When we do not judge the book by its cover, we receive the most special treasures and gifts. Two years ago, when my French teacher received a big envelope from a school in Bayonne with letters from French students who were waiting to receive an American friend, nearly all of the students in the class chose their penpal by looking at and judging the French students’ appearance as if they were judging by its book cover – they were choosing the most popular and pretty/handsome looking person. I didn’t care about the appearance. All I cared about was having a French friend so that I can learn about his/her french culture and share my american culture. I just randomly picked a letter from the pile of letters and said, “That’s my penpal – Anaïs.” In the result, I have been rewarded much more than expected – a wonderful French friend who is more special than I imagined. Over this past week, we have bonded into a stronger and a very special friendship. She and I have gone through similar obstacles, have similar family relationships, and even though she’s not jewish, she has many values in jewish education. Leaving her house today was extremely difficult for both of us, especially knowing that we live extremely far away and it will be a very long time before we will see each other again. When I return to US and start writing letters to each other regularly once again, our letters will be more powerful than before we met each other because we know each other better. We are going to try to make efforts to see each other again next summer which means that I will have to start over saving my money. However, there is a possibility that she will come to Atlanta next summer. All of the other students in my French class never received a reply from their penpals and that is because they judged the letter by its appearance.