This past Sunday, I was on a bus to the Gaza Envelope to visit the site of the Nova Festival massacre on October 7th. I was there with a volunteer program with Reform Jews through Israel Outdoors and Birthright Israel. I traveled with fellow CLC moms, Tracy Pickar and Emily

Rubinstein. While at the Nova memorial, I got a text from my daughter Sylvia, Olim ‘25. She was at the RootOne concert just south of Tel Aviv with thousands of North American teens, including her Olim ‘25 friends on the Yallah L’Dor V’Dor trip. I had a moment of pause at the juxtaposition of where we both were in the moment—both in Israel, both at the site of large concerts, one of us experiencing joy, one of us experiencing one of the most painful locations in the country on October 7th. Joy and sorrow. Community and challenges. Laughter and tears. History and present day. This is Israel.

It was such a special experience for me to both be in Israel at the same time (and in the same time zone!) as Sylvia and her CLC friends. Even though I didn’t get to meet up with her, it felt like a gift to be experiencing Israel at the same time. We both had been holding our breaths this whole year, hoping our trips would happen, but truly not knowing if it would because of the ongoing conflict.

It was also an extra treat to travel with Tracy and Emily, as we volunteered, learned, ate, explored, beached, walked (a lot!)…and also made time to check Campanion to see our kids experiencing Jewish joy back in Stockbridge—reading Torah, cleaning up for Shabbat, playing frisbee with their Magen David necklaces over their jerseys, arms around new Jewish friends. At a time when it can feel isolating to be Jewish, this past week has felt like we were doing something right and maybe things would be ok. Together, the three of us experienced Jewish joy among CLC campers, Israel experiences with camp alum and even had a chance to bond, reflect and have pride in our Judaism, in Israel and, of course, our kids.