Last month, I had the privilege of travelling to Israel with Orah Sydney as part of the Momentum program, where 200 Jewish mothers from around the world came together to learn, grow and connect – as mothers, as individuals and, most importantly, with our homeland, Israel.
Our experience was made even more meaningful by having local Israeli women from the Arava join our group as part of the Australia-Arava partnership. These women opened their hearts to us, sharing their personal stories, challenges and experiences. Their strength, resilience and determination inspired every single one of us.
What began as a group of women from different corners of the world quickly became something much deeper. We formed incredibly special connections and discovered that, despite living thousands of kilometres apart, we share so much. We are all navigating challenges, raising families, experiencing uncertainty and finding strength in our communities and in each other.
Perhaps most importantly, our Israeli sisters came to understand just how deeply we love and feel connected to Israel. One moment that will stay with me forever was standing alongside 200 women from around the world at the Nova Festival site, singing HaTikvah together.
One of the Israeli women turned to me and asked, “You all know our anthem?” I replied that we sing it louder and prouder than our own at every Jewish event.
It was a small exchange, but it captured something incredibly powerful. Our connection to Israel isn’t defined by where we live. It is part of who we are.
Following our time together on Momentum, the Sydney Orah group extended our stay by a few days to experience the Arava more deeply.
I’ve always been an ocean girl, so when I first heard that the desert could be magical, I wasn’t entirely convinced. How wrong I was! The Arava turned out to be one of the most extraordinary experiences of my life.
We began with a visit to a greenhouse, which completely blew my mind. In the middle of the desert, surrounded by endless dry land, we saw the most incredible vegetables being grown using advanced systems. It was a perfect example of what determination, innovation and community can achieve when people refuse to let their environment define their possibilities.
And perhaps that is exactly what makes the women of the Arava so special.
Life in the Arava is different. If you want something to happen, you make it happen. There is an incredible sense of personal responsibility and community spirit. People show up for one another, everyone contributes and there is a genuine sense that you are never alone. From the moment we arrived, we could feel it.
Just before sunset, we climbed a mountain together, guided by a beautiful and inspiring leader. Along the way, some of our Orah women conquered fears they never imagined they could overcome. Standing among the mountains, surrounded by desert and feeling so small, was an incredibly humbling experience.
That evening, we returned to find dinner beautifully set under the stars. We were each gifted a stunning Madlev bracelet through UIA, combining a Magen David and a heart to represent our Jewish identity, love and connection.
The bracelet carried an even deeper meaning. The evening was designed as a bat mitzvah celebration, an opportunity for each of us to reconnect with and reaffirm our identity as Jewish women and what that represents. Through a beautiful twinning initiative, our celebration was also connected to a young Israeli girl who might otherwise not have the opportunity to experience her own bat mitzvah. It was a powerful reminder that our Jewish journeys extend beyond ourselves, creating connections across generations and borders.
It also highlighted the important role organisations such as UIA play in bringing communities together and creating meaningful opportunities that extend far beyond a single trip or event.
But perhaps the most special part of our time in the Arava was the women themselves.
The connections we formed will stay with us for a lifetime. It genuinely felt as though we had known each other forever. We would sit and talk for hours, sharing stories, laughing, sometimes crying, and still never having enough time together.
Fifteen of us were welcomed into a local woman’s home for the most incredible lunch. Another woman even took all our dirty laundry home to wash for us. These may seem like small gestures, but they say everything about the generosity, warmth and spirit of these women.
This is where the alignment between Orah and the women of the Arava becomes so clear.
Orah is about empowering Jewish women, giving them opportunities to connect, learn, grow and discover their own strength. The women of the Arava embody those very same values. They are creating, leading, supporting and building strong communities in one of the most unique and challenging environments in Israel.
While our lives may look different, our purpose is remarkably similar. We are all working towards the same thing: stronger women, stronger families and stronger communities.
I truly believe our relationship with the Arava is only just beginning. We have so much to learn from one another and I hope that one day we can welcome our Israeli sisters to Sydney, open our homes to them and show them what life looks like on the other side of the world. More importantly, I want them to experience firsthand just how connected we feel to Israel and how proud we are of our homeland.
We arrived as women from different communities and different corners of the world. We left as sisters, with shared stories, memories and a connection that distance cannot diminish.
Ultimately, empowering women isn’t just about what we can achieve individually. It’s about what becomes possible when we come together.
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