For Oren Baray, the March of the Living has come full circle. What began in 2018 as a transformative experience when he participated as a student evolved into something even more profound in 2025, when he returned as a chaperone for 11 Ottawa teens. Now the Jewish Federation of Ottawa’s Young Adults Engagement and Impact Grants Associate, Baray had the opportunity to guide students through one of the most emotionally and physically intense March of the Living journeys in recent memory — marked by wildfires, floods, and even a missile strike at Ben Gurion Airport.

This year’s two-week trip, which spans Poland and Israel and coincides with Yom HaShoah, Yom HaZikaron, and Yom Ha’atzmaut, was shaped by the weight of history and the urgency of the present. As the group visited Holocaust sites, war-affected kibbutzim, and sites of recent terror, they witnessed both the enduring pain and the unbreakable strength of the Jewish people—lessons made all the more vivid by the real-time events unfolding around them.

“In 2018 as a student, I went with a cohort of 13 Ottawa students,” said Baray. “That trip really changed the way I thought about community and the way I wanted to do … my own volunteerism, especially through our community. I thought the best way to give back whatever I got throughout those few years is by actually going on the trip and giving that ability to grow to other people.”

Since October 7th, however, the tone of the trip has shifted. The ongoing war between Israel and Hamas loomed over the journey, as global antisemitism has surged, making the lessons of March of the Living more relevant than ever.

One powerful present-day connection came during the march at Auschwitz, when freed hostage Agam Berger performed Hatikvah on a violin recovered from the Holocaust and gifted to her. The moment drew a striking parallel between the horrors of the past and the pain of today.

“It was such a meaningful moment of everything tying together and showing us that … we are here to learn about our history,” said Baray. “But also … make sure that everything that happens to us is documented and that we’re not hiding.”

The Israel portion of the trip, typically a celebration of Jewish survival, carried a different emotional weight this year. The students were based in Jerusalem, which at the time was surrounded by wildfires in the nearby hills. Their visits to kibbutzim affected by the October 7th attacks and the site of the NOVA Festival took place during sandstorms and floods.

“On Yom HaZikaron, at 11:00 am when the siren sounds and everyone in Israel stops for a moment of silence, our bus just happened to be right where the fire was happening,” said Baray. “All of the students exited the bus right near the fires to observe the moment of silence.”

On the return trip from the South, roads were flooded and blocked, preventing the group from reaching their hotel. They spent the night in a hostel until roads re-opened the following day.

Then, just before boarding their flight back to Canada, a missile struck Ben Gurion Airport. The students and Baray were at the first security checkpoint — only about 200 metres from the impact site.

While everyone was safe and quickly escorted to a bomb shelter, it was a shocking and unexpected end to an already intense experience.

Miraculously, their flight was only delayed by about 50 minutes. In a testament to Israeli resilience, the airport resumed operations less than an hour after the attack.

“We were very fortunate,” said Baray. “We were actually the last Polish airline to leave the country for the next three days. It was a very memorable goodbye from HaShem.”

To read the perspectives from students who went on the trip, click here

To learn more about March of the Living, click here