For as long as I can remember, I have struggled with my Jewish identity. And, while I don’t yet have it fully figured out, and I don’t know if I ever will, I can tell you all that I am on what feels like the right path. 

Until recently, I have never felt very close to Judaism. I am what one might call “a Hebrew School Dropout”. In second grade, I was a Hebrew School attendee for about a year, and then I decided that my baseball games were more important so stopped going. In middle school, I attended the rest of my friends’ bar and bat mitzvahs, mumbling the prayers as they, who began their Jewish educations, like me at the JCC right next door, read proudly from the Torah on their special days. I remember every Passover and Thanksgiving, answering my aunts and uncles, embarrassed when they asked when my bat mitzvah would finally be. Not to mention, from grades K-8 I was one of two Jewish kids in my grade, the second of which was my sister. Needless to say, I have lived much of my life feeling very distant from my community, ashamed, as I made myself believe that I was not “Jewish Enough”, or that I am a “Bad Jew” solely because I never identified as much with the religious aspects of Judaism.

So, as you can probably expect, coming to FCS was a bit of a culture shock. Suddenly, I had friends who were Jewish. People who, while having different experiences, I could relate to in a way that I hadn’t gotten a chance to before. I discovered a community of people who I shared a past with, and slowly, I became more proud of this aspect of my identity. I joined BBYO! Which can be best described as an international Jewish youth group. And through that, I have opened my eyes to a global community where we all, no matter where we are from, have one core thing in common.