How a Volunteer Trip to Israel Helped Two First-Time Visitors Find Belonging

When Scott Steinbergand Jillian Goddard signed up for The Associated’s volunteer experience to Israel, they expected meaningful work and a chance to connect with the land and its people. What unfolded, however, was far more personal.

The trip marked both Scott’s and Jillian’s first visit to Israel, coming at a moment when rising antisemitism had already reshaped their personal and professional lives. The trip offered not only hands-on volunteer work, but also a sense of belonging they had been seeking at home.

“I had long wondered what it would feel like if I visited Israel and had hoped that it would feel like home, something I was missing in my life,” Scott said. “When I got there, I found it was everything and more. It really felt like I had arrived at a place that I had been called to for over a decade at least.”

Scott grew up in Carroll County and now works as an independent musician and drum instructor. Jillian grew up in California and moved to Baltimore in 2018 and works as a nurse. The two met through Jillian’s sister and later began building a Jewish life together. Jillian completed her conversion to Judaism in 2025 through Beth El Congregation. As part of her studies, she immersed herself in Jewish history and culture, making her first trip to Israel especially meaningful.

“I read about Israel, but seeing it was surreal,” she said. “When we got on the bus from the airport, I was already crying. Just seeing it and knowing the history, everything the Jewish people have been through, it felt incredible that we could actually be there.”

Their visit took place after the atrocities of October 7, but both say the impact of antisemitism was already part of their daily lives well before the trip.

“We were already experiencing a lot of antisemitism even prior to October 7,” Jillian said. “And then when October 7 happened, everything just blew up.”

Scott saw that shift play out directly in his professional life. “The music scene that I had spent so much time trying to fit into suddenly turned anti-Zionist,” he said. “I had friends turn on me, and I had opportunities vanish right in front of me.”

The couple described the years leading up to the trip as isolating. “We went through a long stretch of just feeling very alone,” Jillian said. “We were really craving Jewish community.”

While in Israel, the couple visited the Nova music festival site, where they walked the grounds, read the names of those who were killed and heard firsthand from Israelis impacted by the October 7 attacks.

“It was really heavy,” Jillian said. “Seeing how many people and families were affected was overwhelming. And at the same time, seeing the wave of antisemitism that followed October 7 was beyond what people imagine.”

For Scott, the connection felt immediate. “That really would have been my community if I lived in Israel,” he said. “I probably would have been at the Nova music festival.”

Being there as part of a group made a difference as well. “When October 7 actually happened, we weren’t very involved in synagogue life yet,” Jillian said. “We were losing friends and felt incredibly isolated. As sad and horrifying as it was to be there, it was also really healing to be there with our Jewish community that we craved so badly when October 7 actually happened.”

Volunteering was central to the mission. On their first day, the group traveled to a kibbutz near the Gaza border that had been targeted on October 7. After hearing directly from residents who survived the attack, Associated volunteers planted flowers along the road to help beautify the area. Others worked on building benches, while Jillian and Scott’s group dug holes that were later filled with cement to secure them.

“I personally really loved being there for the volunteer trip and not necessarily to see all of the tourist sites. There was something really powerful about being there to help, not just to visit,” Jillian said. “It felt very community-building.”

In Ashkelon, The Associated’s longtime partner city, the group assembled and delivered care packages to senior centers after weather conditions forced a change in plans. At one location, members of the group encountered the grandfather of the Bibas children.

“As soon as we walked in, they were cheering,” Jillian recalled. “They wanted to dance right away.”

Scott Steinberg and Jillian Goddard with a group of volunteers

The couple also volunteered with Israel Support Bridge, a grassroots organization formed after October 7. The experience highlighted how much work remains. “It felt like we were barely scratching the surface,” Jillian said. “It really showed how much help is still needed.”

“You got the sense that it’s really up to us,” Scott added.

Traveling as part of a Baltimore cohort helped turn a shared experience into a lasting connection. “It’s never been so easy for me to make friends and feel part of a solid community,” Scott said. “You don’t leave those relationships in Israel. You bring them home.”

Early on in the trip, an unexpected moment unfolded.

Scott had brought a ring to Israel and planned to propose, but he wasn’t sure exactly when.

“Her birthday was the first day that we arrived, and then our anniversary was New Year’s Day, so I ended up just holding onto the ring.”

On their second night in Tel Aviv, while on the beach by themselves, Scott found the opportune time to “pop the question.”

“She started getting emotional about how grateful she was to be there,” Scott said. “And I just watched myself take the ring out of my pocket.”

Jillian was stunned. “I had no idea,” she said. “The next morning, I just showed up at breakfast with a ring on, and the news spread from there.”

Jillian said it felt like a built-in engagement party.

“Everyone in the group was coming up to us periodically to say congratulations. And we just felt like we got showered with blessings and love.”

Since returning home, both say the experience changed how they engage publicly and personally.

“We’re definitely more outspoken now,” Scott said. “It’s cool to be a lighthouse for a bunch of people that may not know any Jews or much about Judaism. It’s important to give a face to Zionists.”

Jillian echoed that sense of responsibility. “There’s so much misinformation about Israel,” she said. “Being there, making connections with Israelis, it just filled me with so much love for the land and the people.”

Scott described the trip as “an awakening.” Jillian put it more simply. “It felt like coming home.”

Both say they know one thing for certain. They will return.