Opening reflection is in itself an oxymoron. We can’t look back on our trip, only forward. For the past year we have not experienced Israel as it is on the news or as a tourist location. We did not limit ourselves to the history of the country or the modern day state. We did not limit ourselves to the Israeli Jewish perspective. We have experienced Israel in the most complete way as possible without living the day to day life of an Israeli.
Now we look forward to our trip, as we prepare to leave. We have a year’s worth of experience under our belts and it is easy to think of our Israel trip as the culmination of our experience. But the goal of our Israel trip is ultimately to be able to advocate for Israel. So what can we look forward to? The more obvious answer is our immediately upcoming trip, but ultimately we want to look forward to Israel 5, 10 or 20 years down the road.