Noam Bucher, an incoming junior at Parkway North High School in St. Louis, had a reality check of sorts on TJJ.
It happened when the teens visited the site of the Nova Festival.
“Just being at the place where October 7th happened, and seeing all the names of the people who died, really had an effect on me,” he says. “It made me [realize] that it’s not just something in the news; it affected real people.”
That wasn’t the only truth Noam uncovered on TJJ. He describes himself as having grown up in a “secular home so I never really thought about religion.”
That changed on TJJ when he had the opportunity to celebrate Shabbat, lay Tefillin, and learn and experience a wide range of Jewish traditions and values.
“I got to learn more about Jewish customs,” he says, “And they’re actually very meaningful and very beautiful.”
Noam went home with his own pair of tefillin – and a new perspective.
“I learned that religion can be a good thing,” Noam says, “and I can incorporate some parts of it into my life, and it can help me.”