OurTimeToLearn English 8 min

[Music] some nothing left like you have to take you know I leave the faith and doing it feels right to do it feels right [Music] give myself a year of studying in Israel learning about Judaism and studying where I came from and figuring out where I want to be I think learning it's it's the cords of our being I mean we have to grow we have to continue to learn I was planning on staying in DC any working in the foreign policy world then I sort of decided I wanted to come to Israel and that was an argument with my parents they want me to get a job there's no time like the president to pause and sort of take time to figure myself out and figure out what's important to me and what I want in life and who I am [Music] I'm walking in the shook in Tel Aviv this old man at the counter is singing this Pink Floyd song so I go over to him and I start singing to it all you touch and all you see is all your life will ever be and we're singing together and just like this is my country so loved the alternative esoteric things of life and I really had no idea that Judaism had any of that kind of side to it and I asked myself bub so open-minded about everything else I was very left-wing I was very open I like everything is like if I'm surmising everything maybe I should be at least a little bit over minded about my own my own background my own roots my religion [Music] been here for nine months so far and it's been one of the best experiences of my entire life I've grown so much as a person I've learned so much my Hebrew has improved a lot not only because I'm in Israel but also because I'm reading in Hebrew and translating from the original text I was so impressed by the level of students that were taking a break from whatever it is that they were doing to go to yeshiva to learn about their heritage to really set their values straight and really understand what they want to get out of life what kind of family they want to build and it stopped me for a moment I said wait a second there's something different about this place there's a certain focus and a certain appreciation for life that you don't necessarily get in a typical college setting so I when I first came to Israel I felt like I was missing like half the puzzle like I had like the border but the entire center was missing and the more I started slowly slowly learning like things started to become clearer I saw a bigger picture when I started to learn a new Shiva like it goes like this stuff is incredible like it's it's very very spiritual it really applies to me I connected with it in so many levels and it taught me so much about Who I am and about about God and about everything about everything I needed to come back and learn more about being Jewish because it was just an incredible experience [Music] [Applause] [Music] I thought Jewish I knew I was Jewish I just I know what that meant but I knew that's what I was that's what our family was I knew the ideas but it wasn't wasn't brought down and integrated into who I was I wasn't living these ideas become Israel and you're in this dislike environment of people who are just all about growing and learning and living the best life and just being good people just think the people you become a better person they bring you up I feel like I have a fantastic network of people and I enjoy life I enjoy day to day it's very colorful it's very exciting it's very life I could never imagine just going back to England him just being one of the masses [Music] part of the amazing thing about being there is just being around people who are passionate about being good and being better and honoring their authentic selves in the Shiva that I was at you had people coming in from Argentina Chile Africa Europe British Brent Britain and all these different places and you know you have this mix of everybody and everybody's unique in their own way and but everyone is on the track of becoming a better person they all want that and you're just around really good people it's very powerful and very important to understand what it means to learn in Israel and access things we weren't able to access for literally thousands of years it really solidified what I knew about myself and it's almost like rediscovering everything you already knew some of my best friends saying that I seemed happier than I've ever been I see more myself than I've ever been I just become a better person and those were all in line with the goals that I had originally I wouldn't say it's for everybody just because it's a really unique experience it's really an intense experience for me it was a very positive experience if you come here and learn it's your experience it's only your experience and you have to remember that too youth will come here and you can learn and you can still be here [Music] my mom and my friends are always like what are you running from [Music] what are you gonna stop running I'm not running from the real world I'm running to my real world there's only such a gift to be able to spend one year that you're just learning about yourself it's an opportunity of a lifetime but you have to approach it the right way you really have to see it as an opportunity and that they'll poach it in a way that enables you to really get the most out of it and leave you better equipped for the world [Music] something in the air there's something here it's more than just a history it's more than just a culture like when I was in the shop and I was singing Pink Floyd all you touch and all you see is all your life will ever be I just don't believe that anymore your life is so much more than while in touch [Music] [Applause] [Music]