In Turkey, Israel, and Beyond, Finding My Homeland Through JDC

What does it mean to “find a homeland”? For Liza Cemel, this question has never had a simple answer. Born and raised in Antakya, Turkey, Cemel, 26, has called many different communities home — but it wasn’t until she discovered JDC Junction, our pan-European initiative that inspires rising Jewish leaders to take an active role in European Jewish community life, that she found the Jewish solidarity she’d always wanted. 

In this reflection, Cemel, a 2024-2025 JDC Entwine Global Jewish Service Corps (JSC) Fellow, looks back on how she found that sense of home — and how it strengthened her in the face of a catastrophe. 

I always have a minor identity crisis when someone asks me where I’m from. Do I say “Turkey”? “Istanbul”? “Antakya”? “Hatay”? “The world”? Or the place I live now? (If you know me, it keeps changing!) I start feeling that I don’t want to say I’m just from a small town in southern Turkey. Like everyone and every place, that place has a name. And giving a name means giving respect.

The name of where I’m from is Antakya, Turkey. But then, when I lived in Istanbul, I wondered how many years could pass before I could say I was from that city. What if I never felt fully “from” there? 

What if the notion of a homeland isn’t so simple?

Growing up, my family was rooted in the land of Antakya. My hometown instilled in me a mix of family values and Jewish traditions. Jewish life felt familiar and relatively simple until I moved to Istanbul, a much larger community, and began attending a Jewish school in the heart of that cosmopolitan city. Unlike the rest of my family, I had the chance to explore global Jewish life, and when your window expands so much in such a short time, your perception changes.

Going to Italy for university, I needed to get out of the “Jewish bubble” I’d grown up in. But after two years spent in another cosmopolitan city — Milan — my soul was yearning for some kind of Jewish connection. 

In Italy, I learned that you can leave the Jewish community, but it never leaves you. At the time, I missed that part of myself. I searched randomly for Jewish events on Facebook (this was 2018, a time when the global Jewish “scene” was centered on that platform), and I saw that a local Jewish event was coming up in a month.

That was my sign! It looked interesting: fresh, modern, Jewish, and diverse. I applied quickly and secured my spot. The program was called Junction. 

That was my first global Jewish event geared towards people in their twenties. I felt I was ready and willing to come back — and give back. 

From then on, my connection to JDC grew and strengthened. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, I was back in Istanbul and was awarded a Junction microgrant to develop the Turkish-language Jewish youth magazine I founded. With this support, our readership expanded; we simply had more tools and ideas.

A few years later, in 2023, I volunteered at the JDC “Junction Annual” — a major conference bringing together 200 young European Jews from many countries — in Berlin. That year’s theme was, “Plurality, working towards a greater whole,” highlighting the unity and diversity of the Jewish world. And in the wake of a deadly earthquake in my hometown, it was also the place I received the horrible news that the head of the Jewish community of Antakya and his partner had lost their lives beneath the rubble. 

I delivered a speech in honor of them and my hometown at the event’s Havdalah ceremony. This was one of the most powerful and emotional Jewish experiences I’ve ever had. The lighting, the hugs, the silence, the set-up, and the singing all felt so pure. 

Everything went as I wanted it to go, and the holiness of the moment helped me make it through. I remember walking steadily within the circle, meeting the eyes of each and every JDC Junction participant. I still remember who was crying, who was filming, and who was sending me kisses from afar. Of course, my fellow Turkish friends knew exactly what I was talking about. 

In that circle, I found the sense of home I’d long been yearning for — and when I left Berlin, I felt inspired to do even more. 

That’s why I applied for the JDC Entwine Global Jewish Service Corps (JSC) Fellowship. I was selected for the 2024-2025 cohort after a long, competitive process. I felt that it was the right moment in my Jewish journey to do this — I was eager to keep growing as a Jewish professional as well as a professional Jew. After three interviews with three different possible placements, I secured work with JDC’s disaster response and international development team, which focuses on food security, health programs, and natural disasters and other crises. 

I was particularly excited for this placement. When a natural disaster or other calamity strikes, JDC’s disaster response team advances immediate and long-term recovery efforts in affected communities. Looking back, it was a great match. 

Little did I know it would bring me full circle, back to where my journey began — back home to Antakya. 

Being based in Israel for 10 months gave me the chance to assist the disaster response team in a variety of projects. For instance, I joined our local relief efforts in communities affected by the Israel-Hamas war, especially Druze municipalities in the North. But leading partnerships for our Turkey earthquake efforts was the highlight, and it was utterly transformative.

With JDC, I got to return to my community and bridge two distinct homelands — Israel and Turkey. It gave me a sense of hope to see our partners in Turkey delivering assistance to the most vulnerable. It was also deeply fulfilling to know that JDC trusted me to lead this work in Antakya and Gaziantep on behalf of the whole team.

The resilience of my community was apparent everywhere. A hand-made blanket sewn by women at a JDC program symbolized their survival. The prosthetic a patient acquired at a JDC rehabilitation clinic after losing one of her legs symbolized her strength. Coming out of that experience, I felt humbled and gained a newfound respect for the work of JDC and our partners. 

The notion of a homeland isn’t so simple, after all. But through JDC, I carry a sense of belonging wherever I go. My roots stretch across the globe, and Jewish life makes every corner of the world feel like home.

I have many homelands and I have none. Giving back to two is at the core of my meaning in my story. We are all in this together and that’s how we rebuild and share value.

Liza Cemel was a 2024-2025 JDC Entwine Global Jewish Service Corps (JSC) Fellow. Originally from Antakya, Turkey, Liza now lives in Jerusalem, Israel. Liza completed her undergraduate education in International Relations in Italy with a thesis on political transitions in Turkey, minority identity, and its implications on the Jewish community. She earned her master’s degree in Germany, focusing on Antakya Jewry, oral history, diasporic identity, and cultural memory and recently published her first book, At the Point of Joy and Sorrow: Essays about Jewish Life in Turkey.

Previous JDC Blog PostRestoring Hope for Youth in Northern Israel

Next JDC Blog PostThe Miracle in Moldova: A Holocaust Survivor’s Chanuk …