Two boats ride a sea of blue. In between them is the Statue of Liberty. In one of the boats are two braided challahs, while in the other there is a prayer book.

The artwork is titled L’Chaim- to life-and it portrays 7th grader Jason Garfinkel’s family’s journey to America. It is on display at Beit Hatfutsot, Israel’s Museum of the Jewish People in Tel Aviv, where Garfinkel was honored this past summer.

“It symbolizes that although Jews have lived in adversity for most of their history, they pick themselves up and create a better life,” said Garfinkel, a student at North Suburban Synagogue Beth El’s Jack and Mildred Cohen Religious School in Highland Park.

Every year, young people from around the world take part in a yearlong genealogical program, called My Family Story. The program, created by Bet Hatfutsot, encourages youngsters to delve into their own family stories and how they fit into the larger narrative of the Jewish people. Projects from each school are sent to the museum to be judged and the finalists are brought to Israel to take part in an awards ceremony and exhibit.

“Each child contributes a little piece of the puzzle,” said Alicia Gejman, Beth El’s director of formal learning, who teaches the genealogy class. Gejman herself is an immigrant from Argentina. “They see how their own family stories add to the collective narrative of the Jewish people.”

Gejman said the students began the year by researching the origins of their family names and their meanings. Next they created a family and found objects meaningful to their family, a tiny silver Kiddush cup brought over from Russia, for instance, and a tallit (prayer shawl) a father wore at his bar mitzvah. To fill out the narrative of their families with stories and detail, they spoke to older family members.

Toward the end of the year, the students created three-dimensional art projects depicting their family story. Beth El sent Jason’s project and the project of seventh grader Bradley Kaufman to Beit Hatfutsot. Garfinkel was selected as one of about 40 winners. About 20,000 students from 155 schools around the world participated in My Family Story program this past school year.

For Garfinkel and his family, it became more than just a project. It became a family reunion, a celebration.

“I now have a much richer understanding of family,” Garfinkel said. “I grew closer to my whole family. I met cousins I never met before.”

He spent about two months researching his family tree. He found about 200 relatives going back six generations. His mother’s parents survived the Holocaust and met in a displaced persons camp after the war. His father’s family is from Romania. The challahs on his project represent the ability of his mother’s parents to celebrate Shabbat after the war. The prayer book depicts his paternal grandmother’s faith and the prayer book that she brought to America.

“The best part…is to see your 12-year-old son stand with 39 other Jewish kids from around the world, all singing Hatikvah ,” said Jason’s mother, Judy Garfinkel. “Tears rolled down my face. I can’t think of anything better as a Jewish parent.”

Lisa Pevtzow is a freelance writer living in the Chicago area.