Summer may seem nearly over, but for the 80 teenagers—40 boys and 40 girls—who embarked on separate three-week travel experiences visiting the death camps of Poland and the more uplifting sights of Israel, it’s going to be on their minds for a very long time. Indeed, the “CTeen Heritage Quest” proved a life-changing experience.
“This trip gave me an opportunity I never thought I would have,” said 17-year-old Joe Berger, a 12th-grader from Winter Park, Fla. “To read in the prayerbook every day about the Holy Land and to actually be there are two very different things. When I was there, I felt like my soul was at home for the first time. This is an opportunity I am eternally thankful for.”
Gabriel Gang, 17, from Stony Brook, N.Y., is a first-generation American who hasn’t yet had the chance to visit the Soviet Union, the birthplace of his parents. He acknowledges knowing little about Eastern Europe—its culture and people.
“I expected Poland to be a very dark place, still fully scarred from the Holocaust. I knew that I would change in a few ways after visiting Poland, but I wasn’t sure how,” said Gang. “Yes, I personally have come out more serious after picking up the bones of my ancestors at the Chelmno death camp, but now when I look at my parents and Jewish friends in the face, I realize that it is our responsibility to redeem ourselves and use our potential for the sake of our perished loved ones. It is our responsibility to repair the world and do the best we can in spreading peace, health and happiness globally through unity and mitzvot.”
As a result of his experiences, Gang—now a freshman in college—said he has gained clarity in his faith and his connection to G‑d.
“Based on this trip, I became much more aware of my relationship with G‑d and our responsibility as Jewish people,” he said. “Inspiration is one thing, but now is the time for action. My heritage has become much clearer to me, and my perception of life has become much more serious. I set some goals in mind, and the weight of my ancestors in heaven who were taken during the Holocaust weighs on my shoulders. I hope to make them proud.”
Rabbi Mendy Kotlarsky, vice chairman of CTeen International, praised the overwhelmingly positive response from the participants upon their return from the trip.
“It is heartwarming to see the impressive transformation that takes place through these immersive trips and even more rewarding watching these teens now back at home becoming ambassadors of light through taking leadership positions in their local CTeen chapters and campus Chabad Houses,” he said. “We want to extend a very special ‘thank you’ to Mr. and Mrs. Harvey and Gloria Kaylie, whose care for the Jewish future is legendary and whose lead gift helped make this unique trip happen.”
Already More Engaged
Rabbi Nachman Rivkin, CTeen summer coordinator, hopes that the participants will tell their friends about their powerful experiences and become more involved in Judaism as a result.
“The most powerful takeaway for the teens is their ability to see where the Jewish people have come from,” he said. “When they look at the past and see what their people have been through, it’s the best way to get teens to focus on where they’re going, and what responsibilities and privileges they have in their lives. They have brought back a much stronger focus on that, and we’ve already heard back from their community rabbis that they’re much more engaged to participate in local programming.”
For Eli Goldberg, 16, from Lake Mary, Fla., the most practical takeaway was one involving his familial relationships.
“When we were in Poland, we were at a children’s cemetery, and we were told to send a message to our parents, so I sent a WhatsApp message to my mother telling her how I loved her. When I was writing the message, I finally connected to how real the Holocaust was and how the children laying in this mass grave in front of me were never able to say any of the things that I was saying in my message to my mom,” said the 11th-grader. “They were either too young to have ever said ‘I love you’ to their parents, or they were taken too quickly to say a final goodbye to them.
“It also really hit me because I sometimes don’t show too much emotion to my parents, and I realized that I should, so that we can have more of a loving bond,” said Goldberg. “This trip has changed my Jewish life a lot. I have more of a realization of how deep it is imbedded into daily life, and I would like to put more tradition into mine.”
‘A Dream Come True’
For 11th-grader Adina Samloff of Reno, Nev., the whole sum of her days in Israel—from visiting the Western Wall (Kotel), learning and praying, seeing historic and tourist sites, and meeting soldiers and Israeli citizens—and Poland impacted her perspective on Judaism.
“To have been able to go on this trip was a dream come true for me because I had always read the books and heard the stories about these places, but I had never actually seen it. It was a life-changing trip,” said Samloff. “I’ve been able to grow in my Judaism, and it made me realize what I had been missing while growing up.”
“I really enjoyed learning with fellow Jews and the general feeling of our ‘mishpachah,’ our Jewish family,” concluded the 16-year-old. “We all felt so united. It has truly changed my outlook on life.”
Indeed, it has. Following the trip, she (as well as two other girls, sisters from California) decided to leave public school and enroll this year at Hillel High School in Milwaukee.
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