SF Hillel
  • Home
    • Contact
  • Who We Are
    • Our Professional Team
    • Our Leadership
    • Our Campuses >
      • SF State
      • USF
      • UC Law SF
      • UCSF
      • SFCM
      • Other Campuses
    • Our Space
    • Our Policies >
      • Behavior Policy
      • COVID-19 Policy
    • Our Newsletters
    • In The News
    • SF Hillel Blog
    • FAQ
  • What We Do
    • Build Community
    • Celebrate
    • Launch Leaders >
      • Campus Climate Track
      • Coalition Building Track
      • Communications & Marketing Track
      • Israel Interest Track
      • Leadership Track
      • Meaning-Makers Track
      • Operations Track
      • Ruach Track
    • Advocate & Educate
    • Learn Through Travel >
      • Birthright-Israel
      • Perspectives Tour >
        • Jan 2019 Perspectives Tour
        • Jan 2020 Perspectives Tour
    • Repair the World
    • Support Wellness
    • Support Students
    • Torah Rentals
  • Get Connected
    • Events
    • Graduate Student & Postdoc Network
    • Alumni Network
    • Family Circle
    • Student Support
    • Opportunities
  • Support
    • DONATE
    • ACTIVATE 2021 >
      • ACTIVATE Speakers
      • ACTIVATE Program

Student Spotlight – My Experience at the Kotel, by Ocean Noah

8/3/2018

 
Ocean Noah is a sophomore at San Francisco State University, and went on SF Hillel's Summer 2018 Birthright-Israel trip. 

As I was approaching the Kotel, I tried to think of a meaningful prayer or a song to play in my head. Something to put me in a holy mindframe. I was stumped, but I went to the wall anyway.


I was pulled in close. I felt as though I was being held by a grandmother. The Jerusalem breeze was stroking my hair. The smooth stones were holding my hand gently. I could smell that she has been alive for many years.
Picture
image by Bronte Sorotsky
That was when I began to cry. Bubbe, I thought to myself, maybe these are tears of self pity, but this embrace is the only time I have ever felt at home. Or like there is a place that was made for me, and it is here with you.

I felt an overwhelming wave of fatigue and urgency. I thought about how lost I have felt before, and how hard I’ve had to fight in only my 19 years to feel comfortable enough to find my own couch cushion dent in this planet. I thought about the generations before me, the slaves and the refugees who traded their lives for hope.

My father’s family was enslaved in America, and in their “liberation” his peers were being shot down with forceful hoses in the streets. My mother’s family was in fearful refuge, and in their “asylum” she struggled to make friends because she was a “dirty Jew”.

Everyone wants to feel what I feel with you, I thought. Generations of people saying “next year in Jerusalem!” And here I am.

In the silk smooth, soothing embrace of yours.
​

A wall of stone.

Comments are closed.

    About

    Check out what our community is thinking and doing.

    Archives

    November 2022
    September 2020
    April 2019
    February 2019
    November 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    May 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    April 2016
    January 2016

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

CONNECT WITH Us

DONATE
We are supported through meaningful communal donations and our very generous Funders.
Picture
  • Home
    • Contact
  • Who We Are
    • Our Professional Team
    • Our Leadership
    • Our Campuses >
      • SF State
      • USF
      • UC Law SF
      • UCSF
      • SFCM
      • Other Campuses
    • Our Space
    • Our Policies >
      • Behavior Policy
      • COVID-19 Policy
    • Our Newsletters
    • In The News
    • SF Hillel Blog
    • FAQ
  • What We Do
    • Build Community
    • Celebrate
    • Launch Leaders >
      • Campus Climate Track
      • Coalition Building Track
      • Communications & Marketing Track
      • Israel Interest Track
      • Leadership Track
      • Meaning-Makers Track
      • Operations Track
      • Ruach Track
    • Advocate & Educate
    • Learn Through Travel >
      • Birthright-Israel
      • Perspectives Tour >
        • Jan 2019 Perspectives Tour
        • Jan 2020 Perspectives Tour
    • Repair the World
    • Support Wellness
    • Support Students
    • Torah Rentals
  • Get Connected
    • Events
    • Graduate Student & Postdoc Network
    • Alumni Network
    • Family Circle
    • Student Support
    • Opportunities
  • Support
    • DONATE
    • ACTIVATE 2021 >
      • ACTIVATE Speakers
      • ACTIVATE Program