Re-encountering Spirituality During Israel Trek
By Sahana Bail
During my 2019 spring break, I had the unique opportunity to participate in Israel Trek, an excursion to Israel led by Harvard students and funded for 40 non-Jewish participants. To say the trip was eye-opening would simply be an understatement. I not only learned about Israeli culture but greatly expanded my perspective of the Israel-Palestine conflict and wrestled (and continue to wrestle) with my evolving personal notions of compromise, sacrifice and nationalism. However, placing my note, covered in black ink and folded in small rectangles between the wearing rocks of the Western Wall will be one experience forever imprinted in my memory. The action fundamentally challenged how I understand my relationship with God along with when and why I choose to pray. For this essay, I would like to bring you to that moment of realization…
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The setting sun castes a warm glow of violet and gold. A cool breeze strokes my cheeks as my mouth opens to murmur a barely audible gasp. Chills run down my back. I peer down below to praying individuals, rhythmically bobbin their heads to and fro.
I walk down from the elevated lookout point to inside the synagogue footsteps from the Wall and enter a dark room with my fellow Trekkers. We watch a video that explains the power of writing a note to be put in a crevice of the Wall that reflects our dreams, aspirations and feelings of gratitude. Comforted by the darkness of the room, spiritual aura of Jerusalem and quiet peace of self-reflection, the notion of expressing gratefulness strikes me.
When I pray daily, I speak to God about what I hope or wish for, often praying most passionately in times of crisis or grief. Now, with the opportunity to write a note thanking a higher power for all that life has given me overwhelms me with an unbearable wave of emotion and gratitude. I am grateful for my family, my country, my education, and my loyal friends. Most of all, I am hopeful that I can, given all that God has bestowed upon me, overcome my personal struggles. In the small dark room, along with all the trekkers reflecting on their lives, I feel the gravity of this single note. I know it is just a piece of paper but after reflection, this note suddenly symbolizes my avenue of communication to a greater being. I scribble down my thoughts as fast as I can and step out of the dark room and into the open space, the Western Wall instantly in front of me.
As I walk up, my emotions continue to rise. The atmosphere of Jews praying while the Islamic call to prayer echoes over everyone evokes how close living is in Jerusalem and how two religious ideologies often blend in such tight quarters. As a Hindu, I do not feel out of place. I pray my own prayers amongst everyone else. My eyes well up as I reflect. The emotional gravity and communal prayer of the Western Wall is so powerful that it reaffirms the importance of spirituality or the impact of believing in someone or something greater than ourselves.
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Now, instead of asking for more, I take time to say thank you for what I have. I pray in times of triumph, in times of contentment. I give myself space to acknowledge the moments that make life worth living.
