Last Saturday, the Israeli national soccer team played the Faroe Islands (yeah, I don't know where that is either) for a chance at a chance to go to the World Cup. Our madrichim (counselors)   advertised the game to us, we paid our 80 shekels for a ticket well in advance, took the bus over to Tel Aviv, and began preparing for what I think, in retrospect, was one of my most meaningful nights in Israel.

My friends and I got dropped off by a cab near the stadium, and began following the crowd of Israelis heading towards the entrance. At our first opportunity, we bought large Israeli flags to wear as capes and Israel-themed scarves to wave in the air. We found the massive group of Year Coursers waiting outside the security check and were greeted by our counselor, who smeared blue paint all over our faces. Now we were ready for the game!

Inside the stadium, people were going absolutely wild. Classic Israeli techno music was blasting over the speakers, everyone was up and cheering and dancing, and we were right there with them. The game opened with four paratroopers landing in the middle of the field to bring the flags of the teams, and with each landing, the crowd exploded with cheers. A woman sang the most beautiful Hatikvah I've ever heard, and the night began. I'm not exactly a sports person, but I swear that other people also said that the game wasn't an exciting one. Regardless, the atmosphere was one of the most exciting I've ever been in.

Here we were, an obviously American and British group, going insane with our first opportunity to literally cheer for and support Israel. Yeah, we're supporting Israel by spending a year here, learning Zionism, helping out the economy, and volunteering in communities, but when have we jumped up and down draped in Israeli flags alongside hundreds of native Israelis echoing back and forth with the other side of the stadium 'Israel, milchama!' (our cheer) physically supporting the country we love in the form of its soccer team.

It was also a really powerful image to see the masses of fans, totally united in their cheering, rooting for Israel's team, our internationally recognized team, competing against any other team for a chance like anyone else to be in the World Cup. Everyone looked happy and excited and confident and proud. It's good to have a strong country to support. It was good to be at the game, supporting my country in such a strong way. And Israel won 2-0. It's so good to support Israel.