Jamie Berger '14 (Tzafon)

My Israel story starts on a plane from Poland in the wee hours of the morning next to an enthusiastic boy. Right when I saw the skyline of Tel Aviv, I knew that I was home. For the next four weeks, I explored every cave and market corner with 44 other pilgrims. From conquering Masada to cooling off in Ein Gedi to sleeping under the stars in the Negev, I knew I had found my home and my first love. My Israel story hasn't ended yet though; I still dream about it every night and yearn for it every day.

My Experience at AIPAC Policy Conference

Ari Weinstein '14 (Emtza)

On a flight home from Los Angeles this past August, I convinced Catherine, the woman sitting next to me, to take her next vacation in Israel. I couldn’t help myself -- I’d returned from USY Pilgrimage in Israel two weeks prior, and I was flying home from my internship with StandWithUs, an Israel advocacy company based out of Los Angeles. I had a lot of excitement about Israel and couldn’t help myself but bring up my amazing visit while we talked. What I learned from my conversation with Catherine, was that airplanes are the perfect place to start up a conversation about Israel.

Talking about Israel has become very comfortable for me on airplanes, because I enjoy striking up conversation about Israeli current events, innovations, humanitarianism, and more. When I was heading to AIPAC’s Policy Conference last weekend, I couldn’t help but mention to the the man next to me that I was going to lobby my representatives about Israel legislation. At the conclusion of the conference, participants had the opportunity to travel to Capitol Hill and lobby senators and representatives. I was definitely very excited about the opportunity. Okay, nervous-excited is more accurate. Despite all the times I’ve talked with someone next to me about Israel, I’ve never carried a conversation with a government official about why I believe they should support Israel.

During my visit to the Hill, I had the opportunity to meet with Minnesota senators Al Franken and Amy Klobuchar, where I was part of a delegation of Minnesotans who asked for their support in passing a bill that would promote Israel to the status of “major strategic partner” with the US. According to AIPAC, the designation of major strategic partner expands the US-Israel cooperation in many realms of policy. In addition to meeting with senators Franken and Klobuchar, I had the opportunity to hear representative Ted Deutch, who was one of the bill’s writers, speak about the importance of the US-Israel relationship.

After my day of lobbying, the bill to make Israel a major strategic partner passed overwhelmingly 410-1. This is great news for Israel!

Talking to my elected officials about why they should continue to support Israel was very meaningful to me. It made me realize that any individual has the power to lobby and argue for what they believe in, and it put in perspective the importance of both going to AIPAC and talking to people on airplanes about Israel. For all I know, they may have taken what I told them, found their own passion for Israel, and talked with their own elected officials about why a continued Israel-US relationship is vital to both nations. Whether talking to a senator or a stranger, I now know that every conversation about Israel truly counts.

Deena Kleinstein '15 (Hagalil)

Two years ago in Israel, the Kotel reached into my soul and supplied me with the most touching memory I have ever had. It was my last Shabbos before I would return to America, and my emotions were running wild. 

I was informed that we would be walking back to the hostel at about twelve at night. Capitalizing on the short time we had left, a group of girls and I rushed down to the deserted Kotel and pulled up white plastic chairs. We sat, we sang, we prayed. 

In the moment full of silence and prayer I have never felt closer to Hashem and my heritage. That serene moment at the Kotel will stick with me forever and continue to supply me with smiles every day. I could not be more excited to continue my spiritual journey and love for Israel this summer on USY Israel/Poland Pilgrimage.

Michaela Master '15 (CRUSY)

This is a picture that I took while on Israel Adventure Plus Pilgrimage this past summer. This was the morning after the Desert Experience; our staff had instructed us to pray our own personal shacharit. Everyone really used this opportunity to have some private prayers by setting out all over the canyon. It was a moving experience to see how we were all so spread out- and yet I still felt connected to our prayers nonetheless. This reflects my relationship to Israel: although it might be on the other side of the world, I still feel that I have a personal connection with it, regardless of distance, and enhanced by my religion.

Lessons Learned on the Horizon

Written by Rebecca Perl '15 (CHUSY)

At at least in one point in everyone's life, you have a moment of pure realization. Sometimes these moments are in the grocery store buying peaches; sometimes they are while helping to paint a house; sometimes they are reading a book or straight from waking up from a deep sleep. Sometimes they're in the desert of Mitzpe Ramon at 4:45 in the morning. At least that was when mine was. 

After touring the north of Israel, participating in weeklong IDF training, or Gadna, HaEvent and Free Weekend, visiting Tel Aviv, and beginning a tour of the South, we stopped in Mitzpe Ramon to rappel down cliffs and spend a night sleeping in the desert under the Israeli moon. The afternoon before my "realization," we went rappelling down cliffs. I was very afraid of heights, but I promised myself that I'd do it. Not only did I rappel down that cliff, but I was the first to go. I conquered my fear of heights and I felt awesome. 

That night, I saw the most beautiful sunset of my short 16 years of life. We slept under a clear sky, full of stars, billions of years old, far away in other galaxies. I spent most of the time awake, staring up at the amazing sky. It was true perfection. The next morning, our staff woke us up super early to daven shacharit by ourselves while watching the sunrise. I chose a spot away from everyone else, and instead of doing traditional prayers, I sang songs that I felt spiritually connected to. When I ran out of those, I sat and thought. 

Last year was a difficult one in terms of everything, and I know I do not want a repeat of last year. I thought about how I can become a better person, how I can change my ways to be the best I can be, and how I can help myself and all of the people around me. 

From that moment forward, it has been what I strive to do. These moments spent alone and together with friends in the desert and all around Israel were the moments that meant the most on Pilgrimage. They are moments that I will look back on in 20 years and I will know then, as I know now, that they were life changing. I learned that things can be fixed. I learned to look at things with clearer eyes. Most importantly, I learned that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. And we, as the Jewish people, hold a vast amount of beauty. Because Israel is all ours.

Ethiopian Immigrants to Israel Struggle with Acceptance

Written by Hayley Nagelberg (Hagalil)

Many of you may be familiar with “Operation Moses” or “Operation Solomon," but what do you know about “Operation Dove”?

The Israeli “Law of Return” states that anyone who is a quarter Jewish - meaning that he or she has at least one Jewish grandparent - can make aliyah.  So what happens when people claim they WERE Jewish, or who USED to be Jewish but converted in order to avoid persecution?

Operation Dove’s Wings, completed this past August, brought over 7,800 Falash Mura to Israel.  These people, like the Beta Israel, practiced Judaism years ago; however unlike the Beta Israel, they accepted conversion to Christianity. 

Israeli political heads debated for years whether to allow this group of Ethiopians to make aliyah.  The eventual conclusion was that if they could trace their Jewish Identities through their mothers’ side, they could come to Israel.  This decision was based on the fact that Judaism teaches that Jewish lineage is derived from the mother’s side.  In addition, there is a concept, “zera yisrael”, which holds that if you have a relationship to the Jewish faith, you are welcome in Israel.  If they qualify for entry, when these Ethiopians reach Israel, they are required to undergo a conversion process to Orthodox Judaism.

While this ruling seems to be clear and fair as to who is welcome, it has been fraught with many problems.  As the process of review and admission has taken many years, new children have been born to these Ethiopians waiting to make aliyah, and these children may not fit the criteria that have been established for entry to the Jewish state.  Siblings have been split up because they have different fathers; and others have been reunited, but only after years of protest.

Setting aside the controversies that have taken place before the Operation began, there is even more controversy as it comes to an end.  First, some members of the Beta Israel community feel it is not right that these Ethiopians were allowed to immigrate.  They do not think of them as Jews in the same respect as they consider themselves.  They feel that the Israeli government was too lenient, and now will find that there are many more Ethiopians claiming to be Jews.  The new protocol stipulates that Ethiopians wishing to immigrate must apply individually, have some form of family in Israel apply for them, AND be able to trace back their matrilineal lineage.  Some people feel that even with these steps in place, Ethiopians will claim to be people they are not.

For the Falash Mura who worked so hard to get to Israel, they too are faced by many of the problems typical of new immigrants.  They feel they are not accepted; they have had to adjust so many of their customs and ways of life that they don’t feel comfortable in Israel. 

Another group still struggling is the Falash Mura who were denied entrance to Israel.  They agreed to learn the Jewish ways [again] in their country, and held out hope for years that they would be allowed to make aliyah.  Now they are left with new Jewish faith in a country that doesn't support their beliefs.  Some of them still have family by their side, but for others, their family is in Israel.

Since 2010, hundreds of Ethiopians have come over to Israel each month as part of Operation Dove.  Although their road to the Promised Land has not been easy, they have come freely.  This past August 28^th the last 450 olim came to Israel, thus ending the Operation.  Now there are over 7500 new Israelis, making their way as Jews in the Jewish land. And yet, the challenges associated with Operation Dove remain a persistent challenge of our times.

                 Hayley Nagelberg is a junior at the Golda Och Academy in West Orange New Jersey. She works with both Israel Clubs at her school (Israel club and Israel advocacy club). She is also her USY chapter's IA and the Hagalil Hechalutzim chairperson for the year.







My TRY Experience

Written by Sarah Cline (Tzafon)

My name is Sarah Cline, I'm 15 years old, in 10th grade and I have found myself having the time of my life in Israel. Two summers ago, Moshe Golde (one of my amazing teachers) 

came to my summer camp, Camp Ramah in Canada, and told me about a program called Tichon Ramah Yerushalayim (Ramah High School in Jerusalem). I fell in love with the idea of coming to Israel for four months not only to study, but also to learn Hebrew and travel around the country. The TRY program includes all of my everyday classes from Penfield High School, plus Hebrew and ICC. ICC stands for Israel Core Course. With ICC, we go on field trips every Tuesday and Thursday to sites in Israel. We learn in a chronological order, starting from the Tanach all the way to modern times.

I have already gone to so many places while learning as much as possible. We went to the Kotel, the Old City, Ein Gedi, Masada, Eilat, Safed, the Israel Museum, Yad Vashem, Kibbutzim and Be’er Sheva. We walked through tunnels, went on archeological digs, cooked and ate in a Bedouin tent, hiked sea to sea, rappelled in the Golan, canoed on the Jordan River. I experienced Purim, Pesach, Yom Ha’Shoah, Yom Ha’Atzmaut, Shabbat in Israel. Experiencing an entire country stopping to honor and remember those who have fallen is two minutes I will never forget. Those are only a few select examples. This morning I was in an army base in Sde Boker for Gadna. We were there for five days in an army training experience that is built for teenagers. We learned discipline, IDF values, training, field skills, and how to shoot a gun! It was a new, fun experience that I know most other kids will never get the chance to try. I feel like TRY is meant for teens to gain experiences. Sure, there's still school and everyday chores and activities, but TRY lets kids be more independent. We live in dorms, which is a great community experience. TRY gives teens unforgettable moments that let them grow as an individual.

Sarah is currently a junior from Tzafon who will be a member on USYs delegation to the AIPAC High School summit this November.