The Woodlands? More like the Jewlands!

    I live in a part of Texas called The Woodlands. It's one of the least Jew-populated areas of Texas (there are 6 Jews in my school of almost 4,000). However, my temple is focused on making sure that there is still a prominent, accepting, and inviting Jewish community for the families we do have. We always have huge celebrations for all holidays and make sure they are fitting for all ages and preferences. Last night, my TYG (temple youth group) led Yom Hashoa services for the community. They worked for the past few weeks to find fitting videos, music, and wrote excerpts. Most of our members show up to this ceremony and it's always comforting to all be together on this day. In the following weeks we will be holding our annual end of the year talent show! Every grade puts something together and we bring caterers in and everyone (including parents and whoever wants to join) enjoys the show. Then all of the staff (including teens from 9th grade) goes to the lake house owned by a member of our congregation. To top it all off, they've already scheduled a day for me to talk to everyone about my experience in Israel. Although it's going to be so extremely hard to leave this fabulous place and my amazing friends, I am so happy that I'll be able to keep the conversation going about what we can do from Anerica. I think it's so crucial to continue talking about the experiences we have here, and hopefully inspire someone else to take this adventure of a lifetime!