Is there anything you would die for? What actions does a real passion require?

In 2001, Philadelphian Michael Levin explored his answer to these questions, learning about the history of Israel at the Alexander Muss High School in Israel (AMHSI), where teens can study abroad for a quarter to learn about Jewish history in the places the events took place. In 2002, Levin took a gap year in Jerusalem. In 2003, Levin made “Aliyah,” moving to the land that he had shown such a passion for throughout his teenage life. In 2006, Levin was killed in the Second Lebanon War, according to AMHSI teacher Reuven Spero.

Six years later, I am studying in the same classrooms Levin studied in at AMHSI. It just so happens that most days, my “classroom” is on top of a mountain, in a cave or deep in the desert. Just like this program sparked Levin’s passion for Israel, this program has strengthened my beliefs as well.

Levin was a “normal” American teen from an affluent town, just like you and me. But he felt he needed to defend his belief of the right to a Jewish state, and ended up giving his life for it. While learning about heroes like him, I have thought about how much I have failed in fighting for my passions. As teenagers in Northbrook, we live with so many incredible opportunities. However, we tend to invest ourselves in all we can in order to get accepted into a “good” college. While we preach our passions, we tend not to actually dedicate ourselves to these fascinations, as we focus too much on our own personal futures. Here in Israel, different circumstances help people set their priorities straight. Many of my friends from Israel have spent countless nights in bomb shelters, have had rockets hit somewhere near their houses, or have been affected by the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in other ways. Whether it be through protesting or through military service, right after high school, Israeli teenagers start making conscious decisions based on their beliefs and passions.

I spent a weekend with six of my peers at Spero’s home in Shilo, a city in the West Bank. It took some convincing of my parents to let me go, as the tension is high between Shilo and neighboring Arab towns. However, I proceeded on the weekend and had a wonderful Shabbat dinner with Spero’s neighbor, Era Rappaport, and his family. When I returned to Spero’s home to sleep, he asked me what I thought of the family and what we talked about over the dinner table. After telling him about my experience, a smile crept over his face. I asked him what his smirk was about, and he proceeded to tell me that Rappaport used to be a member of the Israeli underground and once got arrested for placing a bomb in the car of the mayor of the neighboring Arab village.

This is not what I was expecting coming into the West Bank. Whether or not this was an act of terrorism is another story, but every side definitely has its extremists. As these extremists do not define a people, it is important to remember that rationality must accompany a sense of passion.

Israeli and Palestinian civilians both constantly live in fear of the other side. Each side holds such an indescribable passion for their cause, and each makes drastic decisions for these causes. But when a cause and values clash, which supersedes the other? There is a difference between risking one’s life and rashly taking away the lives of others. While extremists carry the necessary passion to achieve their goals, they ruthlessly kill rather than proceeding with rationality and acting upon their true values, making this conflict a never-ending one.

Although Israelis and Palestinians are both at fault, killing for their clashing beliefs, this is inevitable, growing up with such biased views. They have the passion necessary, but they do not know how to appropriately relay this passion through actions. While I may not hold the key to solving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in my hands, maybe we, as Americans, are part of the solution. We have the means to live passionately in a rational way.

Levin lived to show the importance of fighting for one’s passions through good times and bad. We all have values that we know are important to us, but we focus too much on rationality and not nearly enough on what we are passionate about.

Whatever your passion is, with all of our opportunities in Northbrook, we can combine it with the forces of our intellectual power, values, rationality, and resources, and maybe we can actually make a difference. So figure out what you are passionate about and act on it.

I challenge you to make a list of your core values. Next, make a general overview of your weekly schedule. Put these lists side by side and determine how many of these things match up. Instead of wasting your time, let your passions shine through and use your resources to your advantage. Because the question may not be what you would kill for, or even die for, but rather, what you want to be remembered for.