Hi, my name is Menashe Ohanuna, but my friends call me Meni, I am from Ofakim and I am spending a year in MetroWest, New Jersey.

This morning I awoke again to the world of being an "emissary". Sounds great! I am a counselor and I explain about Israel in a variety of ways. I work with children of all ages from kindergarten through high school, with the elderly and everything in between, and in most cases not in the language of my soul, but in English. I am active most of the day and prepare late into the night; tension, persistence, fatigue, satisfaction all at the same time. Yes, maybe this is what being an emissary is all about; to give of yourself as much as possible in order to change and be changed. But for a year? A whole year?

Don't misunderstand me - what I am referring to is "just for a year"? Because I don't think it ends here. I have already caught myself several times thinking "how I hope who ever replaces me next year will put in at least as much effort", and this is after only 3 months.

They tell me, that after I return to Israel, and am drafted, I will be a different kind of emissary. "Different?" Or is it really a continuation of what I am doing now? Apparently, living according to the values that you are teaching, is part of the package of being a volunteer emissary. This, that, or is it that I am simply so convincing that I have convinced myself that "Zionism is not dead, but rather has simply been transformed in accordance with the circumstances."

From here arises the question of all questions: Who is the person that does not feel within himself that he is an emissary of some kind during his lifetime? Who is a person without a goal to motivate him? WOW, the alarm just went off! Too deep, I might lose you here. Anyway, good luck to everyone. I will continue to look for answers while at the same time posing more questions.