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The Roll Must Go On

Our journey is done, which means it’s time to reflect on the unbelievable past 11 days

by
Marc Tracy
June 21, 2012
Photo by Zachary Goldbaum
Photo by Zachary Goldbaum
Photo by Zachary Goldbaum
Photo by Zachary Goldbaum

We tackled Yafo today and had a final brunch. Everyone’s been dropped off: the people ending at Ben-Gurion, the extenders on Rothschild Boulevard in Tel Aviv. Our journey is over. Sad-face. (Seriously.)

But extending is part of Birthright Israel—roughly half of the 40 people on our trip have done so—and so The Roll, too, will be extended. Check in tomorrow for several posts on the defining feature (and Most Valuable Player) of our trip, our tour educator Yoav; in particular, Leon Neyfakh has a profile revealing Yoav for the Zionist Coach Taylor that he is.

Into next week, we’ll feature a dispatch from post-Birthright Israel, reflections from several participants on how the trip altered their attitudes toward Jewishness and Israel (or didn’t), and more. So, stay tuned.

Marc Tracy is a staff writer at The New Republic, and was previously a staff writer at Tablet. He tweets @marcatracy.