I am sitting in John F. Kennedy International Airport surrounded by a group of strangers and ready to depart from everything that is familiar to me. Standing in line to get my baggage checked, I nervously try to make conversation with the people around me. I am asked questions. I ask questions. They are all the same generic curiosities of people who have never met each other, but anticipate spending a great deal of time together.

My recent trip to Israel was the best experience of my life. The juniors at my school, the American Hebrew Academy, spent 10 weeks at the Israel-based Alexander Muss High School, attending classes every day except Fridays. Aside from secular studies, we spent four hours every morning studying Jewish history. Four hours seems like such a long time to spend on one subject, but we covered almost everything, from Abraham to present-day events.

You may have caught Yonatan's latest article in the July/August issue of JVibe. He gave us the lowdown on what it's really like being in the Israeli army where dating is forbidden. Here, read another Israeli teen's thoughts on how teens get around this rule, why the rules were created, and the expectations Israeli teens have going into their army service.