The day before....

I am sitting in my room on the eve of fulfilling my dreams and emigrating to Israel at the age of 18, it doesn't get much bigger than this.

This time tomorrow I will be an offical Israeli citizen and just three months away from being drafted into the Israeli Defence Forces. I am dreading tomorrow, purely because it will pain me to see both my mum and dad crying their eyes out at Heathrow airport, not because they don't support my decision but because they will miss me dreadfully, due to the fact I am an only child and because my father is severely disabled with Multiple Sclerosis. In fact, they do support my decision and are so proud of my determination to act on my beliefs, I know they truly admire that I will be leaving a supportive family (including 3 fantastic grandparents, one of whom, my papa, is my best friend) and a really great group of friends. Not only that, I am also leaving promising opportunities here in London, e.g. I was accepted at Kings College university to study a very prestigious degree. However, despite all this, I have decided to leave everything behind and make aliyah.

Throughout my life I have been aware of zionism, thanks to my parents' insistence on going to Israel of holdiay, both Jewish schools and youth movements, yet it was the trip to Poland that really confirmed my final plans. As a Jew, I feel that Israel is my true home and I desperately want to return there, defend the country and the citizens (by serving in the army) and build my own life in the promised land. I am not particularly religious, more traditional, but I do firmly believe that the Jewish people are led by divine intervention and that, for the first time in 2000 years, Israel is the only place that Jews can form a majority and feel safe from the persecution that we have been subjected to throughout our history. I am a strong zionist and have chosen to act on my principles and move to Israel.

I am on a programme specifically for people my age who want to make aliyah (without parents) and join the IDF. My specific group, one of nine, has been placed in a Kibbutz in the Golan Heights, which will be my permament base for the first 3 months of aliya and will continue to be my home during breaks from the army. In around November, I will be drafted into the army, into a unit of unknown destination at the moment, to serve for the full 3 years.

This blog will hopefully update you (family, friends or anyone else) on my travels, adventures, ups and downs during this monumental step in my life. Now I just have to start packing my life into 3 suitcases....