“Is Judaism a religion or culture?”

Zoe Wolkowitz, a senior at Parkway Central High School, was often asked this question during her four and-a-half month stay in Israel last spring. Her answer?

“Both,” Zoe said. “It’s something you just have to experience. … Jews are unique in the way derived from our religion. (We are) a unique culture of traditions and values, ones you can’t find anywhere else.”

Zoe enrolled in the North-American Federation of Temple Youth (NFTY) Eisendrath International Exchange, a program that enables Reform Jewish high school students to study abroad for a semester. The goal is to develop a better understanding of, and appreciation for, the history and culture of Israel.

“I didn’t know anyone going into the program,” she said. “But I came out with 67 new friends.”

Alongside these students, Zoe lived in Kibbutz Tzubah, about 10 minutes from Jerusalem. Within the kibbutz, students enrolled in general academic classes, along with mandatory courses in Hebrew and Jewish history.

“You get more credits through the program than you would at home, plus I barely had school,” Zoe said. “It was a win-win for me because it raised my GPA without doing as much work as I would have at home.”

Although she spent little time in a conventional classroom, Zoe learned invaluable lessons during frequent day- and week-long excursions “all over Israel and Poland.” Students experienced Israeli army training, hiked in the surrounding terrain, and spent a week in Poland studying the Holocaust.

“It was amazing,” Zoe said of the week in Poland. “To be there and actually learn about it… you’re not just talking about stuff, you’re actually going to see it.”

Having visited Israel several times before, Zoe had realistic expectations about what life in Israel might be like. Still, lifestyle differences were apparent.

“Security was pretty intense,” she said. “For instance, just going into a mall you had to go through a metal detector. Also, everyone in Israel carries guns, so it’s normal to be walking down the street seeing someone with an M-16 on their back.”

Zoe also noticed more subtle differences between Israeli culture and the lifestyle she was accustom to at home—differences less obvious than pedestrians packing heavy artillery.

“Israeli culture is just so much different than here or anywhere else because everyone is connected to a common cause—religion,” she said. “Where in America the first priority is money, in Israel it’s family and community.”

Of course, not everyone in Israel is ultra-Orthodox, following every law and commandment and devoting every waking hour to studying Torah. In fact, according to Zoe, “a large portion of Israeli society is secular.”

“I am definitely not religious, so I thought I wouldn’t fit in,” she said. “[But] school-wise, everyone could choose to be as religious as they wanted. They had opportunities and options to follow as much as they wanted.”

Along with concerns that she might not be religious enough, knowledge of what she would miss at home — prom and varsity soccer, among other things — originally made her reluctant to travel so far away. Now, however, she enthusiastically recalls her time abroad as “the best experience ever.”

“After you experience it, you just don’t care,” Zoe said. “Prom is prom. With soccer, I’ll have another season. … I would not trade [my time in Israel] for anything.”

Four months away from home—let alone four months in another country—can really change a teenage girl. After undergoing a completely new experience, Zoe returned to the States in a different frame of mind.

“I learned a lot about myself from this experience. You grow up a lot and are faced with challenges and situations that you have to deal with on your own at a high school age,” she said. “I see my political views and life values differently.”

Many of her family members and friends have noted these changes, and more.

“A number of people have remarked that she’s become a much more peaceful person, in terms of an inner peace,” said Jenny Wolkowitz, Zoe’s mother. “On the other hand, there’s certainly a new thirst for broader experiences. … Now we feel like she can pretty much do anything. It was a wonderful experience. … There is nothing to even think twice about.”

Despite missing her family—and Cheez-Its, which she craved and asked her mother to send—Zoe is eager to return to Israel.

“Time went by so fast,” she said. “I wish I could re-do it. I would love to live there now if I could. If I had the choice I would go straight out of high school and join the Israeli army and then possibly make aliyah.”

This isn’t Wolkowitz’s reality, however—her parents prefer she attend a four-year university after high school. For now, Israel remains a fond memory and an important part of Zoe’s identity.

“It’s something you just have to experience,” she said. “When you are immersed in such a culture as Israel has, it’s not hard to see that we are more than a religion. It’s a cool feeling of belonging.”