Olami - JAM Where are they now

I was walking around the middle of campus and a lady named Sarah Goldberg was standing in the middle of Campus saying are you Jewish are you Jewish are you Jewish and I said yes so I reluctantly came over there um I've never asked if I've been Jewish in my life surprisingly and I said yes and he said come to Israel and I said whoo I don't know you I heard about jam through Rabbi flesh who's the rabbi at Santa Barbara growing up um I was Jewish because my parents were Jewish and that's about it my religious background was non-existent I grew up very secular with basically no Judaism in my background had in mind that I that being very religious would limit me as to what I could do um it you know I'd have to keep you know traditions and observe and spend a lot of time focusing on religion and uh that I felt that would take away from the rest of my life but I I'm learning that it's only going to add I had my bar mitzvah because my parents said to have that and then you don't ever have to go again I don't think we've ever held Shabbat the first time I went to the rabbis was a scary experience for me because it was my first observant Shabbat and I went and to put a bluntly to change my life forever when I sit down the shabbats here in Israel with the families we it's it's this process where you are so appreciative and you say these prayers that just it makes you very stop and step back and realize that this is you know a meal that's given to you basically every Friday night I had over to the garles right after work and it's so it's it's such a great experience because for one thing you get great food obviously there's good conversation a ton of college students hanging out one of the best parts um about the sh Shabbat lunch is the singing coming from La you don't exactly see a lot of happy families and um not only were these families happy but they like love spending time with each other they were like talking to each other and playing like even the fathers were playing with the children I spent Shabbat with four different families and uh they were all wonderful people and I just admired them to no end that the relationships that these people had with each other were so warm and some of the most healthy friendly warm relationships I've ever seen um and that was very touching to see that because in a secular society uh you don't always see that we got very close I got very close with his wife and his and his children and um started learning with him one hour each week I love Rabbi Zer Rabbi Zer uh makes makes me feel like I'm in good hands and that I'm going in on the right in the right direction they kept inviting me to events they didn't forget about me at all which was really nice it's having the garles as my second you know Sur mom and dad I found that I was able to ask questions and grow more and at first I was resistant because I was trying to find flaws in it because I grew up with this sort of mindset of um that Orthodoxy was something a very distant world and something that was just not what I wanted but I what I found was that it was exactly what I wanted there was people that didn't exactly come from like a really religious background who still found a connection to Judaism and I thought that that was something I could really relate to you have the cream of the crop of UCLA students other other University of California students and they come here and it's education like nothing nothing we've ever tasted before you really see what it means to be a Jew and it's inspirational to meet people that you see are good and healthy and live fulfilling lives a few years ago I would have never imagined I'd be sitting in the Holy Land in Jerusalem and in a seminary and learning like about this religion that's very much a part of myself but that was never really released I guess I feel like kind of nerdy because I like the classes more than a lot of the tours but it's it's a very meaningful experience for me and um I'm hoping now I can just stay stay long one of the more powerful experiences on the trip was visiting a Yeshiva for young students and they demonstrated their full understanding and full memorization of the mishna which is the oral law which was extremely inspiring and motivational if these little kids can memorize the whole mishna maybe I can do a little part and study some study some mishna Jim Israel was a very um life-altering trip for me have to learn um and to keep mitzo that it's not just a nice fluffy thing that you can sometimes do when you feel like having a Shabbat meal but that it was important to observe and to really grow and work on yourself the trip has given me so much knowledge more than I've learned about Judaism for sure in my entire life first day that I got here I learned more about Judaism than I had in my entire life and that's the truth I think I'm going to keep shabus completely been absolutely incredible I'm becoming more observant this Jam trip has definitely made me consider coming to Israel and uh learning in AA eventually have a family where I could have that a similar type of Shabbat I think it's really rewarding I think it just is very satisfying to have that type of family relationship what I feel from the heart I'm going to let it happen now I'm shabis and hopefully becoming observant decided to stay for um another month to extend my trip um and continue my learning I think when I go back to Los Angeles I'm going to keep my yamaka on and try my best to keep the Sabbath people whatever happens um even up to this point has changed my life forever n