By Jared Klein, Bus 8

I do not consider myself a very religious person. Sure, I go to synagogue for the high holidays and live by Jewish morals, but spirituality was never at the center of my Judaism.

All of this changed when I visited the Kotel with NFTY in Israel this summer as a part of my very first trip to Israel.

I did not expect much of the visit. After all, we were only getting to see a piece of an old wall. But when I got there, I was amazed by the sense of holiness and spirituality that the site ignited in me. I had never felt that way before.

I made my way to the men’s section of the wall and found a space where I could pray. Prayer in a formal setting has always made me feel disconnected because I am often chanting in a language which I do not know and this makes it hard for me to personalize my prayers. At the Kotel, I tried to chant the prayers I know by heart but I quickly became bored and began to pray in English.

This was the most connected to God that I have ever felt throughout my entire Jewish life. I ended up praying for forty minutes without even realizing that it had been that long.

I am eternally grateful to NFTY in Israel for bringing me to the Kotel and enabling me to develop my own form of spirituality and my own connection to God.

I hope to return as soon as I can!

