Tova's Year in Israel: Meet Tova

My name is Tova Kline and  I’m 18 years old, a  graduate of Yavneh Academy of Dallas, and my family are members of Congregation Shearith Israel in Dallas, TX. I am currently doing a gap year program called Nativ. While I deferred my first year of college to be here, I’m still learning. Lots!

While I am here, I’m participating in Ulpan, where you study Hebrew for a few hours a day. In addition to my Ulpan studies, I am volunteering with a few organizations here in Jerusalem. Will be volunteering at the Lone Soldier Center in Jerusalem, which offers aid of all kind to Lone Soldiers, which are soldiers who have no immediate family living in Israel, there I will be doing anything from planning dinners, events, setting up events, and some everyday office work. The other program I am volunteering with is called Yad L’Kashish, where we make arts and crafts with the elderly.

After I finish my semester in Jerusalem, I will be going to a Kibbutz called K’far Hasidim, a somewhat religious community outside of Haifa, where I will hopefully be volunteering with Magen David Adom, the Israeli Red Cross and ambulance system.

So now onto what I’m REALLY doing here. I’ve been living in Jerusalem for about a month now and I must say, it is an incredible place to be. I’m pretty much living in the middle of the city in a youth hostel acting as a dorm for the 78 of us “Nativers” on the program. I’m so close to everything: the Prime Minister’s house, Ben Yehuda (the tourist street that has just about anything you could imagine), the Old City, and so much more.

Over the past month, I’ve done so many things, so here’s a list of the best!

Arrived in Israel

Attended a soccer game and watched Israel lose to Russia (Still SO incredibly fun)

Had Shabbat in Israel

Been to the Western Wall, a lot

Run into a lot of friends

Explored the Shuk, which is the fresh market where you can bargain just about anything while getting local and fresh vegetables and fruit, meat, cheese, dried fruit, breads, clothing, and anything else you could imagine.

Explored Jerusalem

Had my birthday

Rolled/sat/sang/slept(kind of)  in the middle of the busiest intersection on Yom Kippur

Built a Sukkah

Survived in the desert for 3 days

Went to Tel Aviv

Experienced Simchat Torah

And played with cats (they are all over Jerusalem)

And those are just the highlights.

I must say one of my favorites was rolling in the street on Yom Kippur. Jewish holidays in Israel are a lot different than they are in the states. The entire country shuts down and the only cars you will see on the streets are emergency vehicles and some cars driven by Arabs. The stoplights flash and everyone just walks in the street. It’s an incredible thing to witness and be a part of. Try to imagine this, on the holiest of holy days, everything in the country is shut down, traffic lights turned off, no cars anywhere to be found, and there are about 500 people standing and sitting in the middle of one of the busiest intersections in all of Jerusalem, singing.

Another part of the Jerusalem experience is hearing people honking their horns, all day and all night. Some of my New York friends claim it’s worse than Times Square. That being said, it is for sure different than anything I’ve ever seen—or heard.

All in all I love Israel, the people, the culture and, most of all, the experience. I wouldn’t trade it for the world.