efrat/ lag baomer

So for Shabbat of May 16/17 Bracha set a few of us up at her friend's house in Efrat.

Ended up being an awesome family. They made Aliyah 10 years ago. The sons were ages 21 (in army), 20 (in hesder), and 18 (graduating high school)

We chilled with them and their friends all of Friday night and Saturday. Everyone is in the army so naturally, that was all we spoke about the whole time. The guys were telling us how its literally their life. Its what they eat, sleep and breathe. Their short and not so often breaks are their only gasp of air but they spend it with their minds on base. Whose unit is better, who gets better meals (air force), who works hard, who feels like they contribute, etc. Their life concerns at this point in time are at a much different area than mine. They really put things on hold in order to protect us every day. They don't talk about partying and girls the way I'm used to. - no offense boys. The army put them in a position that they have to prioritize their values. The guys were pretty serious about their positions and I couldn't be more thankful to them. I kept on thanking them all weekend! I really look up to these kids. They don't talk about grades, college or anything school related. They have to serve for three years before college even becomes a thing. Just gave me a lot to think about

Lag BaOmer was that night. Israel was a Giant fire! We made smores and pita bread by the fire. Sang danced and had watermelon.