July 20, 2025
Art is a universal language—we are able to use it to communicate without words. Being in another country where there is a language barrier can be challenging. When visiting the Munich museum of modern art, it didn’t feel like I was in another country. However, even without a language barrier, there are some things words can’t express that art can. Emotions can be expressed through a multitude of words, but no words come close to how emotions can be expressed through art. Art can also be used to convey historical events or other narratives and stories. Personally, art can be more digestible and easier to consume. Visual aids are often crucial to making connections during learning—interpreting and comprehending information is a skill that takes practice to learn.
July 29, 2025
When I began learning about the Holocaust in 8th grade, I distinctly remember feeling a sense of disconnection and detachment to my Jewish identity. This was strange—just two years before I was Bat Mitzvahed, I had gone to Jewish day school up until 4th grade, and I was regularly attending synagogue and Hebrew school. There were a couple things that triggered this new, unwanted, feeling for me. One, I don’t have any direct family that was affected in the Holocaust–all of my direct family immigrated to the states in the early 20th century. Another area that made me feel disconnected is being an American-Jew – this hyphenated identifier that is an important part of who I am made me feel separated from my Jewishness. I could never understand why these things about myself made it so hard to feel connected to who I am.
I soon realized on the trip that neither of these things disconnect me from being Jewish. Going into the trip, I was under the impression that I would be different from all the other participants because of how I currently practice my Judaism which has significantly changed since I was a child. However, I was very quickly proved wrong, as there is no right or wrong way to practice Judaism. This was something I didn’t feel confident in until concluding this trip. I am beyond grateful for the community and experiences that were created because of the Germany Close Up trip.