How Living in Israel for 2 Months Shaped my Opinion on Homelessness and Feminism

On April 6, 2021, me and approximately 50 of my classmates landed at the Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv, Israel. We were studying abroad in Hod Hasharon for 2 months. We were embersed in a core curriculum including the history of the Israeli people from biblical times until today, including conflicts in the middle east. We were exposed to the deep rooted culture, tradition and future of the state of Israel, and were able to live among each other in a dormitory. During this time, I took a break from Womens Antiseptic Project (HERA's previous and initial name) to focus on my studies and trip, and to develop new ideas and points of view. Amid covid economic distress, the Israeli homeless population grew by 27 percent. That made a total of 3,471 homeless people in the whole entire state of Israel. Walking the streets of Israel, there was seemingly low rate of homeless population in public. I would often ask myself, how can the US develop into a place similar to Israel in regards to homelessness. Avidly, I would also see that a majority of the homeless people that I did see on the streets were women. This directly connects to feminism because after reading some facts, it became quite evident that there was a lack of representation for the majority group of female homeless citizens. In 2007, more than 25% of homeless youth in Israel were female. As of now, Israel has no concept of traditional housing for families in crisis. While living in Israel, I learned about ELEM (youth distress in Israel). To help highly vulnerable women, they created The Shelter for Homeless Young Women in Israel. The shelter offers, food, clothes, showers and legal advice. Overall, I learned that the definition of homelessness varies between different regions of the earth, and levels of feminism also differ. Together, they determine the path homelessness (specifically pertaining to women) will take in that area.

In the photos below you will see:

A photograph of our whole group, including every student, teacher and counselor at the western wall. This was a very meaningful day to us as a cohort because it took us hundreds of days worth of delays and postponing flights to get to that single moment.

A moment captures of a woman of whom I met in Tzfat, the highest city in the whole entire country. It is the city of Kabbalah (Jewish mysticism) and art. What is unique about this woman is that she chose to move to the holy land, after living an "unholy" life in New York. She quit her old habits she partook in back home; dinking, smoking, constant partying, dressing immodestly, not believing in God etc. She changed her whole entire life around, and found holiness, power and divine femininity in her new, modest and conservative lifestyle.

Finally, a picture of the amazing females that I was constantly surrounded by. We lived together on the third floor of our dormitory, and wished each other good mornings and good nights, every single day. We supported one another mentally, physically and spiritually throughout our journey. We made connections with one another that were imaginable, we created bonds and trust one another like sisters. Personally, I learned that together, we could overcome every single obstacle that hit any of us. I genuinely felt female power.