The stories and history that I learned since my religious school days became part of my identity instead of merely facts in my head

I came home feeling more connected to my history. Listening to Avi’s words as I was standing at Masada, the Southern Wall, and at the City of David – looking over the land, feeling the heat, thinking about how innovative my ancestors were, imagining how passionate they must have been; the stories and history that I learned since my religious school days became part of my identity instead of merely facts in my head. Seeing the rocks, at the museum in Masada, with the Hebrew names etched into them that were used to decide who dies first- made this piece of history so personal.