‘It was the best move I did’

Everyone has that “trip of a lifetime” they either wish they had taken or are infinitely thankful that they did. For Mountain Brook High School sophomore Aaron Weil, that trip was his recent semester studying abroad in Israel.

The first in his family to go, Weil attended the Alexander Muss High School in Israel, or AMHSI, this past fall after learning about a scholarship opportunity through his temple. The school is within walking distance of Hod HaSharon, a city in central Israel.

In the 60 days that he was there, Weil lived with 24 other students from all over the U.S., attending the study abroad program in a dorm-style atmosphere while studying Israeli history. 

“We learned about all the way from B.C. to today of how Israel is here,” he said. 

But he and his classmates didn’t always study in a classroom — for two-thirds of his semester, Weil said they traveled and learned about Israel’s history, right where it happened. 

“It’s just completely different actually being on the exact ground where historical events took place,” he said.

While some of the trips he and his classmates went on were only day trips, others were longer, and Weil said they stayed in hostels together. One of the places they visited was Tel Aviv —Weil’s favorite place they visited — where he said he learned the city has been built up from different groups of civilization over thousands of years.

Weil was also able to continue his schooling in Alabama through the statewide online learning program, ACCESS, to keep up with his classes at Mountain Brook. Through the program, he took his Israeli history core class while “attending” class online and taking proctored exams. Weil said it was tough to balance both sets of schooling, especially because they were traveling so often for class in Israel, but it helped him become more responsible.

“I had to keep up with my school work,” he said. “No one is telling me, ‘Oh, this is due.’ … I think I learned a lot of responsibility.”

He also became closer with his classmates there, meeting people from places including Pittsburg, Los Angeles, Minnesota, New Jersey and Maryland. They all experienced the same adventures together and were more immersed in the Jewish culture. 

He said in Israel, he was “part of a majority.”

“On holidays, for my religion, school still goes on, everything is still going on around me,” he said. “In Alabama, the [Jewish] community isn’t super big. It’s a good size, but it’s not super big. But when I was in Israel, I really felt like I was [a part of it].”

Weil was in Israel for the holiest of Jewish holidays, Yom Kippur. He said people were respectful of the holiday, with many stores being closed and only a limited number of cars on the street.

“When that’s happening, the whole [country] is following it,” he said, explaining that nearly everyone in Israel was fasting or observing the Day of Atonement. “Not everybody is Jewish, of course, but everybody is respecting of what’s going on … It’s a really cool feeling that I am a part of that and so is the rest of the [country] of Israel.”

Weil said studying abroad was one of the best things that he’s ever done, even though he almost decided not to attend after his close friend was suddenly unable to go.

“It was the best move that I did, that I went [to AMHSI],” Weil said. “I knew that if I wouldn’t have done it, I would have regretted it.”