I am currently sitting in a hallway. About three hundred feet away from me, everybody on Yarchei Kallah is sitting together on the floor in a big room. Their arms are wrapped around each other, and they are singing. But they are not just singing. Three hundred feet away from me, I hear lions. I hear hundreds of lions, roaring their mighty roars. I hear hundreds of lions combining their roars together to make the mightiest roar of them all. The roar of a family. I rarely hear that roar. When I do hear it, I tip my hat.
I was at first standing outside of the circle, watching all of the lions roar. I did nothing but smile. It is truly a beautiful moment. I started to remember my last summer on TJJ. I remembered how powerful our bus was when we were together. I remembered how strong of a family we were. So strong that we all knew how special we were. I do not even know how I can keep writing right now. I hear the song Acheinu. We are brothers. The song that made me cry multiple times. The song that made me realize how much I love Israel and how much I love Judaism.
The Yarchei Kallah family sings together through the early hours of the morning. Only at Yarchei Kallah.
I am honored to have been a part of Yarchei Kallah. I have learned so much about myself over these past few days. I also know for a fact that everyone else grew as people over these past few days. More importantly, I think that everyone on this trip is going to leave a better person than they were when they came.