Time, Friendship. And — oh yeah, Israel.

I was one of two Jewish trekkers on 2018’s Israel Trek. You might expect the following words to harp on what a moving, emotional experience it was for me to go to Israel for the first time. How I might have found some new contours of my identity, felt what it’s like to be a member of a country’s majority. But it turns out that picking me up, spinning the globe halfway ‘round, and dropping me taught me more about closeness and Harvard than any sappy, three-act Jewish transformation.

At Harvard (and maybe, I assume, at other colleges), closeness depends on time. Were I better with numbers, I’m sure there’s a mathematically elegant way to express this. But basically, my closest friends are the ones I spend the most time with. Not a revelation. But at Harvard we all have such busy, independent lives, that it can be hard to make new, real friends.

At the end of the week, I was struck by how close I felt with so many of the trekkers. How I returned to campus with a few more people who know that my cat has two middle names and that my mom is the funniest person I’ve ever met. But it was precisely because of the itinerary that we really grew closer.

Take Yad Vashem for example. It’s Israel’s Holocaust memorial, and we all went together. That sent all of us into different stages and manifestations of volatility and vulnerability. These feelings are rarely visible on Harvard’s campus. There’s a feeling and an expectation to have it together all the time. But take us to a new place, where we all can react to the politics and the hummus and the scenery in different ways, and people’s true colors show more readily.

I’ve returned to Harvard with fifty-odd friends who all know what skin after Dead Sea mud feels like, just like me. I’ve shared conversations about the geopolitical nuances of Israel and its surroundings, had myself and my viewpoints challenged and also validated, and had what I’m looking for in my time at Harvard clarified a little.

It’s impossible for me to write this post without sharing my skepticism of the Trek. It seems to be an opportunity to change fifty-odd (often liberal) college students perception of one of the most controversial countries in the liberal discourse. But if I can put that, and all the other complications of trips like the Trek and Birthright aside… it’s nice to have new friends.