Hi everyone. Before coming on this trip I really didn't know what to expect. I was a bit nervous because I felt uneducated about the Jewish religion and Israel in general. I grew up in a home with my dad being Jewish and my mom being Catholic so as a family we didn't really participate in many religious holidays on either side. They didn't push either religion on us so therefore we celebrated the basics of both. Even though we weren't very religious, I still felt connected to the Jewish religion. 

 It was only a few months ago when my sister and I both decided we wanted to try and go on our Birthright trip. This trip would be very special to us for many reasons. One being because it would teach us more about Israel and the Jewish religion and give us a deeper connection to what it meant to be Jewish. The second reason being that it would provide us with a spiritual connection to our dad, who was Jewish. Our dad passed away 4 years ago and he was always and still is a huge part of our life. Even though we were never very religious growing up, being able to come to Israel felt really right, especially in honor of him. 

There are several themes you can take out of the Korah portion of the Torah. However, what I got out of it was that sometimes it's necessary to go out of your comfort zone. Korah wanted to prove his worthiness to Moses, which required a lot of strength and courage. I feel like I can relate to this based on this trip because coming to Israel allowed me to step out of my comfort zone and come face to face with aspects of my life that I was less confident with. This trip has not only taught me more about the Jewish religion and the country of Israel, but it has also provided me with a deeper meaning of what it is to be Jewish. It has given me the opportunity to grow as an individual and taught me that it is important to have the strength and courage to go outside of your comfort zone because it can always teach you a lesson, whether it's good or bad. In the end, I really wanted to thank my dad for giving me the opportunity to go on this experience of a lifetime and I can only hope that he's proud. 

-Georgia Gibson