The 2022 HIP Trip - I was a part of something special

 

By Rachel Kaufmann, DJDS 11th Grader (Class of 2023)

 

For those of you who do not know me, my name is Rachel Kaufmann, and I am a junior here at Denver Jewish Day School. I was recently fortunate enough to have the opportunity to join my classmates on our school’s HIP trip. Additionally, this week’s Parsha is Acharei Mot, which has many different commandments. One, in particular, is the commandment to not consume blood, as well as the process in which one must prepare meat to be consumed without blood. The main ingredient in this process is salt. NaCl. Sodium Chloride. Salt. While salt may seem quite simple at first, it actually has many purposes in our lives. It can provide taste and flavor to our foods. It can help to preserve things, specifically food. Additionally, we need salt, or sodium to survive. Not only to survive but to be healthy. In the sports drink most commonly known as Gatorade, the main ingredients needed to aid in the replenishment of lost nutrients are electrolytes, sodium, and sugar. Dichotomously, salt can also be used with a negative connotation. Too much salt can too quickly become detrimental to one’s health. Or as some might say, when someone is salty, they are petty, jealous, or resentful.

 

My journey on HIP certainly started off with a bang at Chai Negev at Kibbutz Revivim. All of the girls in my grade started off the trip with some special bonding as we all stayed in the same cabin. We filled our time with enjoying snacks from the Revivim supermarket, watching movies, giving each other facials using each other’s skincare products, a favorite pastime of mine, and talking about every single thing under the sun, not even to mention the very often occasion of a DMC. DMC is a term that resides in our HIP dictionary, which means Deep Meaningful Conversation. (Side note - if you are to ask any single person from our trip about the Revivim supermarket, you will be met with countless raving, “reviews”, if you will, about the variety of packaged ramen, aloe cube water, milky packs, sodas, mango juice, Bisslis, Bambas, chocolates, and many ice cream bars.) We developed connections with our madrichim, the lovely Lali and Mayan as time moved on. Then to the lovely city of Jerusalem, where we all gathered on the overlook of the ancient city filled with wonders to witness a comedic fake wedding ceremony between a certain Levi Engbar and Aaron Daniel.

 

Later, we traveled as a group to Tel Aviv. On Shabbat, as the sunset, we walked as a group to the beach. We sat in a circle on the boardwalk and discussed our week. I distinctly remember looking around the circle at my peers, feeling absolutely full of contentment, realizing that I would probably remember this moment, this trip, these people, for the rest of my life. These people are my electrolytes. Later in the trip, I went to my first host family’s house. This was followed by our trip to Eilat, and then back to my second host family’s house. This family was the family of my best friend, Ofir Bar. I was lucky enough to become so close to so many ART kids, but I may be the closest with Ofir. This experience was life-changing. One night, most of the HIP kids along with their ART host kids went to one of the ART kids’ houses for a barbecue. There was one point in the night, in which one of us connected to a Bluetooth speaker, and started blasting music from our childhoods. Suddenly, everyone paused their DMCs, their games of shesh besh, their naps, their card games, to join in on the dance party. In the blink of an eye, we were all jumping up and down, dancing with each other, and screaming songs like Mr. Brightside and Stacey’s mom at the top of our voices. I will never, ever, ever, forget that night. It was a sugary memory to keep me going if you will. I got to go to school with these kids, ride the school buses, and even attend a Shabbaton with them at Kibbutz Urim.

 

 

We had received the disappointing news that we were not to attend certain parts of our trip due to safety. This kind of news left a salty taste in our mouths. But, back to Urim. We roomed with the ART kids, and all together, in a way that we had never been able to do before. We played card games, took long walks, took many pictures, and had many singalongs, and many DMCs. There was even a kibbutz dog, which I nicknamed sugar cookie due to the color of its fur, that followed me around everywhere. On the last night with the ART kids, there was some salty event that the entirety of us was dreading. Saying goodbye. And suddenly, there was salt at the scene. Tears were being shed, yet the sweetness of bear hugs and loving words were also present. So, while it is sad we had to say goodbye, these people, these experiences, these memories, they are our salt. They provide sustenance, nutrients, and flavor. They are our sugar, our sweetness, our objects of our greatest fondness and appreciation. They are our electrolytes, our energy. We preserve each other, just like salt. And during my time in Israel, I also felt a strong connection to the Jewish community back home, and I realized something. We were, and still are, a part of something special. We are also the salt in the preservation of the Jewish community, and its connection to Israel, and to Ramat HaNegev. We preserve the future and future connections with future generations. Thank you.