Judaism is not a sheep

McLeod Ganj

Buying salwar kameez in Lower Dharamsala (Sandra, Rebecca & Tracy)

"Judaism is not a sheep"

Program at TCV (Tracy & Dafna)

From Merav

A few thoughts before the end of the trip...
A common phenomena of the Israeli youth is to travel the world after their military service. Many of them also visit India. I had one of these trips a few weeks back, this trip was very different although it began in a similar way...after a few flights, we found ourselves worried and overwhelmed in a Tibetan hostel somewhere in Delhi. That is when the trip reached its turning point - we met Tenzin. A strong Tibetan women who never ceases to amaze me. Tenzin is our local coordinator.
Then we traveled to Mcleod Ganj to our daily routine, I volunteered at "ROGPA" a day care, free of admission, for Tibetan kids aged 8 months to 3 years. Its purpose is to enable the parents to work more hours and to save money for school later on. Working with kids (42 of them) was fun, hugely fulfilling, challenging and sometimes very hard work. Communicating without speaking the language, playing, crying and smiling. In the afternoons I participated in conversational English lessons with Tibetan individuals, most of them who fled to India from Tibet. Some more recently then others. For me the interaction with Tibetan individuals - the teachers and parents at ROGPA. (and then meeting them on the street), hearing personal stories, experiences of pain and hope, made me listen, learn and understand the problems and the needs of the Tibetan community as refugees in India, and feel connected to their community and their cause at a personal level.
One can find similarities between the Tibetan story and our own Jewish story (being in exile, coping with oppressor)I found a connection in values and religion. The experience of being in the present and seeing the Dali Lama. Even though I'm agnostic, spending time with our Jewish group, at Kabalat Shabbat for example, made me feel more connected to my Jewish roots and the Jewish tradition. I can say this trip made me feel part of something bigger. Part of the Tibetan cause, and part of my own Jewish heritage.
-Merav Cohen

Visit to the Dalai Lama's Temple in McLeod


Bhagsu Waterfall (Rebecca & Shauna)
Trying sweet paan (Maayan & Tenzin)

The group at India Gate (Left to Right Top row: Meir, Rebecca, Tracy, Sandra, Lihi, Maayan, Merav, Natali, Tamar, Shauna. Kneeling: Yoav & Tenzin)

From Lihi Zechovoy

The True Meaning of Life:

” We are visitors on this planet. We are here for ninety or one hundred years at the very most. During that period, we must try to do something good, something useful, with our lives. If you contribute to other people's happiness, you will find the true goal, the true meaning of life”. The 14^th DALAI LAMA

That was the first thing that I saw when I arrived here. “ Here ” its MCLEOD GANJ, DHARAMSALA, INDIA. When I saw it I thought : maybe I’m here with a group of Jewish students that came to India to volunteer at the Tibetan community, maybe we thought that it’s very special and unique to do it but apparently we aren’t the only ones who thought about that idea.

So then I thought maybe those people that we came to be with and to help aren’t so different from us, if we all have the same goal and same meaning of life, we probably have the same issues that bother us, the same issues that we want to change and the same hopes in our life.

I was very surprised to realize that I was more than right.

The first time that I realized it, was at “ THE TIBET MUSEUM” that was the first time that I heard about what really happened in Tibet and actually still happening. At that museum I could see and be empathic with the pain that they have and it was very strong for me because of the feeling that there is another holocaust just like we had, that still continues this day, right now!!!

The second time that I saw that we aren’t so different was when we found the place to volunteer at. “ The Rogpa Baby Care Centre (BCC) ” – I could see that babies all over the world have the same needs and it's not important if they are Jewish babies from Israel or Tibetan babies from India, they all want to see a smile when they arrive in the morning, they all want a warm hug when their parents leave them, they all want to play with their friends , they all love the “ hashafan hakatan” song, all the babies in the world cry when their diapers are wet, they all have a runny nose, once in a while they have fights with each other and after lunch they all want to sleep. It’s true that they have different ways to do all of those things but basically we all have the same needs.

A little bit about “The Rogpa Baby Care Centre (BCC)” – they are providing free childcare, daily meals and play equipment in a fun and safe environment for 42 children under 3 years of age, 6 days a week with no cost to the parents in order to allow low-income Tibetan families, struggling with everyday challenges for their survival to go to work, become self-sufficient and independent.

At the beginning of my volunteering I felt that it might not be so important to the community and maybe I need to do more or more meaningful activity but a few days ago I bought earrings from some shop on the street and after I paid the woman, she said to me “this is a gift to you”. I asked myself how it could be that I’m in India, in every shop that I’m going they trying to give me the highest price ever and this woman want to give me a gift ?!?!?! So I told her that it’s fine and she doesn’t need to give me a gift and then she told me “ You are from Rogpa, right ? I’m Gamso’s mom and I see you hugging my baby everyday when I’m going to work. I wanted to thank you for helping with my baby and with all the babies and also to thank your sisters (she thought that maayan, merav and me are sisters)”. And then I realized that I was taking part in a meaningful way, that maybe they have other volunteers from all over the world but it’s enough for me that one baby, one Tibetan mom will remember my love for them and that will make me happy because the way that I see it, the most satisfying thing that I can do is to make the hard life that they have every single day more comforting, with less worries just because they know that beside the four teachers they have at least three girls from Israel that care a lot about their babies.

From Meir Dick

In the past three weeks we all had our stories and experiences from being in a unique country with its unique people and cultures. After spending this much time with this particular group, reading about your personal experiences, talking about how it has had an effect on you I realize how much it really provided to our outlook. But I believe that even more then just this new place, I have been able to learn more about myself by spending this time with a group of such amazing individuals that are both interesting, caring, kind, knowledgeable and of course provocative.

For me this trip is not only about seeing and experiencing a new far out culture, but to question my own values and beliefs with others who are experiencing the same, allowing us to see the effect on our own selves.

These unique individuals, combined with the thoughtful programming, allowed me to be more vocal then I would at home, not allowing me to hide behind my native views and beliefs. Although we are all our own individuals, I may also be the one who usually ends up on the opposing side, one too many times.

Given another forum such as this blog to further to express my views, it would be great if I can also share something the trip has taught me. Hopefully this is also something that all of us can learn about ourselves and what it means to be who we are.The Tibetan community, with whom we are volunteering, is a unique example of a people who must question, who are we as a people? What do we have that makes us unique? Is this something that is valuable to us? Is it something worth suffering for? These are important questions that must be reflected on ourselves when seeing how they have suffered in their struggle to maintain there unique identity.

From our interactions with the Tibetan people we hear their stories of how it is to live as a refugee exiled from their homeland. Even worse are those in Tibet, living as the victims of continuous human rights violations. There is nevertheless an important distinction to be made between two separate issues they face that may otherwise be overlooked. On one hand there is the suffering, pain, imprisonment, but as terrible as these may be, this is not what they are fighting against, more so, this is the cost. The cost that they must be willing to take in order to maintain what is most valuable to them, so valuable that they choose not to subvert themselves. It may be very likely that if they would have given up there unique culture and become ordinary Chinese citizens, they would be treated no differently then an ordinary Chinese. Furthermore, one of they key issues in The Five Point Peace Plan for Tibet is to "abandon the Chinese population transfer policy which threatens the very existence of the Tibetans as a people" (Five Point Peace Plan for Tibet, H.H. The XIV Dalai Lama). The Tibetans see there identity as something so valuable that they are not willing to become ordinary even if it may mean suffering.

Being Jewish and proudly so, people may ask if being Jewish makes me better then other people. I believe that if being Jewish is something that I greatly value, and it is something I possess, then in virtue of having something unique of great value, then that should make me better then those who lack it.

Every individual has their own merits, which if having merits is of value, then anyone who possess merits is justified in believing him better then someone else who lacks it. This is no justification for treating another unfairly because everyone possesses their own unique list of merits. Instead of seeing everyone as the same, all being ordinary, let us rather embrace what makes us who we are. This includes our merits, our faults, our experiences, our challenges, our values and our history, including how we have grown in our own unique journey through life to get to where we are. It is something that should be valued and not be given up easily.

The only question remains then, why is being Jewish so important and therefore so valuable? What did our parents and grandparents over thousands of years believe so strongly in that they felt it necessary to maintain their Jewish identity through all the suffering and persecution? Hopefully the measure of how much we have been through shows how valuable this must have been to them.

We are different individuals and we may all have different reasons why our Jewish identity is important to us, but let us all agree that what we have is something of great value, not to be given up in the face of all those who wish us to be nothing more then ordinary. Everyone has things that makes them who they are, and if this is something that is valued, then let them say:

"Yes, I am better, I am ME"

-Meir Dick

In and around Dharamsala

Hear no evil, speak no evil, see no evil (Maayan, Natali & Merav)


Dharamsala

Walking from TCV to McLeod Ganj (Sandra & Maayan)

On our Way to Dharamsala

TWINSIES! (Sandra & Meir)

Stopping at roadside on way to Dharamsala.
Back row, left to right: Tamar, Shauna, Maayan, Natali, Lihi, Merav, Dafna, Sandra, Rebecca, Meir & Tracy
Bottom row, left to right: Tenzin, Yoav & Tenzin's friend.
Stopping for chai with our drivers (Yoav & Sandra)

From Tamar Tepper

A Precious Human Life
On Thursday July 16, 2009, I arrived in Mumbai, India where I boarded a second plane heading to New Delhi. Alongside a group of nine other volunteers and two trip leaders, I was excited to embark on a journey I knew would be eye-opening and shake me to the core. Upon learning of my desire to travel to India, many friends, family, and colleagues advised me to come prepared. Each informed me that I must be open minded and quickly learn to adjust to the mentality and reality of the locals. Arriving in India I quickly realized that this would be an experience that I could never truly prepare myself for. How could I have really known about the smell, the poverty, the dirt, the unique dress, the rich culture, and the fiery food without ever having traveled here?

I came to India to challenge myself and step out of my comfort zone. To do something fresh and extraordinary before commencing my master's degree. I wanted to immerse myself in a new culture and a new setting. I came to question and reassess values and to learn about myself. In living among the Tibetan people of Dharamsala, volunteering to better the community, and through meeting talented individuals with similar values and ambitions, India has and continues to shape who I am and where I am heading, and show me more about what kind of person I am and wish to be. To me, this trip is about personal growth and challenge, about allowing myself to wander into different situations, and gain another perspective on life.

My volunteering experience here at The Tibetan Women's Association (TWA) has been phenomenal. TWA is a well organized and established group with a strong committee of dedicated employees. Its main objectives include: raising awareness of the situation inside Tibet, calling on international pressure to improve conditions for all Tibetans, investigating and taking action against human rights violations committed against women in Tibet, ensuring Tibetan women have access to educational information about health care and child care and supporting the needy and disadvantaged within the community financially through sponsorship programs. My role is to help write proposals for grant applications, research issues pertaining to several United Nations Conventions on refugees and women, and teach English to recently arrived Tibetan women learning how to sew traditional Tibetan clothing so that they may one day open their own businesses. Volunteering with such an organization has taught me much about the compassion and sense of solidarity that flourishes within the Tibetan community. It has shown me that while I have never been stateless, grown up in the hilltops of India or Tibet, or known much about the Buddhist belief - and while my Western upbringing has led me to subscribe to a different set of values and perception on life - all people believe in the same core values. Love and kindness are universal.

Volunteering in Dharamsala, India is to volunteer with those who truly need your help most. It is to volunteer with individuals, whether young or old, who have so much to share with you and give to this world. Their stories of their homeland, Tibet, so fresh in their minds and hearts, are moving and saddening. Yet their passion and excitement for their people and their culture, and undying yearning to return to this land, inspiring. Coming here as a volunteer means to demonstrate to these stateless people, many of whom have not been granted refugee status by India, that the world cares. It is to illustrate to each one that we have not forgotten them and want to know about their exceptional community and troubled past. It shows them that we care and will step up to help.

Everywhere here there are scrolls, wall hangings, and post cards imprinted with a hugely powerful passage written by His Holiness the 14th Dali Lama. In this passage, he declares that each one of us has been granted a Precious Human Life and that we must not waste this life. The Dali Lama goes on to say that we are so fortunate to be alive, to be able to develop ourselves, and to expand our hearts through acts of kindness.

Just over two weeks after I first arrived in India, I still cannot fully comprehend how much I have gained during my time here. I came to India to give to and help a community, yet what I've gained in return is so much more. With each passing day I learn. I touch, see, smell, taste, and meet new people and travel to new places. And I know that I am pursuing a precious path. I greet each day as a new awakening and I know that the day will be filled with an exciting new adventure and lesson that I cannot even imagine. Whether a stroll down to a holy Temple, a nearby town, a beautiful waterfall, or a crowded market, the experience will be different, and something will be learned.

We are so fortunate to have a Precious Human Life. Use it wisely.

- Tamar Tepper

From Shauna Lichtblau

Generally speaking, I'm not an overly emotional person. But truth be told, everyone has their moments. For me, the truth of the matter didn't fully sink in until a few nights ago. We were volunteering at the Hope Centre, a centre where conversational English classes are held. Each volunteer is paired with one or two Tibetans, with whom we converse for an hour, in hopes of improving their English. After the hour is up, everyone reconvenes and a discussion question is brought forth, upon which, everyone in the circle is given the opportunity to respond. That night, one's task was to complete the phrase, "You are important because..." It wasn't until one of the Tibetan men spoke that I felt a lump form in my throat, as I realized I was fighting back tears. His words, "You are important because your families are expecting you to return home," truly struck a chord within me, as the Tibetan man laughed nervously, unsure of how the others would respond.

I think that moments like these are those that stay with us forever. It's not the scarves or jewellery that substantiate our souls. Rather, it's our first-hand experiences and the friendships that we create within the Tibetan community that imprint upon our lives and change who we are and who we become. These moments make us appreciate the small things that we often take for granted, such as being able to return to our families, no questions asked, and having citizenship in our home countries rather than a permanent refugee status.

When it came time for me to respond to what seemed at first, like such a simple phrase, I chose my words carefully as I said, "You are important because even though we give up our time to teach you English, you give us so much more in return." And in truth, I've never felt so sure about anything. These wonderful people have opened their lives and their culture to us and have consequently, taught us life lessons that are often overlooked in the 'fast-paced' Western world. We have been given the opportunity to view things from a much different perspective, and we are now easily able to seek out the underlying similarities embedded in the differences between cultures.

As with anything, it's the little things that count and it's our everyday encounters that often teach us the most. Every morning, I volunteer at the Tibetan Women's Association, an organization aimed at empowering Tibetan women in exile. I type up identification cards for each member of the association. As I go through the pictures of the now 15 000 members, it's hard not to pause and realize that behind each face in passing, there lies a story much deeper than one can imagine.

In the afternoon, I teach basic English to a group of women who aspire to start their own businesses, in order to support themselves and their families. Of the three women I teach, all are mothers and wives, born in Tibet, but living in exile in Dharamsala. The smiles and wide eyes that greet me upon first entrance and the unending gratitude once the hour is up cannot be compared to anything I've ever experienced. The impact that something seemingly so minute, such as teaching the different sounds of the English alphabet, can have on this group of extraordinary women has taught me the value of giving, and the power it hold above all else.

Once our time here comes to an end and I return to Toronto, the one fear I have is wishing that I had put forth more and had better embraced my time spent in India. I think that this fear is both what grounds me and what pushes me to give all I can. Although it's sometimes hard to comprehend, this trip has taught me that the good we do in the world lies more than surface deep - for the ripples that we create and in fact, everlasting. Likewise, the experiences that we have gained have become a part of us and are embedded in our hearts, our minds, and our memories, and are sure to last us all a lifetime.

- Shauna

In Dharamsala

Jewish educational session at Tibetan Children's Village. (Left to right: Merav, Tamar, Yoav, Sandra, Maayan, Shauna, Meir, Lihi & Tracy).

Volunteering at House of Hope. (Left to Right: Sandra, Lihi, Director of House of Hope, Maayan & Tracy).

Yoav at Students for a Free Tibet

Dharamsala: First Days

Stopping for chai on the way to Dharamsala. (Left to Right: Yoav & Rebecca)


First Day in Dharamsala. (Left to Right: Tracy, Tamar, Tenzin, Sandra, Rebecca & Shauna)

Checking out volunteer location, Tibet Charity. (Yoav, Tibet Charity employee, Merav, Tamar, Lihi, Maayan & Meir)

Dehli

First Day in Delhi, Likhir House. Meeting Tenzin for the first time in our khatas.
(Left to Right: Dafna, Shauna, Tamar, Tracy, Meir, Natali, Merav, Yoav, Sandra, Maayan, Lihi & Tenzin)

Lunch in Delhi. Thali Plate (Left to Right: Tamar, Meir, Sandra & Shauna)

Trying on bindis in the main bazaar in Dehli (Left to Right: Sandra, Shauna & Tracy)