Emet’s Life-Changing Europe Trip: The Culmination Of A Year Of Growth

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Last year, EMET Outreach launched an exciting new initiative, in which college students learn about Jewish history, Jewish philosophy, the Holocaust, and pre-war Europe. In addition to teaching factual and historical information, classes are thought-provoking and powerful, addressing topics such as the purpose of life and Hashem’s interaction with humanity. The program culminates with an exclusive trip to Europe, where students discover first-hand the experience they’ve spent a year studying about.

Most of the students, predominantly from EMET’s campus programs in Stony Brook University and Baruch College, have had little or no Jewish education, and the organization’s leaders weren’t sure whether the trip would be a success. Yet EMET’s leaders were blown away by the response and how inspired students were to be more
committed.

Virtually every student was emotionally stirred, and some took on major changes and new commitments of Torah observance. Several davened for the first time. One boy now wears a kippah, and another was inspired to start putting on tefillin, and has done so every day since the trip. Not only have EMET’s Directors made this trip a yearly staple, they’ve even added a second trip, which will take place in August with over 40 students.

Last week, three EMET Outreach senior staff members and about 40 students attended the second annual trip, spending a week touring Poland and Prague. This life-changing trip, exclusively for EMET students, was led by Co-Founder and Director Rabbi Mordechai Kraft, EMET’s Stony Brook Fellowship Director Rabbi Dovid Delman, and EMET Campus Director Rabbi Ruven Kigel. Staff and students visited death camps, mass graves, shuls, yeshivas, graves of tzaddikim, and many other meaningful and historic locations.

EMET’s directors see this as more than students exploring their heritage. It’s a rare opportunity to learn about the deeper meaning of life and their purpose as Jews. Rabbi Kraft said, “We don’t just view this as historical. Students are discovering what it means to be a Jew. We’re always trying to inspire students. We give them a full-year learning experience to engage academically, and it culminates with this trip, showing the history of Jewish life, and the great rabbis and thinkers who still influence our lives today.”

Staff members are cognizant that students feel strong emotions as they relive the unspeakable tragedy and horror, and reinforce the proper perspective, making sure they process it in a healthy way.

Growth Through the Past

Students are brought to impactful destinations such as death camps and mass child graves. Last year they met a Polish lady who remembered that as a child, the Nazis would drive past her house with a truck full of Jewish children, playing loud music to drown out the screams and gunshots. Staff and students spend an uplifting Shabbos in Krakow, a city whose Jewish imprint was left mostly intact.

Rabbi Delman explained why last year’s trip was so meaningful. “This was by far the most impactful experience we could ever offer,” he explains. “It had the power to change one’s life in a few days. The trip does not focus on the fact that people died, but rather on what they lived for and believed in, and the meaning of their lives. That’s why it inspired students to do great things.”

The itinerary is designed to evoke deep feelings and give students an emotionally charged experience. They alternate between somber and positive experiences, and engage in group discussions to decompress and internalize what they’ve seen. Rabbi Delman, a talented musician, plays songs on his guitar throughout the trip.

To prepare students emotionally and intellectually, Rabbi Kraft gives classes for an entire semester designed to maximize growth. His lessons are crafted to enable students to recognize how special they are in the backdrop of Poland and the glory of what Jewish history was and the tragedy of the last century. Rabbi Kraft emphasizes that all Jews are brothers and sisters, and only when we unite and act in harmony can we fulfill a noble and glorious purpose.

Ester Chikvashvili says she could never have imagined how powerful it would be. “The experiences I had were really life-changing. I experienced things I could never have thought of, totally different in real life than hearing about it or seeing it from a distance.”

Another student called it an emotional roller coaster. She added, “We went from being at a children’s memorial with everyone in tears to singing and dancing in Poland.”

Miraculous Discovery

Early in last year’s trip, Rabbi Delman made an astonishing discovery. When visiting a mass grave at Chelmno, he noticed five memorial plaques memorializing the five local shtetlach that were murdered in Chelmno and buried here. One of them memorialized a town named “Belchatow”. He stood in disbelief, remembering that his grandmother a”h had told him that his great grandparents were from that town. The family knew they had perished in the Holocaust but had no idea what had happened to them. Written on the plaque in Hebrew alphabetical order was a list of the Jews gassed in Chelmno and buried in that forest. Rabbi Delman read the names, and when he reached the letter “Lamed” for Lieberman (his grandparents’ name), he discovered the names of his grandparents and their children, as well as his grandfather’s brothers and his entire family who were buried there.

Stony Brook Fellowship: Another Successful Division of EMET

Launched two years ago, EMET Stony Brook, led by Rabbi Delman, has become one of its most successful fellowship programs. Students attend several weekly classes, and are enthusiastic and driven to learn. Virtually all of them have little or no yeshiva background, and they are excited to discover the beauty of Torah and their heritage. The program has increased EMET’s diversity, making it an exciting new stage for the organization. In the future, they plan to boost programming dedicated to teaching students about their history, and trips like this that show students a first-hand taste of the struggles and triumphs Jews have experienced for thousands of years.

To learn more about this and other EMET programs, visit EmetOutreach.org.