From Isolation to Inspiration: Aliyah’s Journey to A Full Jewish Life
Growing up, Judaism was more of a fact than a lifestyle for Aliyah. Her family wasn’t religious, her father isn’t Jewish, and while her mother knew they were Jewish, there was little Jewish practice at home. Things slowly changed when her parents connected with the local Chabad in Temecula, first with Rabbi Yitzy Horowitz and later the Abrams family.
While they began learning more about Judaism, and small sparks of inspiration entered the home, a real turning point came through Aliyah’s older sister. After going on a Birthright trip, she returned deeply moved by what she had experienced. Though she felt it was “too late” for herself to become fully religious, she was determined to give her younger siblings the chance she never had. and sent them to the Chabad house.
While Aliyah wasn’t immediately interested, her older brother became very involved, spending time learning with the shluchim and eventually going to yeshiva and becoming fully observant. His passion for Yiddishkeit slowly trickled into the home, bringing warmth and inspiration with it.
Then COVID hit.
2020 was a painful and isolating year for Aliyah. She had no Jewish friends, no real sense of belonging, and nowhere to channel the stirrings of curiosity that had begun to awaken within her.
Everything changed in 2021, when her shluchim encouraged her to attend CGI Poconos. That summer marked the true beginning of Aliyah’s journey.
At CGI Poconos, she felt something she had never experienced before. A deep sense of connection, Jewish pride, and genuine friendship. She learned more about Yiddishkeit in those few weeks than she had in her entire life before. She returned the following summer in 2022, and the inspiration only grew stronger.
By the end of her second summer, with the encouragement of camp friends and staff, Aliyah made a life-changing decision: she would leave public school and enroll in a Jewish high school. She joined Bader Hillel High, and although the adjustment was challenging, her CGI Poconos friends and staff remained her anchor, cheering her on every step of the way.
That winter, she attended the CGI Poconos Winter Camp, an experience that, in her words, “solidified my path”. Surrounded by role models who lived their Judaism with joy and pride, Aliyah realized: This is who I want to be.
Today, Aliyah is a proud frum young woman, deeply connected to her Yiddishkeit and still closely bonded with her CGI friends and staff mentors, who continue to be inspired by her each day.
Aliyah’s story is another powerful testament to how a summer at CGI Poconos can ignite a lifelong commitment to Yiddishkeit.
