Lauren Lourie

By Lauren Lourie

“Machon, Machon 2000!”

My friends and I used to chant that the entire summer of 1999. We couldn’t wait to be on Machon (Young Judaea’s trip to Israel through their camp experience). I’ll even venture to say we were more excited about Machon than about turning 16 and getting our driver’s licenses. It was a big deal.

I’ll still remember when we first landed in Israel and, upon deplaning, immediately kissed the ground.  I’m not sure if the idea of kissing the ground was meant for the oily tarmac - but we were so excited, that we did!

After that, one of my fondest memories of my time in Israel, as part of the Machon trip, was when I spent a week participating in Gadna. Gadna is a military training program taught by commanders from the Israeli Army. During Gadna, we hiked, participated in drills and learned about life in the Israeli Army.

Another memory I’ll never forget was that at the end of each hike, we were treated to a snack at an ice cream truck parked nearby. I thought of these trucks as a mirage... after a long hike, a Magnum ice cream bar was always the best way to recover.

I am thankful for my time in Israel and can’t wait to go back some day. Although the experience will be different, I excited to have even more Israel memories to look back on in the future.