years since graduating high school, I cannot think of a single year that I had as much influence on my life.
I am not even sure I can put into words the power that spending the year on Nativ had for me. There are too many ways that Nativ impacted who I am today.
Was it that it was my first foray into independence from my parents?
Many of my peers, my high school and USY friends went off to college that same year, but only a select few travelled several thousands of miles away to a foreign country. I had to learn quickly how to navigate on my own. From keeping track of spending money and keeping up with studying for classes, to taking care of my health and well-being. Everything was new and I couldn’t just reach out to my parents for guidance. This was all in the days before cell phones, Skype and Facetime. I called home once every two weeks for ten to fifteen minutes. I even had to undergo and appendectomy, alone in a foreign country – in the days before laparoscopic surgery.
Was it just being in Israel, a country with a Jewish majority where national holidays coincide with the Jewish calendar or where the language spoken on the streets was Hebrew and I didn’t have to think twice about walking around the country with a kippah on my head?
I had just spent the summer before my senior year of high school on USY Israel Pilgrimage, a summer trip to Israel with other teens, but somehow being there as a resident rather than a tourist had a different effect on me.
Was it the great classes I took in the mini-mester and fall semester at Hebrew University or the fantastic educational trips and tours we took spanning the entire country from Metula to Tabaa?
I had attended Jewish day school from elementary through high school and had learned everything from Torah and Talmud to Jewish history and culture. But learning in Israel at the university level was something altogether different. To this day I still give sermons and talks about the places I visited and the things I learned.
Was it the discomfort I felt upon realizing that while I was sitting comfortably studying in the library on Mt. Scopus, my Israeli peers were on the front lines of a war in Lebanon?
Was it the leadership training that we participated in, from our sessions at Kiryat Moriah to our weekly Yom Nativ programs?
At the time, many of us took this part of the program for granted. Not everyone took it so seriously. But I find myself often reaching back to and using the skill sets that I learned that year in my daily work as the spiritual leader of my community.
Was it the friendships I developed that year that I still maintain to this day?
We didn’t have Facebook in the years immediately following Nativ, and yet we found ways to stay in touch. Now with social media, I am able to keep up with the people with whom I spent that year and see what they have been doing with their lives.
Was it the connection I have with hundreds of other people that have participated on Nativ over the last 36 years?
It is rare that I do not come across a boger Nativ (alumni) when I am visiting other Conservative synagogues or attending national Jewish events and conventions.
It may sound as if I am looking back at the year through rose colored glasses. There were difficult times and circumstances that I went through, but having to go through them together with my fellow Nativers is exactly what made that year so special.
I guess, it is all of these things and more combined that make Nativ so special. Its lasting impact can be felt in so many different aspects of my life.
After reading this, I am sure it will come as no surprise that when my daughter decided to go on Nativ, I did not have to think twice about it. Thirty years after I got to participate in Nativ, the program is still thriving. Though my daughter got to experience many more things than I did, much of her experience mirrored mine. In the short time that she has now been back, I have already seen the impact that program has had on her. I look forward to the coming years when perhaps my sons will follow in our footsteps and enjoy the benefits of the Nativ.
It’s hard to believe it’s been more than 20 years since we dragged our too full duffle bags up the stairs of Beit Nativ. Those bags were filled with clothes, excitement, perhaps a little anxiety, and bottles of American shampoo, carefully calculated amounts to last until someone we knew would be travelling to Israel; however, very quickly, we realized we felt at home in Israel, even with our toiletries.
My experience on Nativ gave me a new love of Israel, one that was deep and intimate based on knowing a place well. The missing pieces of my Hebrew language instruction were filled in by living life in Hebrew – working with 3 year olds on a kibbutz is a wonderful way to learn a language as they have no problem correcting your mistakes.
Since Nativ, I attended the double degree program at Barnard and JTS, earning degrees in American Studies and Bible. I worked year round for Camp Ramah in the Berkshires. I then completed a Master’s degree in Jewish Studies at Emory University, followed by a PhD in Hebrew Bible at the University of California, Berkeley. I have lived all over the US, and I still feel at home in Jerusalem, the first place that I lived as an “adult.” One of my courses on Nativ at Hebrew U influenced my choice of an undergraduate Bible major.
I have been back to Israel many times in 20 years – visiting family and friends, taking classes, working on an archaeological dig. Each time I revisit my Nativ experience – visiting the old Beit Nativ and neighborhood, eating at my favorites places, and literally, strolling down memory lane, also known as Emek Refaim, I’m always surprised how little has changed in 20 years.
I currently live in the Philadelphia suburbs, teaching Religion at Swarthmore College. I have three young children, who learn Hebrew at school with beautiful Israeli accents, correcting my “proper” NJ pronunciation. They look forward to our first family trip to Israel, and we all look to their future gap year.
My name is Andrew Belinfante and I was on Nativ 26 (ten years ago!). I currently work at Mechon Hadar in New York City as the Director of Public Programs. My love of Jewish life and community began when I was very young as my parents sent me to Camp Ramah every summer and I was involved in USY throughout middle and high school.
I think in many ways Nativ was a natural next step in the trajectory of Jewish communal experiences for me, but I didn’t have a full understanding of why when I went. I just knew I wanted to be in community with the people in Israel.
That year really transformed me and led me to where I am and what I am doing now. I didn’t realize until I was in Israel, but it can sometimes be really hard to socialize, or make friends, in high intensity immersive environments. This was how camp was for me too but I had gone for so long that it wasn’t as if I had to make friends each year. Sure, there were new people, but we integrated them into an already existing group. For the most part, I knew very few people on Nativ and I gained a lot of skills in a short amount of time related to connecting with others, especially made easier by my love of Jewish life and community, and common experiences with people of different backgrounds.
This has really given me a lot when it comes to my current work and life. As the Director of Public Programs at Hadar, I interface with a lot of people consistently. From partner organizations to colleagues to staff to volunteers and program participants, I really need skills in building connections quickly. I am grateful to Nativ for giving me an experience that felt natural and comfortable, and at the same time pushed me to develop a skill I didn’t even know I needed.
I think about that year a lot and how it has impacted me. I truly don’t think I would have developed the relationships I’ve had or taken the jobs I’ve taken without it.
It was early September, 2005. I was seven years old. My whole family was gathered at the baggage check counter of the Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport. My eldest brother Mathew was off to Israel as a member of Nativ 25. As he turned to go up an escalator to the international terminal, I chased after him, tears rolling down my chubby cheeks. I needed to get one last goodbye in before he left me for the year.
A very similar scene repeated itself in 2008, when Ariella, my sister, boarded the plane for Israel as part of Nativ 28. While no tears were shed because I knew what to expect, I couldn’t help but wish she wasn’t leaving for the year. She was off, about to have a life changing experience at Hebrew University and volunteering in Beer Shevah. I had to start the fifth grade.
Since then, I knew I wanted to take a gap year in Israel. I had to chase down that experience that my brother and sister had. Even from a young age, I connected to the land of Israel. It is a country of rich history, delicious food, and my people. I knew I wanted to spend more time there.
However, it wasn’t until senior year of high school that I stopped pursuing Nativ because my siblings did it and thought about how Nativ would impact me. I worked my tush off in high school and I felt burned out. I needed a year to recharge so that I could go into college motivated and ready to position myself for future success. I also wanted to explore my Judaism more thoroughly. After spending four years in secular high school, I thought it was time to clarify and solidify my Jewish identity before it would face its greatest challenge: college. There is no place better to explore one’s Jewish identity than in the Jewish State.
Finally, I needed to experience living completely on my own. I needed to learn how to cook for myself, take care of my basic needs, share money, and grow as a person without my parents down the hall.
Now, sitting in my apartment, more than five months through my Nativ experience, I have realized that this year was not just about living independently and recharging, but establishing, challenging, and solidifying my values. I have reaffirmed my commitment to the Jewish people through Kashrut, Shabbat observance, and a fuller understanding of Jewish formative texts. I solidified my quest for knowledge by taking classes because I wanted to learn. I reconnected to nature by hiking through the Negev desert on a three-day tiyul (trip), a highlight of the year. I regained my love of helping others by volunteering as an English tutor in an Israeli high school and raising money to run in the Jerusalem Marathon. I renewed my commitment to competition and physical activity by searching out a flag football league, thousands of miles away from the home of football.
But most importantly, I internalized the value of friendship and camaraderie. I have seen how my brother and sister have stayed close with their Nativ friends, even ten years after their incredible shared experience. I know that the friends I have made this year will be friends for life. The aforementioned values of Judaism, appreciation of nature, altruism, physical fitness, and friendship have had a formative impact on and will be a part of me long beyond this year.
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