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We just celebrated Israel's independence during Yom Ha'atzmaut April 29, but Bayonne was treated to a taste of the Holy Land on an electric Sunday morning earlier this year.

Hal Grossman, Michelle Moallem, Sam Platizky, and Rachel Resnick, graduates of Temple Emanu-El's synagogue school, told the assembled congregation about their recent educational tour called Taglit, Birthright.

"Taglit" means literally "discovery." Participants discover joy and pride in being Jewish. On a 10-day free trip to Israel, they discover that Jewishness is more than faith and a way of life, more than shared languages and history. Birthrighters discover Israel and their shared identity, peoplehood, and their true selves. We hope myriads more will be able to enjoy this fantastic voyage of discovery.

Harold R. Grossman said, "Birthright was an unbelievable experience that I will never forget. The memories... will stay with me forever. I had always wanted to go to Israel, and knew that this was an opportunity I could not pass up. Every young Jewish adult should take advantage of this opportunity to see the sites of our ancestry and actually experience the history of our people. Every Jew should pray at the Western Wall and visit the spot where the Holy of Holies once rested. Every Jew should have the chance to see the sunrise from atop Masada and float in the Dead Sea. The Land of Israel is a beautiful place. It is there for all the world to take in, to experience, and to love...."

The following are not direct quotes from any of the participants, but they could be. Whether the 18-to-26-year-old tourists joined groups emphasizing adventure or ecology, sponsored by campus Hillel foundations or their own Conservative or Reconstructionist or Reform or Orthodox Movements, the exciting result was similar. You might have walked away with feelings and recollections like these, as I did.

From dawn to midnight, we devoured unfamiliar foods and terrain and songs and dances and stories and adventures. We befriended Israelis very much like ourselves — guides, medics, soldiers, students — except that they had no hesitation to risk their lives to defend the solitary, tiny Jewish state. They kept us safe wherever we went, without our being aware of their precautions.

Many in our group began only tangentially as Jews, with no religious education, no bar or bat mitzvah. We quickly melted into a close-knit, warm friendship.

At Yad Vashem, Israel's Holocaust Memorial Authority, Shoah survivors captivated us with eyewitness memories that may soon die out. We must continue to bear witness for them. Straining to touch the Western Wall of our ancient Temple Mount and then kiss our fingertips, we felt privileged in behalf of all the generations denied this holy feeling.

Climbing the rocky fortress of Masada, the Israel Army's pledge echoed in our ears: Masada shall not fall again. The Golan Heights on the Syrian border take on a new perspective when hiking with people our own age, whose homes there were menaced for many years by bombardment.

Each of us returned to our campus knowing that the people of Israel are counting on us to be ambassadors of good will, to counteract the anti-Zionist hatred fomented by lies, distortions, and anti-Israel propaganda that threatens our security in America, too.

Some of us can't wait to return to Israel. The rest of us wanted never to leave Israel. Thank you, Taglit, for reuniting us with our Birthright.

Our congregation takes great pride in these energetic future community leaders, and others like them. By Yom Ha'atzmaut next year, let's look into Taglit for older adults to serve as a voyage of discovery for Jews who have never before seen Israel firsthand on an educational tour.

Rabbi Clifford Miller is spiritual leader of Temple Emanu-El of Bayonne.