by Ndavyah Williams, S2

I moved from Dimona, Israel to Bermuda in the summer of 2008 to live with my mom and the rest of my family and to learn about my Bermudian heritage.

I am 15 years old and I attend CedarBridge Academy in Bermuda. In Israel, I would have attended one school until I graduated from Grade 12. That school was in our community of Hebrew Israelites. There, students wear only pure, natural cotton uniforms with kippahs (caps) to show reverence to God.

There are no fishcakes in Israel. I am a vegetarian so I would eat falafel balls instead of meat balls. Our celebrations are different too. In Israel, most people are Jewish. We celebrate Pascack (Passover) at the time when Christian Bermudians are celebrating Easter, and we celebrate Hanukkah around the time of Christmas. Now that I live in Bermuda, I am learning about Christian holidays from my mom's family. There is no holiday in Israel similar to Cup Match. I find that cool. Cricket is not played in Israel.

The biggest difference is that there aren't as many people of the Jewish faith in Bermuda, but I have visited the Jewish community Center here to help me keep up with my language skills. ???? ?? ????? ??? ????? translated means 'The language of Israel is Hebrew'. People always ask me how is it to live in Israel. I try to tell them that it's not as bad as they see on TV. There is bombing but not in all places and not all the time. I have seen it. It is just a part of Israel. The crime rate in Bermuda is increasing and I wouldn't want Bermuda to ever be as violent as Israel is though. I hope that visitors will always see Bermuda as beautiful and peaceful.

I would love for Bermudians to take time out and come and visit my community which is called 'the village of peace'. While you are visiting, you can see historical places such as the Wailing Wall and the spot where David and Goliath fought. You can float on the Salt Sea, also known as the Dead Sea. There is so much salt that no living things live in it. There is greenery, there are mountains, and if you come in the summer, it is hot. The people of Israel are as nice and friendly as Bermudians. God is love. ?????? ??? ????