Day 2 Part 2: JWRP Begins with a Party!

Tonight was the opening evening of the JWRP Israel experience. We loved meeting new friends from Calabasas, Memphis and Israel.

We met Adrienne Gold our group leader who will be guiding us through our journey in Israel. She introduced the 8 core values of the program; tonight's value was learning and growth. Her energy was contagious! She spoke about being an agent of our own paradigm shift and the need to change our perspective from judging others to judging others favorably in the place they are in. She reminded us that we are meeting people "in chapter 3 of their lives," we don't know their whole story. We also learned that feelings are reactions to thoughts and that motion creates emotion. We had a great time introducing ourselves to strangers who will become our sisters along this journey. We learned about the role of women as "opposing helpmates". We are there to support when something is correct and oppose it when it's not. We received a Baruch HaShem bracelet reminding us to see what is good and say what is good during this trip and forever more.

We enjoyed a delicious dinner reminiscing over our morning at the GA. Jen was really moved by the Israeli mother whose sons both died while serving in the IDF. Her resilience and ability to turn a tragedy into a positive force of change was overwhelmingly impactful. Robin found the speaker to be so insightful about the important place all Jews have in Israel and North America. We are 2 parts of an arch, which only work when we equally support and push up against each other.

The finale of the evening was the incredible joy and dancing that filled the dance floor. It was a soul satisfying evening.