I’m not one to talk about feelings. In fact, when asked to share my feelings, I’ll usually deflect with a comment about my degree in accounting. It’s not that I lack emotion, it’s just that I prefer analyzing things logically rather than emotionally.

And herein lies my challenge with writing about our solidarity mission to Israel last week. There’s no way to discuss our experiences without bringing in the emotions. I can list sites and speakers, and rattle off a statistic or two, but it’s really the emotions that need to be shared. So, bear with me, this really is not my strength.

For me, walking around the site of the Nova Music Festival massacre and seeing the photos of the hundreds of young people slaughtered there was the worst. It wasn’t just the sorrow thinking about these kids and their families and the anger thinking about their murderers, but seeing all those pictures triggered a mix of emotions thinking about the antics of our own young people here during these past four months. Not that I didn’t understand this before our trip, but it is crystal clear to me now that we need to reclaim the narrative, especially on our college campuses.

I’ll share more in the weeks ahead.

Please read this outstanding article by Israeli writer Naama Barak. She really did an outstanding job of highlighting those things from an Israeli perspective that we all noticed during our stay. 10 Things to Expect When Visiting Israel During the War—The Jewish Voice.

Photo Credit: AG