A Taste of Israel
When I think of ATOI, the first words that come into my head are ‘inspirational’ and ‘incredible’; it has honestly been the best experience of my life so far.
I’ll start off by saying that I have a huge fear of planes, and was nervous about going on holiday to a foreign country without my parents for the first time. Luckily, all those feelings soon started to fade away after our first group meeting, about a month before we went. Those meetings helped us to get to know the rest of the group and know what to expect; my group were amazing and there wasn’t one person who I didn’t get along with.
Once we had arrived in Israel, we met our madrichim, who were great and made our trip not only enjoyable, but also educational. I learnt so much more than I ever could have imagined in just 2 weeks. We always had something to do, whether it was wading through a river on a water hike or going shopping in one of the many markets we went to.
ATOI inspired me in many ways, firstly, to try to make every Shabbat that little more special and secondly, that if I put my mind to it, I can do anything I want. I’ve conquered my fear of planes, and done things that I never could have imagined doing, such as walking through a pitch-black water tunnel and seeing the sunrise from the top of Massada. I’ve made new friends that I would not have necessarily made, and I feel much more connected to Israel than ever before.
Everything we did was such a special experience, from waiting at the airport to board our plane, to visiting the Kotel - I loved every minute. What better way to experience Israel for the first time?
