The night before I left for my trip, I called my brother Ben and my sister-in-law Nikki to see if they had any requests. I was referring to gifts, but they approached the question from a different angle. Ben explained their two requests to me: first, that I find some positive outlook regarding my experience in Poland, and second, that I leave Israel with some emotion that would stay with me my whole life. Ben and Nikki explained their thoughts behind that request, saying that kids often come home from Israel with a much stronger Jewish identity, but that within a few months, the intensity of their feelings fades away. They told me that I should try to find something about the trip, some feeling that would never fade away.

As for the first request, I really didn’t have any positive feelings regarding Poland while I was actually there. During the eight days we spent in Poland, we went to four concentration camps, the site of the Warsaw ghetto, and countless synagogues. Obviously the camps are the most powerful reminders of the Holocaust, but even at the synagogues, we felt the overwhelming sadness we came to associate with Poland. At each shul, we were reminded of the Jewish communities that once thrived around those shuls and now no longer exist. Many of those synagogues were the only ones remaining in the community, and some of them only survived the war because the Nazis used them for storage or as a stable. Needless to say, our days in Poland were filled with images of death and hopelessness.

Despite the hopeless atmosphere of Poland, I was able to look back on my experience there with a more positive attitude once we reached Israel. I realized that at so many of the places we visited, we were reminded that the victims of the Holocaust wanted to be remembered by someone after they were gone. By visiting the camps, holding memorial services, and crying for those victims, we were fulfilling that hope.

I found another positive aspect to our experience in Poland as well. Along with the other group members, I felt that we were able to appreciate Israel more than we would have had we not seen Poland first. We were able to realize the importance of the Jews having a homeland, because we realized what happens when Jews are powerless to defend themselves. Now, even in times of war, at least we have a nation to defend.

Of course, we would still have come to understand the wonderful feeling of being in Israel even if we hadn’t gone to Poland first. That feeling centers on the idea that in Israel, Judaism and culture are intertwined, so Jews feel an automatic sense of belonging just from being in Israel. On the plane ride to Tel Aviv, we began to sense the way our religion is embedded into Israeli culture when a group of Hasidic men took over the airplane aisle so that they could daven ma’ariv. That was only our first step toward understanding what Israel means for Jews. As we traveled to various sites, Judaism surrounded us everywhere we went, from the Hebrew road signs, to the mezuzahs in places like malls and restaurants, to the sites like the Red Sea that, up until our trip, we had only heard mentioned when we were studying the Torah. Over the course of 5 weeks, we began to feel the strong sense of acceptance that results from being surrounded by a nation of people who share our passion for Judaism and our appreciation of Israel.

I can’t fully explain how incredible my experience in Israel was without mentioning my group. I have never been part of a more fun, intellectual group of teenagers, and I have never felt so comfortable around people in my life. Nevertheless, even without such a group, I still would have been able to enjoy the communal atmosphere of Israel. After all, in what other nation would a Holocaust survivor come up to your group during breakfast one morning and begin blessing all of you for visiting her homeland? In fact, everywhere we went, we were welcomed by Israelis-in restaurants, markets, or as we walked from place to place. At the end of my trip, I realized that even if I hadn’t been part of such an amazing group and even if I hadn’t seen all the sites, I would still have returned with the same love for Israel that I now have. Because in Israel, no matter who I am with or what sites I see, I will always feel that sense of belonging simply because I am a Jew.