LOS ANGELES — When I boarded a plane to Israel with students from de Toledo High School in February, I knew the trip would carry unusual weight.

After all, we were resuming our Jewish day school’s exchange programs in Israel for the first time since the trauma of the Oct. 7 attack in 2023. For many Jewish communities, that day reshaped how we think about Israel, security and the relationship between American Jews and the Jewish state.

Our students and parents understood that context. They knew we were traveling to a country still healing from profound loss. And as the departure date drew near, they also knew there was a possibility war could break out during our stay.

Much has been written about today’s teenagers. They are often described as fragile or ill-equipped to face adversity. In the Jewish world, there is a parallel concern, that young American Jews are increasingly distant from Israel, even ambivalent about its future. Polls show that this concern is not unfounded.

But standing in bomb shelters in Jerusalem with a group of my students, I saw something very different.

Our first few days in Israel went according to plan. The students visited a kibbutz in the Negev, hiked through the desert, floated in the Dead Sea, climbed Masada and experienced the........

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