As part of Jordan's Birthright trip to Israel the parents were asked to write their child a letter. This letter was to be delivered to the kids and read aloud atop Mount Masada. This is Jordan's letter. He read it aloud in front of 40 young adults.
Shalom mein kinderlich
Jordan,
There is a very famous
statement that kept us alive during the hard times, "Arbeit Macht Frie". It means
“The work will set you free”. Upon your return your mother and I have decided
to sell you into slavery. We feel it is the best path for all of us. You will
have a choice as to which servitude you shall embark upon. You can go with a
sweat shop that produces enema bags where you will work as a product tester or
you can work as a girly boy in the Philippines. Either path is OK with your Mom
and I because to us the payment is the same. FYI the work will set you free in
7 years if you do not eat too much. They charge back for meals in the form of
additional time.
We hope you are having
a wonderful time doing jewie things. Did you meet a nice girl? There’s nothing
like a handy from a nice Jewish girl. They have such nice hands. Don’t you
think so? Your Mom and I think so. Did I ever tell you how soft your Mom’s
hands are?
We cannot believe that
you were able to get on that plane. We know you are afraid of vehicles with
public restrooms on board. Keep facing your fears.
Now that you are
standing atop Masada we want you to take a walk with us. Start making your way
over to the Public Immersion Pool. You
will find it between the 2 small palaces and the residential area. As you stand
here look about. Take it all in. This is where, on your Bar Mitzvah trip, your
Mom and I tried to give you a little brother, Frazao. Unfortunately it did not
take. It probably had something to do with my vasectomy. You would think that
in a place like this miracles would happen with regular occurrence. So to make
up for it when you get back you will get to meet Wang. He’s your new brother,
newly imported from North China. He is 17, we think. He cooks, cleans and fixes
everything although we have to replace the TV since he smashed it. Apparently
he had never seen a magic box that trapped people. We gave him your old room.
In all seriousness,
this trip to Israel is life changing. Your Mom and I hope that you come away
from this trip with an even greater appreciation of where you come from than we
know already exists. As a Jewish young man you are different than the rest of
the world. You carry with you the responsibility of being one of the chosen
people. With great power comes great responsibility. Yes this is a Spiderman
quote but it fits. We are leaders, teachers, problem solvers and protectors of
people less fortunate than us. Think about how you got where you are standing
right now. Jews other than Mom and I felt it was important enough to bring you
here. Why is this important? Why is it so dearly important that you identify
with a people and a place? What are you going to do with this experience that
has been so selflessly given to you? We hope that this trip makes all the
wonderful things that we already know to be true about you shine even brighter.
As you walk down Masada
to the base of the mount to the right is a fresh juice vendor. When we were
there last he sold me an orange Juice but I had run out of Shekels. He said I
could pay him next time I came through. Please give him the Shekels for me. He
has been waiting 7 years. Hopefully he won’t charge interest.
Your Mom and I love you
and can’t wait to see the man that you are going to be. Come home safe and
happy and enjoy Phish.
Love you always,
Dad
