by Avi Colonomos
When my group began our Jewish Overseas Leadership Training (JOLT) program, we were divided. We came from all over the United States, from metropolitan cities like Queens to small towns in New Hampshire. We each had our own level of knowledge about Judaism and we were each caught up in our own little worlds.
But by the end of the trip, we were a family.
During our first week in Poland we walked through Tykocin, the site of a bucolic town where 2,000 Jews were marched into the forest and murdered by the Einstatzgruppen.
At Treblinka, we saw the names of thousands of destroyed communities. Communities, so carefully crafted, were destroyed in such a short time. Jews were shipped to that spot from all over Europe and the world watched and did nothing.
At Majdanek, we saw the gas chambers, the atrocious barracks, the inhuman crematorium and the ashes of our own people.
At Auschwitz-Birkenau, we felt pride. We felt pride because even as the Nazis tried to extinguish our flame, it stayed alive. Even though 70 years ago Jews were being brought by the trainload to the gas chambers, we survived and today we are stronger than ever. We felt pride because we saw that at the end of the day, Hashem is watching over us and protecting Am Yisrael. This feeling of pride continued through our JOLT trip. We spent a week working in a camp for unaffiliated Jewish children in Poland and then the crowning moment for our JOLT trip: we visited Israel, our homeland.
I’ve always been a person who loves Israel. However, JOLT gave this homeland a new definition. No longer is it simply another country that I’ve visited and loved, but a land born out of hard work and endless struggles. I felt the struggles of the men and women who settled Gush Etzion. I felt the struggles of Herzßl to found a Jewish State in the one, true Jewish land. Most importantly, I felt the struggles of the soldiers who defend our country with their lives.
During our last week on JOLT, we brought food to a base of soldiers in the desert. As I handed the soldiers the food we bought for them, I realized that these soldiers were just like me. I saw the personal struggle of these soldiers and I appreciated the land so much more. I appreciated every hill, every field and every insignificant side street. Each is a part of my heritage, each is a part of who I am. Each is a part of my future and the future of Am Yisrael — a flame that only burns brighter.
