My dear Americans

We requested to come to Birthright in order to meet Jewish people from a different place just like us, but with a different life than we have here. Our intention was to show you the life of Israel from our perspective and general Israeli consensus, before we got on the bus we did not know what to expect—how you would receive us or how we would receive you. We were surprised for the good by the warm faces that received us and in a very short time we felt part of the group. We were happy to join you in visiting the most beautiful places our small country has to offer. We are certain there is no other place in the world this small that has such different beautiful and different kinds of scenery. We were impressed from the discussion of the situation in Gaza and how much the questions and the desire to know the situation that the conversation lasted for more than 3 hours. We are certain that the Shabbat in Jerusalem was a great experience, we were very surprised to see even though there was such a spectrum of possibilities that everyone had the opportunity to have a festive experience together. We very much enjoyed your friendship for the last 5 days. We very much hope we were able to help give something to your Jewish Identity and that you will always remember the land of Israel as a land that is very warm and loving. Lots of love and we already miss you so much,

Rotem, Ariel, Sarit