When I was in college nearly four years ago, studying abroad in England, I flew to Amsterdam for a vacation. It was one of my first experiences traveling alone, and I found myself intensely homesick. The galleries were lovely, the cafés enlightening, but there was something missing. I was suddenly hungry, for the first time in memory, to do something Jewish. So, I visited the Anne Frank House. I saw the Chagalls and Israёls on exhibit at the Jewish Historical Museum. I sampled kosher falafel. None of it took.
I called my father. He suggested I try shul.
Continue reading "My Struggle To Reconnect with the Jewish Community—Abroad, and Back Home" at...