This year we did an “around the world” theme for the first four meals of Sukkot. Our second stop (for lunch on the first day on YomTov) was Israel. We asked everyone present to share a short memory of Israel. It’s probably impossible to remember what everyone said (or exactly what they said) but we will try to capture it here:

LARRY H. I went to Israel with my 8th grade class. I didn’t have a proper baseball cap, so I borrowed my brother’s Yankee hat. I was wearing it on the climb up Masada, when suddenly it fell off and went down the side. I was upset at losing it, but then one of the staff climbed over the side and went down to get  it and now that cap has a nice memory and history.

JUSTIN R. The climb up Masada is also the memory I want to share. I remember watching all the different climbers, those higher up the mountain and others lower on the mountain, and the different paces that people went up. It’s a nice metaphor for life, we are all on the same journey, trying to get up to the same place, but everyone gets up there their own way.

GRANT H. I read the Torah on a Monday morning at the Kotel for my Bar-Mitzvah. I was supposed to get the third aliyah, but just then a Chattan came by and begged for an aliyah, he was leaving and wanted an aliyah at the Kotel before his wedding. We gave up the aliyah, and I haven’t had an aliyah at the Kotel since (yet).

ARON C. On my birthright trip back in 2004 we went on some archeological dig in Beit Guvrin. We were supposed to find some shards of pottery there. Instead, I found a shiny hard object that turned out to be a memory card! I probably should have given it to the tour guide, but instead I kept it, hoping to somehow trace the owner. My twin brother happened to be on a different, but overlapping trip, and when I told him this story, he remembered a girl that was crying on the bus ride back that she lost her memory card at Beit Guvrin. This one has a happy ending and she got her card – and memories – back.

SHERYL C. On the eve of Lag B’Omer I was taking a taxi when the driver asked me if I had a chance to see the bonfires yet. I did not, and he was so nice to take me around, and even let me get out at some of the stops. And he didn’t charge me anything extra for it.

AARON W. I remember building the Sukkah with my new friends on the Nativ program (before coming to Albany). It was a great bonding experience, at the start of the year when meeting new friends, and building a Sukkah in Israel was just a very special memory.

MAX S. I was on the same Nativ program as Aaron. My memory is of a hike in the north of Israel. Most memorable was wading through two streams with our clothes on, catching a fish, and ending that great day at an Israeli winery.

AVI S. I too was on Nativ, but a different year than Aaron and Max. The memory that comes to mind is going on a mid-Sukkot trip to the Negev, and shaking the Lulav out in middle of the desert, against the backdrop of all that history.

ISAAC H. So I signed up for the free birthright trip to Israel. Turns out that there’s a $260 deposit and you get $250 back at the end of the trip. So it costs $10 and isn’t free after all! (This just highlights how cheap and accessible the amazing birthright trip is…)

BEN Z. I remember feeling a little disappointed when going to the Kotel on Tisha B’Av. I kind of expected a real emotional outcry, and significant communal mourning, but everyone was just doing their own thing. But then as I was walking back out of the old city, I saw streams of people, from all walks of life, all coming towards the Kotel. That ingathering of Jews on Tisha B’Av was very inspiring and memorable.

STEPHANIE L. An awkward moment came to mind. I was with a friend in Chevron and we got lost. Imagine that…

ALLIE N. My most recent trip to Israel was with my graduate program. It was a diverse group, not all of us Jews. I remember the meaningful experience of taking friends from the program to the Kotel, and seeing it through their eyes. The same happened at Yad V’Shem, when we shared with them our stories and memories and upbringing of the Holocaust, and seeing again – through their eyes.

DAN J. I was in Israel two years ago on Chanukah, and it was interesting to see how different cultures/religions/holidays all played out at the same time, yet so different from how it is in the States. Amazing also how we met up with Ben Z. at Yad Vashem during our visit. Small world.

TAL C. Most of the time we traveled to Israel with my mom. One year I went, and it so happens that my father had to come to Israel then for a death in the family. So it was bittersweet. I got to be in Israel with my dad, but it was for a sad reason. I also got to go to a Mimouna celebration that time in Israel.

NECHAMA DINA H. I remember the last day of my birthright trip, leaving Israel and wondering when I would be able to come back. How would I be able to afford such a trip in the future. Then I married an Israeli, so we thankfully get to go back much more often than I ever imagined.

SHOLOM BER H. Last year we had a Simcha dilemma/conflict. Shimon G. was getting married in Cleveland, but we also had a family occasion on my side that same time in Israel. The way we worked it out was that my wife ND went to Shimon’s wedding while I flew with our two sons to Israel. Flying alone with kids is an unforgettable experience, but it worked out OK. One of the highlights was the boys going to the same Israeli school I went to as a kid, and fitting right in, even as Americans. That meant a lot to me.

ADAM K. I remember seeing the Kotel for the very first time. Its so different than the pictures. It makes it real and brings it home in a very deep way.

BEN I. My trips to Israel were in 2004 and 2007, when I was young. Obviously, I am happy that I was able to go, but I am eager to return there, now that I am older, and better able to appreciate it and retain meaningful memories.

ELIOT H. I was in Yeshiva for the year at Netiv Aryeh. It was 9:30pm one night and a friend came in and suggested we go camping in the north. This was without a plan or anything. But we went that night, took a bus up to Teverya / Tiberias, and having no other plans we ended up sleeping on the beach. It was random, spontaneous and exciting.

MATT H. On birthright we went climbing or hiking someplace, most of our outings were hikes of one type or another. One day we were climbing down from some height, and I saw a shortcut off to the side, thought I’d be clever and went down that way. I fell and scraped/cut my foot pretty bad. I thought to myself, “Oy, now I will be traveling all around Israel with this big cut on my foot.” A day or two later we went down to the Dead Sea. Guess what? After coming out of there, the would closed up, clean – as if it never happened. Like a miracle!

MOSHE S. As an Israeli, it is hard for me to think of specific favorite memories. But here is one. Before I left for the army, I took a trip with friends down to Eilat. We went out in a banana boat and soon saw a small group of three dolphins frolicking in the sea. We got close enough to pet them!

SHARON I enjoy photography and once went with a friend to Jerusalem to take some shots before Yom-Kippur. I remember going to the Western Wall at 3am, and seeing the plaza filled with people. I couldn’t believe it. I never saw the wall like this. I went up on the steps into the Old City and took a picture from above.

MICHELLE F. The best part of my Israel trip was the fact that we went with Albany friends, and got to bond in a very special way, and be able to bring those memories and riendships back with us to UAlbany.

RAIZY R. My mother took us to Israel when we were young to spend time with my grandmother in Kiryat Malachi. She packed us these watermelon bags filled with crafts and pens and other goodies to keep us busy on the flight. The crazy thing is that more than anything else on that trip to Israel, I remember those watermelon bags!

MENDEL R. In 2001 I was in Israel with Raizy to officiate at a student/alumni wedding. All weddings are stressful for me as officiating Rabbi but this wedding was especially so, because it was in Israel, under Rabbanut supervision, and being Sephardic and in Jerusalem, the Ketubah was unusual. I was in a taxi on the way to the wedding, stressed out and reviewing the documents, when the taxi-driver went off on a tirade about the problems religion is making in Israel, how he dislikes Rabbis, and is not interested in religion. Then it was quiet, I looked up – and the driver was gone! Crazy. We were in middle of a street, in a taxi, with no driver! Then I saw a procession on the other side of the intersection. It seemed they were bringing a new Torah to a synagogue on that street. And then the taxi-driver reappeared. He was livid and incredulous. “What’s wrong with you American Rabbis? A Torah is being dedicated in the street and you don’t stop and run out to kiss it!? What’s wrong with you!?” And this from the same driver who two minutes earlier was ranting and raving against religion, Rabbis, etc.