In search of a deeper, more personal connection to her cultural lineage Rachel Saftler of Whitman visited Israel three times during 2011 to gain a better understanding of her Jewish ancestry.

She may have found a second home.

A 2008 Whitman-Hanson graduate, Saftler is currently studying communications at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. She will be graduating next December. Recently, she returned home after spending a semester in Tel Aviv as part of a study abroad program.

“My decision to study there was based on a few things,” she said. “I had travelled to Israel twice before.” 

Earlier last year she took part in a free program that sends young college students to Israel. She urged students to look into the all-expense-paid travels, which offer once-in-a-lifetime experiences.

“I took advantage of these opportunities and fell in love with the beautiful country,” said Saftler. 

Even though she grew up around people who were proud of their heritage, she recalls very little discussion about where her family came from.

“We’re Jewish — that is our religion, our nationality, and our culture.” Rachel said. “ But Eastern Europe was not a welcoming place to my Jewish ancestors. They never brought the sense of pride in their nationality that many immigrants bring to America. Growing up, I had trouble understanding this.”

While in Israel, by contrast, she learned that Judaism is very much a thriving culture. Having grown up with Jewish holidays, traditions, and family values that seemed uncommon to most people around her, Saftler soon realized in traveling to Israel that people half-way across the world had these same traditions — and that their food, songs and games were familiar instead of peculiar there.

During the Hanukkah season, which arrived near the end of her six-month stay, she celebrated with friends, schoolmates and distant relatives with whom she had reconnected.

She felt what it was like to be part of the majority’s cultural experience.

“There were Menorahs in every square during Hanukkah and I didn’t have to explain to anyone why my family didn’t have a Christmas tree,” she said.

The study program featured instruction to help forge even closer links to the culture of Israel.

During her weeks of learning, her first two courses were intensive Hebrew language studies called Ulpan, followed by a month break during which she traveled to Europe visiting Munich, Barcelona, and Amsterdam. Her parents visited before she began her three month semester of classes.  Her endeavors ended with her sister Zoé and best friend joining her on vacation.

Zoé Saftler will be graduating this spring from Whitman-Hanson and also plans to travel to Israel for several months before college, according to Rachel.

The girls cherished the culture and their ability to travel the country, meeting and seeing such a diverse population’s religious and political points of view.

“To have a country where any Jew in the world can visit and find common traditions is beautiful,” Rachel said. “In American culture we’re focused on a common future, but I think it’s important, on a personal level, to have connections to your past.”

She does not consider herself religious but said Judaism is her culture and, while she has her own views on the politics of Israel’s right to exist, she does not wish to elaborate on her own feelings. 

“A most important reason to have a Jewish state is to allow Jewish diasporas who are spread all over the world the ability to trace their own heritage,” she said.

Along with the enjoyment of traditional food and customs, she also took pleasure in biking daily along the coast of the Mediterranean. Saftler also resided with three other girls in a dorm-style apartment and with Israeli relatives during her travels.

Some challenges she encountered were language barriers and the high cost of living in Tel Aviv.

With three trips to Israel in 2011, Saftler encourages other Jews to look into the Birthright Program, one she deemed amazing and an eye-opening experience. A cornerstone of this program is a free 10-day trip to Israel for Jewish young adults including airfare, hotels, transportation and food.

In January, she traveled with the Birthright program through the whole country north to south; from the Golan Heights, Haifa, Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, the Dead Sea, to the Negev Desert.  She returned to Israel in March as a volunteer for an Alternative Spring Break program in which volunteers assisted in rebuilding efforts in Haifa’s Carmel Forest after it was nearly destroyed in a four-day fire. They participated in upkeep at an elementary school where their efforts were greatly appreciated.