Tamid Sameach B'Ulpan

I’ve been in ulpan for more than 3 months now, and I think it’s time that I reflect a little bit on my experience in the class.  There are about 15 students in my class, and every person has a different background.  I’m in class with three Nativ participants, American teenagers living in Israel for the year.  There is a man from Australia, a few Americans, as well as women from France, Morocco, China, and Spain.  People in my class speak Arabic, Chinese, Spanish, and French.  Most people speak English in addition to their mother tongue, and are learning Hebrew.  I speak some French, and another American woman in my class speaks Spanish.  In most cases, the common languages of the class are Hebrew or English, but sometimes unfamiliar words or phrases must be translated into more than one language so that everyone will understand.  Everyone in the class chimes in to help translate for everyone else—once we understand it in our native languages, we can then help the rest of the class learn it in their language, for example, by explaining a Hebrew phrase in Spanish or French even though our first language is English.  It’s one of my favorite parts of the class.

Everyone has a unique story, as well.  Some people are here with their spouses and children—one man in my ulpan just had his 7^th child!  Some are new olim and others are people who live within the borders of Jerusalem but are trying to improve their Hebrew in order to get a better job.  Most of the class is here for the foreseeable future, except for me and the Nativ participants.  People in the class are Jewish, Muslim, Christian, and representative of all walks of international life.  One woman from Spain shared a story about how she found out that her relatives were part of the many Jews who converted to Christianity during the Spanish Inquisition, but who knew in their hearts they were Jewish all along.  Another American man made aliyah because he and his wife felt it was important, and now they run a bed and breakfast in East Jerusalem.  Two non-Jewish women are living in Israel with their Jewish and/or Israeli spouses, and one man who was in our class, but is not anymore, is from Panama, and is studying brain surgery at Hadassah hospital.    

My ulpan class is a slice of Israeli life that people often don’t think about.  America has a reputation for being a “melting pot” of many different languages and cultures, but it seems that my ulpan class reflects this idea as well.  I’m not sure if all of the people in my ulpan class are “citizens” by the definition of the word, as I think some of them have not fully made aliyah yet, but they are still an important part of what it means to live in Israel, what it means to be “Israeli”.  I was worried when I came to Israel this year that I would miss the excitement and diversity of New York City, but it seems I had forgotten that there can be just as much diversity here.  Everyone has a unique and inspirational story to tell—it’s just a matter of listening.