I thought it would be possible to wait it out to write a blog post about the things from this past trip to Israel to celebrate our son’s Bar-Mitzvah with our Israeli family, but the 10-day trip is still so fresh in my mind, it would be utterly pointless to wait.

In actuality, I am writing this post still in our Air B and B in the old city of Jerusalem, just 12 hours shy of our flight back to the States, as a strong to reminder that home is the experience to bring from one place to another; this experience itself transcends geography, religion, sex, politics. It’s a deliberate act – one that needs to be made consciously.

As a native American Israeli expat who has chosen to make her home in the US, it has become even more essential to bring that connection to Israel alive. Celebrating our son’s Bar-Mitzvah last week in the old city of Jerusalem brought us closer to our people, our religion, and our country MORE THAN EVER. In fact, it is most fitting to celebrate a male Jew’s Bar-Mitzvah in Jerusalem at the Kotel!

From this culturally enriching experience, I have learned that home is what you bring to make an experience come alive and in a nutshell, these 7 ways this trip has brought all of us closer to our Israel home.

1. Prayer. Every morning and night, I walked down the many steps to the Wailing Wall also known as “The Kotel.” This awe-inspiring view was another opportunity to restore my faith. I found the strength I needed in prayer to believe in my people from afar and my ability to overcome tough challenges. It is through prayer that I am also able to connect to my Israel home.

2.History. What an amazing historical experience this trip as been for all of us but for my son especially. We hired a local tour guide who happened to be a wonderful storyteller (feel free to contact me and I’ll pass along her name) who took us through the City of David. We walked through the City of David dressed up as King David and his enemies to bring those stories alive. The stories she told sensitized us to the struggles and plight of King David himself (our son’s middle name is David) and the choices and sacrifices he had to make in the name of his own faith for the sake of the Jewish people.

Getting wet in Ezekiah’s water tunnel, long as 1 football field, gave us “a behind the scenes” glimpse into the strategic thinking to defend the city itself.

3. Balance between religion and statehood. Words cannot describe the emotionally moving experience of watching my son’s Bar-Mitzvah at the Wailing Wall surrounded by family last Thursday, January 4th – the same day I was released from the Israel Defense Forces 25 years ago!

As an American Jew growing up in the Diaspora, my son is American first and Jewish second. Watching him recite his aliyahs at the Waiting Wall surrounded by 3 generations – from grandfather “Saba” to father “Abba,” his Jewish and Israeli identities meet and merge. It’s both a cultural as well as a deeply spiritual and religious experience that is unique only to Israel. In fact, this scene will find its way in the memoir I’m currently writing called Sand and Steel: the Spiritual Journey Home, that documents this spiritual journey towards finding one’s Israel home in the Diaspora and will be published by Mascot Books g-d willing this coming fall 2018!

My son will now go back to America on that plane with an experience that will have transformed him forever. And as his mother witnessing this change, I am deeply grateful for our decision to celebrate our son’s Bar-Mitzvah in Israel.