Ani Zocher:
Pilgrims' Stories

Classic IP 2004,
by Ruthie Edelstein, New Frontier

"Lo yisa goy el goy cherev Lo yilm'du od milchama". Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore. I looked around the crowded hospital room as I sang this beautiful song with many of my Classic Israel Pilgrimage Group Two friends. This was not your average USY ruach session. In fact, ruach wasn't even the main focus of the day. We had just decided to work it in at the last minute. On this hot summer day, 15 out of the 40 kids on Group 2 had dressed up as clowns and were now parading around a hospital in Jerusalem cheering up elderly people and small children.

I woke up the morning of July 20 only knowing that my group was going to be doing some sort of tzedakah project. When we went to hear about the different projects to choose from they all sounded exciting. A group of my friends and I chose the hospital project. We spent about a half hour getting dressed in the craziest, most colorful clothing we had brought and then we painted on faces to make us look like happy clowns. We also made cute "get well" cards and blew up balloon animals. On the bus ride to the hospital, we practiced making funny clown faces. When we got to the hospital we went to the gift shop and bought tiny stickers and a several bubble bottles. At first, we only saw visitors and gave them the things we had brought. But then the group really got into character and we started bursting into rooms with smiles on our faces. It got to the point where about five of us would jump into a room, shower the patient with the colorful goodies and immediately break into songs like "Lo Yissa Goy" and "Dodi Li". Each time we made an ill person smile, I had a burst of joy. Even the doctors kept thanking us for our contribution. It was one of the best feelings I've ever had, knowing that I was impacting a person whose life was not going well. I loved hearing the people say Toda Rabah and Shalom. It made me so happy hearing those Hebrew words and knowing that I was make a difference in Israelis' lives.

After about an hour of cheering people up, the group met in a quiet hallway in the hospital. We exchanged stories about the little kids hugging us and elderly people saying nice words. I loved knowing that I had made a significant change in these people's lives. I remember, as we were leaving the hospital, I was standing in the doorway thinking about how fun this would be as a USY event for my Sacramento chapter. But then I realized it wouldn't be the same. We wouldn't be able to sing the Hebrew songs and no one would say "Todah Rabah." At first this upset me, knowing that I would not be able to do this unless I was in Israel. But now, I have discovered one more special thing for which I can honestly say "Rak B'Yisrael" - Only in Israel!

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