By: Nadia Kalisch
Our most recent excursion started in typical Mayanot fashion,
which consisted of excited shrieking, a singing filled-atmosphere, and someone
being forgotten and having to run for the bus (in this case that person was
me). Our last trip on Tuesday to Ir-David, however, was
especially poignant as it was the last trip of the year before most of the
girls leave Mayanot and a new group of girls arrive for the summer
program. With the majority of students having been studying at Mayanot for a
year or six months at least, it was the first of many goodbyes.
Ilana, our tour guide, took us through the ancient City of David, introducing new stories and expanding on ones we already knew, ever able to answer any of our eclectic mix of questions expected from our eclectic variety of ladies.
The tour of the City of David includes the pass through the underwater tunnels through where the city was conquered and the city's inhabitants fled. Treading where so many pairs of Crocs had tread before, we had to go single file into the dark tunnels with only dim lights and our mini flashlights to guide our way...Oh, and 25 Niggun-singing girls!
Though the passage was daunting and particularly dark and narrow
in places, we sang all the way through the wading water. I can easily say
for me, it was one of the warmest and most enthralling experiences over my
whole time in Israel. It wasn't that I hadn't heard my 'sisters' of Mayanot
cheering and singing before, but there was more that made it sit with me. Maybe
it was our last tour with Ilana, or the ancient city steeped in biblical
relevance, or the path we were taking that was saturated with history, or the
unyielding ruach and enthusiasm of the Mayanot girls which never fails to
impress me, or maybe it was the fact that Zeldy was holding Ilana's hand the
whole way because she was nervous. It was most probably, however, all of these
simultaneously, which completely summed up Mayanot to me and everything it
encapsulates.
After we trudged out of the water we didn't take long to dry off
between the cool air of the dry tunnel and the blazing Jerusalem sun! We all
sat on the Jerusalem stone, in the shade, to do a closing sikkum, where we
shared our highlights from our excursions over the year.
We spoke about the connection between studying Torah and living in Israel and how many of our lessons don't come from books, they come from people and places. Our trips with Ilana fill in gaps that help us create an entire picture of our learning, whilst additionally allowing us to explore Jerusalem and reaping full benefit of studying within Eretz Yisrael itself. We thanked Ilana for her warmth and passion in her lessons. Like many of our teachers, the spark with which she teaches completely cultivates our interest as well as satisfies our hunger and want for answers, which is what brought us to Mayanot in the first place.
I think I might be at risk of sounding like one of the American
girls when I say 'We've come on an amazing journey' but I suppose it's correct
(they do just have a very appropriate way of wording thing... sometimes!) Yes
it's true - the dark tunnels, winding passageways, slightly murky waters and
ancient cobwebby stones were something important to discover, explore and trek
through in our last trip. Like our personal journeys, they aren't always the
simplest or most straight paths, but it's something we encourage ourselves to
go through for the better nonetheless. Though it could have been terrifying, we
were guiding each other with our flashlights like lighthouses, expanding our
knowledge, experiencing the history first-hand, singing all the way through and
for some reason seemed to come out even dryer and more joyful on the other
side. It was truly spectacular!
I would love to take this opportunity to thank Ilana again for being our wonderful tour guide, Mayanot for organizing and encouraging our awesome trips and all my lovely Mayanot ladies, who made the whole thing that much more special.