Preparing video...
0:00 / 0:00
Olami - JAM Where are they now
47 views
Categories:Torah
Comments
Transcript
Auto-generated transcript. Not time-synced to the video.
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