In the last two weeks of winter break, a group of AU students joined thousands of Jewish college students through out the world in a free pilgrimage to Israel.
Hillel, the campus run religious and social organization that is geared towards the Jewish student population of American colleges and universities across the country, sponsored the 12-day trip.
Selected students of single or dual Jewish parentage are sponsored by philanthropists to visit Israel if they have never been to the state before. Twenty-seven AU students joined approximately 5,000 other young adults from the United States., France, Canada and Uruguay.
Different students went for different reasons.
Some went to lean more about their Jewish faith, others went to learn more about the political state and others went because it is a free trip. Regardless of their motives, each AU student found something in the Holy Land, whether it was a piece of their religion or a discount on a pair of Italian leather shoes.
Finding Peace Brooke Davis, a junior in the School of Public Affairs, sat in a crowded Jerusalem convention center anxiously awaiting Israeli Prime Minister Barak to address the audience of college students.
As the leader of the Jewish state walked to the stage, shaking the hands of the screaming college students, Davis managed to grab the leader's hand and was brought to tears at that very moment.
"It is not every day you meet a world leader," Davis said. "Imagine I went to Israel, and got to meet a world leader."
While the free trip was supposed to reintroduce young Jews to their religion, Davis felt that she was in touch with her spirituality and was able to use the opportunity of going to Israel to pursue her interest in Middle East politics.
"I am glad I got to meet Barak as well as go to Israel. It allows me to further realize my passion for peace in the Middle East."
Finding a wall Josh Apfelroth, a sophomore in SPA, who stands at five-foot seven, gazed up at the Old City's Western Wall and asked himself "what am I supposed to be feeling?"
He nervously turned his blue Abercrombie and Fitch hat to the back and walked to one of the most important places in the Jewish religion.
"I looked at it, and I knew I was supposed to feel something, but it just a big wall." After spending minutes in front of the brick structure, Apfelroth walked back to his group of friends standing in front of the entrance of the holy ground and spoke of his uncertainty with the structure.
"I know what it is be through Jewish history, I know the spiritual facts, but hey, I am not that spiritual."
The Original Founder Students with nonchalant attitudes were expected on the trip, Birthright founder Michael Steinhardt said.
After Barak addressed the members of Birthright 2000, Steinhardt stood in the middle of the convention center and gracefully shook the hands of all the young adults who thanked the philanthropists for sponsoring their trip.
He told the group why he helped raise more than 12 million dollars for the Birthright experience.
"We wanted to attract students who were not to in touch with their Judaism," said Steinhardt. "It was very hard to get money, but the state of Israel has agreed to help contribute to bring at least 10,000 students a year over the next five years."
Steinhardt continued to say that the objective of the free trip is to reawaken a renaissance in North American Jewish Culture.
"We have lived with very little Semitism, but there is a decline in Jewish interest" and the trip is designed to awaken that sprit, Steinhardt said.
He also commented on the violence that is going on in the Jewish state, and was thankful that only a few universities, such as Duke, decided not send students on the trip.
The Rabbi "AU felt that we could provide a safe trip and meaningful experience despite the violence going on in the region," said Toby Manewith, rabbi and director of AU Hillel.
Sitting on the charter bus designated for AU students to be transported around the Holy Land, Manewith explained that this trip is not geared to make anyone more religious, but only to allow participants to find their place in their religion.
"It is good for people to know where they come from and have some sort of a connection to it," Manewith said.
As the bus pulled in to the next site to be visited by the group of students, Manewith said "the point of the trip is for people to learn about themselves, not to come more Hillel meetings or other religious events"
