Section archive - Israel Education

Members of the New York Teen Initiative (NYTI) attended an exclusive seminar in Israel this past winter to galvanize the field of Gen Z Israel trips towards changing how they address Israel’s complexities with today's teens. Today’s teens demand authenticity, and by extension, a complex presentation of the real-life issues facing Israel.

The 20th Maccabiah Games, known as the “Jewish Olympics,” will open with a record 10,000 athletes. The start of the games will be marked on Thursday July 6, 2017 with the opening ceremony at Teddy Stadium in Jerusalem. Some 30,000 people are expected for the opening, and it will be nationally televised on Israel’s Channel 2. It is the third largest sporting event in the world, according to organizers.

These young women and men shlichim attend a four-day training seminar run annually each spring in Israel by The Jewish Agency (JAFI). Nonetheless, they come to camp sight unseen, not necessarily prepared for what to expect despite emails, phone calls and facetime with their supervisors. In order to the address the discrepancy between expectation and reality of the day camp setting, JCC Association of North America established Israel Up Close in 2013. This has allowed 51 day camp directors to attend the shlichim training. Not only do they gain insight into how the shlichim are prepared, but they offer valuable resources into the discourse about day camp.

This study assesses the impact of the Taglit-Birthright Israel travel program on parents of participants—in particular, on the ways in which parents’ indirect exposure to their adult children’s experiences in the program affect those parents’ connections to Israel. Birthright Israel is a large-scale, successful, educational travel program that provides a gift of 10-day trips to Israel to Jewish young adults. A substantial body of research has demonstrated the effectiveness of Birthright Israel in strengthening the Jewish identity of young diaspora Jews. Anecdotal evidence suggests that participants whose interest in Israel is enhanced by their Birthright Israel experience share what they have learned with their parents, and that this results in an increase in Israel interest for the parents.