My name is Melissa Schneider and I am from Miami, FL. Post my Community Involvement program I am currently living in Fort Lauderdale, FL. This past year, I lived in Nes Ziona from March 2009 until August 2009. I came to this program because I was curious about what it was really like to live in Israel. I had this perception of Israel like many of us had growing up. I remember thinking of Israel as this place that needed our help. I remember people buying Israeli bonds and planting trees in order to help our little brother/sister. I grew up thinking that the Western standard of living was leaps and bounds ahead of what the people of Israel had. My first experience with Israel was extremely eye opening. As I landed at Ben-Gurion airport, immediately my opinion of Israel changed. The airport is sleek, clean and looks a lot better than Miami International Airport! I walked outside to see Mercedes buses. Granted, crazy bus drivers guide these buses, but that is beside the point. I have to admit I was shocked at how many people spoke English, and spoke English WELL. They spoke fluently and made me kind of ashamed of my extremely lacking Hebrew skills. Also, I lost count at how many people heard me speaking in English and would come up to me and say, “Welcome Home”. I guess Momo was not the only one to pen that greeting! (and I say this as a good thing obviously!)

Another thing that took me by surprise is how technologically advanced Israel really is. If you have been to Tel Aviv and seen the Azrieli mall, then you know what I am talking about! As an even better example, very recently I read about how the field hospital that Israel set up in Haiti is considered to be the best place to receive emergency care in all of Haiti. Can I tell you how my Jewish pride was beaming after reading that article? Go Israel! Seriously. And on this note, it hurts my heart when I tell people that I spent 5 months in Israel and they respond with some sort of cringe and tell me that they are too afraid to visit Israel because it is so dangerous. And this comment usually comes from many of my Jewish friends! I am here to tell you that Israel is absolutely NOT dangerous. Israel is more modern and cutting edge than you could imagine! I feel blue in the face telling people this. The more of us there are to spread the word, the more we are helping Israel get on the map, right where it belongs!

My days in the Community Involvement program were spent teaching English in the schools, doing Public Relations for the city and I even had the very cool experience of having my very own radio show on the Nes Ziona radio station. (With my roommate Elizabeth Rotstein! I absolutely cannot leave that part out!) My group also spent a week working on a paratrooper base. I cannot even explain to you how eye opening seeing and experiencing the life of an Israeli soldier can be. It has made me grateful for the privileges in my life in a way that I have never experienced before.

At one point of my life I was very distanced from my Judaism and now after spending 5 months in Israel I have become more connected with my Jewish identity. I was able to become so connected with my Jewish identity by meeting Israeli’s and working with them in all of the different capacities that I worked in. It is so special to experience Jewish holidays in the homeland. I was there during Passover (Pesach to me now) and I was simply amazed at how easy it was to keep Passover! It was just so nice to be somewhere where OUR holidays mattered. There is something very unique in experiencing that.

Another amazing gift that I received as a participant in this program is that I got one of the BEST host families ever! What a difference having a host family can really make! One day I was so sick and so my roommate Liz took me to her host family’s house. They quickly adopted me as a second host sister and fed me toast and tea and nursed me back to health. It was so amazing to see that in this day and age some people in this world are still so giving to strangers. I found a lot of this in Israel. People were always offering to help me.

I had highs and lows while I was in Israel, but I have to say that it was all thanks to Oranim. I am ultimately so grateful that I got to experience everything that I did...the good and the bad. I did a lot of traveling and I also had some great experiences while participating in my volunteer work. I definitely made some life-long friendships with Israeli’s, Americans, the British and Canadians and for that alone I am forever thankful. This experience is certainly one worth having and I recommend it to anyone who has the slightest interest in spending some time in the motherland.

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