Howdy y’all, My name is Adin. I’m originally from Maryland, and I’m writing about the Barrak community (year long Jerusalem community) and my time in Israel. I can’t quite put into words how my time in Israel and this community has had an enduringly positive impact on my life, but I’ll try. I think I’m one of two (if not the only) people on this program who’s never been to Israel before Aardvark. It was definitely a struggle getting here from canceled flights to polarizing news headlines and so on. However, I felt like I quickly fell right into place of where I was supposed to be. On my first shabbat with Aardvark, they took us to an Orthodox shul for a Friday night service (I never went to service back home and come from a very weak religious affiliation). After that service I was hooked and haven’t missed a Friday night service or Shabbat dinner since getting here. Barrak is a smaller community, and we all live in one singular building instead of being spread out like Tel Aviv. I think this dynamic has created a strong bond between all of us because if you run out of dish soap because you’re cleaning 400 dishes a day, you just go up or down a flight of stairs and ask another Aardvark apartment, and they’ll usually help you out. This community is also very helpful, specifically when one member forgets the password of the office in November and you have to remind them that #bruh It’s November, but also remind them of the door code. The Madrichim are also GREAT, and if you happen to strike up a conversation with them, they might drop some slang they picked up from me (sorry). I also want to take a second to highlight my internship at Gazelle Valley, which has been nothing short of amazing. They tasked me with building a small footbridge (pictured) and giving me 100% creative freedom and trust to get the job done. Faygle and the crew are great people, and I highly recommend visiting the park.
