An Israel Experience

When I was around 10 years old, my parents started a fund for me through a program called SKIP (Send a Kid to Israel Program). My congregation matched the money my parents put in and the Jewish United Fund also donated to the fund, which annually gained interest. Apparently, I told my mom that she shouldn't start this fund for me and that I would never ever want to go to Israel. Well, flash forward 13 years and I'm about to hop on a plane over to the homeland. (More on SKIP later).

If you know a Jew, you've probably heard of Birthright. It's this insanely amazing opportunity that ALL Jewish young adults (ages 18-26) have to spend 10 days in Israel through a program, free of cost. The trip covers airfare to Israel, 10 days of programing, accommodations, and two meals a day. BUT WHERE DOES THIS MONEY COME FROM (asks everyone)?! A large portion comes from the Israeli government, another big chunk comes from philanthropists and donors, and a lot also comes from communities and organizations. There are around 40,000 participants a year that come from over 60 countries.

The only thing birthright doesn't cover is my airfare to NYC, which is where my entire group will fly out together. I decided to make the most of my time on the East Coast, so I'll be spending a couple of days with friends in Boston, then taking a bus to NY and spending the weekend there with friends before leaving for Israel Monday morning.

There are several organizers that put on the birthright trips and while all the trips generally do the same things, there are definitely niche trips. For example, some trips are just for people from Chicago (or another specifc big city), some are for students from a particular university, some are for a certain sector of Jews, and there are many more specialty trips too. My trip is through Yael Adventures and it is an adventure themed trip--meaning there will be lots of hiking, kayaking, camping and more! I'm stoked. My group is also of all 22-26 year olds from all over the U.S. I'm really looking forward to making new connections & friendships with Jews from all over!

Safety concerns: most people that I tell that I'm going to Israel respond with "be safe!!" and birthright ensures that we always have a guard on us and that our bus is tracked by the Israeli government. Once I'm out of birthright I'll be staying with friends in Tel Aviv, which is a safe area, and my program in Tzfat is also in a very safe area. We never go anywhere that could be a potential threat to our safety. And as My Mom put it best, Israelis might ask me if it's safe to live in Chicago, which is a city with one of the highest crime and murder rates. We are on the media probably as often as Israel is. We often forget that there are pockets of unsafe places everywhere we go- as long as you know where those places are and avoid them it is less likely for something to go wrong.

Like I mentioned, Birthright is free-- so what was I talking about SKIP for? Well, the beauty of birthright is that you can extend your flight to a later date than when your birthright trip officially ends. SKIP money must be used for a peer program, so after some research I found the perfect extension program to tack on after birthright.

I'll be doing a 2 week program in the North of Israel in a town called for Tzfat. The program is called Livnot Northern Exposure and it combines hiking a few days a week with a few days of community service. It sounded perfect to me & I'm so excited to be immersed in one city for a 2 week period!

Between the time that birthright ends & my extension program beings, I have a couple of days to explore Tel Aviv. I've met some awesome Israelis through my travels in Europe and New Zealand, and in the Maccabi games (Jewish Olympics) I participated in when I was younger, so I'm excited to reconnect with them in their home country!

While I can't say I've been the best Jew throughout college, I have kept up with lighting the Hanukkah candles each year and inviting friends to join. It was definitely difficult for me to keep up with going to Hillel/temple over the past 5 years because of the many other things I was involved in. Since graduating, I was happy to participate in my first Passover seder in the past 4 years and it made me excited about my upcoming trip. I look forward to learning more about Judaism, the Israeli culture, and the diversity that all lays in the country that is about the size of New Jersey. 

Shalom my friends, I'll see you in a month!

Sending Smiles from Chicago,

Rebecca

Enjoy this photo of 13 year old Rebecca posing for her Bat Mitzvah photos.