It is hard for me to believe that just a few weeks ago, I climbed Masada, swam in the Dead Sea, and danced the night away in Jerusalem’s First Station. Once again, the ground has shaken for Israelis and the world. My third trip to Israel since October 7th, this trip was, like my previous visits, intense and complex and full of meaning, and it was also completely different. This trip was a celebration, and one that was born out of the community built with my fellow travelers, a group of ten Jewish and Catholic high school juniors from Long Island on an interfaith journey called Project Understanding, a long-standing program designed to create dialogue, connection, and partnership through an exploration of both faiths’ holy sites in this sacred place. My son participated in the program when he was a junior – it was a deeply moving experience for him, and now I truly understand why.
One of the countless remarkable things about this group was how open and excited the students were to witness these holy sites through one another’s eyes. For the Catholic students, all of whom attend Kellenberg, a Catholic day school, the Christian sites were powerful, emotional, and incredibly spiritual. The Jewish students instinctively understood this and found the balance between letting them experience for themselves and finding the space to ask questions and participate.
Being a witness to their Ash Wednesday ritual in the Church of the Annunciation, for example, was an experience none of us is likely to forget, along with standing at the edge of the Sea of Galilee or collecting water from the Jordan River. I myself was moved to tears at the stop along the Via Dolorosa (Walk of Suffering) where Jesus met his mother. It was a moment of humanity, no matter what I believe, that hit me at my core.
And the Catholic students brought their full selves to every Jewish site, from sharing a blessing at the top of Masada, to silent solidarity at Hostage Square, and dancing with pure joy at our final music-filled, joyous (and mostly Hebrew!) egalitarian Shabbat in Tel Aviv. They filled each space with warmth, light, and spirit.
The holy sites, however, were only a part of how this community was formed. On the bus, along the beach, at the markets, trying shawarma, schnitzel, and falafel (shawarma won!) was where the “real” conversations happened. To hear a group of sixteen-year-olds of their own volition exploring god, faith, abortion, sexuality was incredible, given the state of polarity our country often finds itself in right now. And our nightly ice cream walks (I can’t remember the last time I had ice cream that many nights in a row!) filled with goofy songs, funny photo shoots, and silly games, solidified friendships as we explored Jerusalem, Haifa, the Carmel Mountains, the Jordan Valley, and Tel Aviv together.
I was hesitant to do this trip so soon after my last trip to Israel a few months ago. I did it because I knew it would be good for me professionally. But what I experienced on that trip was nothing I could have imagined. These kids, with their generosity of spirit, their eagerness to engage and reflect, and their love of gelato, make me feel a little more hopeful about building communities that not only exist with difference, but thrive.
Rebecca Hirschwerk
Director of Congregational Education
