Momentum memories Travelers consider the bonds formed in Israel and at home

By Julia Umansky Director of Gift Planning and EITC

A little over a year ago, I was asked to lead a cohort of women from our community on a partnership trip with Momentum Unlimited. After 10 days in Israel, exploring the country, what it means to be a Jewish woman and mother, and bonding with our trip mates, we embarked on the rest of our journey at home here in the Lehigh Valley.

As a young adult new to this community, this trip was an opportunity for me to connect with other like-minded women in my age group and build some sense of community for myself. After our return from Israel, the other women and I gathered monthly to discuss Jewish values, celebrate holidays and explore what community means to us and how we could create the world we want to live in. As we round out our Year of Growth together, I have asked the women to reflect on their time in Israel and the past year of connection. Here are their stories:

Tracy Sussman I am a Jewish mom who grew up in the Lehigh Valley. Growing up in Macungie, I was one of only two Jewish kids in my high school graduating class. Outside of my synagogue, Congregation Keneseth Israel, I felt spiritually and culturally Jewish, yet no connection to the Jewish community in the Lehigh Valley. When I got married and became a mom, the first thing I did was head to the JCC to make sure my family would be part of the JCC’s preschool program. The day my oldest son started preschool started my journey into a feeling of belonging in the Jewish community. I became entrenched as a volunteer in my synagogue and at the JCC. This led to me eventually taking on a professional role at the JCC. It wasn’t until I began working at the JCC that I understood the role of Jewish Federation of the Lehigh Valley and the desire to visit Israel.

I realized that although I was living life very Jewishly, I hadn’t felt a connection to Israel. This slowly changed as I learned more about Israel and then was blessed to make my first visit there as a JCC staff member in 2017. It brought new meaning to my Jewish identity and the connection to the history and culture.

My second visit to Israel was through Momentum last summer. I was not prepared for how different this visit would be, taking this journey with all women, connecting as individuals, moms and wives. After all, I was one of the older participants, with my youngest son about to head off to college and facing what the next phase of my life would look like. The words continually shared — fostering unity without uniformity — really took on meaning to me. It was an emotional journey on which I felt deeply connected to the women I traveled with here and in Yoav and that helped me realize that no matter what stage of life I am in, I am always Mom.

The journey has helped me reflect on my family, professional life and community. I am proud that my sons have a sense of their Jewish identity and experienced meaningful bar mitzvahs and confirmations. They both have a deep love for the lifelong friends they have made through the JCC, synagogue, sleepaway camp, BBYO and now, at college, Hillel. They volunteered through BBYO and Friendship Circle at Chabad and at Jewish Family Service. My older son spent the entire summer of 2022 immersed in Israel through Birthright Educational Journey and its Onward program.

It further sparked the energy and passion I bring to my professional role at the JCC and channel into the community as well. I have hosted teens from Yoav and became close with the community shlichim (Israeli liaisons). I have taken on volunteer roles with the Federation to connect with our Partnership2Gether program with Yoav in Israel, whether it be for a meal, a day or longer. I was on the Women’s Philanthropy board for the Federation and led the Chai Club initiatives.

This journey helped me realize that the same warm, inviting home that I opened to family, friends and community will be there as I move into this next chapter and further lead to deeper and new connections within our community that help us all grow.

Jessica Volchko

Anxiety! That’s what I felt the first time someone asked if I was interested in going to Israel without my family. No way! Looking back over the past few years, I can’t believe how far I’ve come and how much has changed. I made the commitment to go twice. (There was a COVID-19 cancellation, and I almost chickened out the second time.) Through our pre-trip meetings, and bonding with the girls on our trip, I realized I may be leaving my children and husband at home, but I had family to help me through this journey.

Upon arrival in Israel, I felt overwhelmed with emotion. However, my anxiety was replaced with pride and excitement. I was doing something I swore I could never do. Of course the trip was better than I could have imagined. I took home a love of the country, many lessons learned and a sisterhood that I will never forget.

I couldn’t wait to tell my family about my journey to Israel and the connection I now feel to the country and the family in Yoav that welcomed us with so much love and joy. I came home with such a renewed sense of connection to our own Jewish community. I am so excited to take my whole family back one day. I would love for them to have the same experience and emotional connection that I now feel.

Susan Kolpon

I was sitting on a Momentum bus in Israel in July 2022, bumping along to our next site, surrounded by vibrant Jewish women from the Lehigh Valley, Boston, Florida and beyond when it struck — a sudden deep, intense sense of gratitude. I felt moved almost to tears by the unbelievable sweetness of the moment I was experiencing right there on that bus.

It was midway through our trip. It had been another terrific day — thought-provoking, educational, spiritual, energizing, bonding — but nothing specifically precipitated that moment. Perhaps it was precisely the ordinary feel of that time on the bus as we chatted, napped, checked on family, anticipated our next destination that left me almost breathless, completely overwhelmed with thankfulness.

This gratitude was not simply the return to normalcy after COVID, though certainly that did play a part. I believe what struck me so deeply is the way the “normal” of our world has changed enormously, even without the pandemic. Community, especially, is different in the present day than it was in the past.

The change has occurred gradually for our generation, but here in 2023, daily life for the average parent seems to have reached a new level of busy. Many of us now engage in life virtually for much of our week. Even with our “real life” friends and family, we communicate daily by text and social media. This virtual contact can absolutely be extremely convenient and even bonding in many ways. But it is also different, and not a replacement for the feeling when you are physically together, truly there for each other.

This quiet “new normal” very much extends to Judaism and Jewish community. While my husband and I strive to make Jewish life a priority in our family, I have noticed that it can still too easily become another “not in person” part of our busy lives. Texting “Shabbat shalom” is sweet, but it is no rejuvenating Shabbos dinner with family or friends. Momentum took away that distance without any pomp and circumstance. (Well, maybe some pomp and circumstance. There was much dancing!) But primarily, it took Jewish women from all different backgrounds and simply put us together, right where we needed to be — no distractions. The uniqueness, the sweetness of that wonderful, normal, sisterly communal experience showed me how important it is to make “in real life” part of our everyday Jewish life. Momentum memories continues on page 12