It’s hard to believe that almost a decade ago I was buying a suitcase, packing my hats and water bottles, and preparing to embark on my NFTY in Israel journey as a 16-year-old Crane Lake camper. I remember the mixture of being nervous about being across the world for 5 weeks away from my family, while also excited to experience a new place with a community that I loved so much.

I was reminded, time and time again, that a summer in Israel – whether with your camp or a group of teens from across North America – is transformative; it is truly life-changing.

Over my many years at NFTY in Israel, one of my most inspiring experiences was picking up a young man named Max at the airport.  He had come late to the Israel trip and needed to be driven down to meet his group while they were camping deep in the Negev desert. In the car, Max and I talked about where he was from, his many years at URJ camp, and what led him to decide to come on a trip with NFTY in Israel.

Yom Ha’atzmaut represents a day of celebration in Israel – celebration of the founding of the modern Jewish homeland. In the days leading up to it, it is amazing to see the country transform to demonstrate the pride felt by Israelis for this place. Everywhere you look, Israeli flags pop up – along streets, hanging out windows, attached to the sides of cars. Imagery of David Ben Gurion appears on the sides of buildings. You cannot go anywhere without recognizing the excitement about this day.

Like Avram, I left my country, my homeland, and my parents’ house to go to a land unknown to me, the land of Israel. It was a place I had learned so much about but knew so little. Through my 16-year-old eyes, this trip represented an unprecedented level of independence from my parents, a space to meet other Jewish teenagers, and an avenue through which to see a part of the world I had learned so much about.

On NFTY in Israel, you will meet a lot of cool, new people, including your amazing staff! Rome Eliahou has just finished his Army Service and is looking forward to showing American teens around his homeland.

Yom HaShoah (which begins at sundown this Wednesday, April 11, and ends at sundown on Monday, April 12) cannot be the only day that we as Jews place Holocaust remembrance into the foreground of Jewish identification.

This week, I’ll be heading to Europe with eight engaging, creative NFTY in Israel educators to develop our summer experience in Prague and Poland. We will visit all the sites that our teens visit and explore how to make the story of European Jewry come alive and remain relevant today.