Home » Hillel of Richmond –Birthright Israel Winter Trip
Hillel of Richmond –Birthright Israel Winter Trip
Hillel of Richmond –Birthright Israel Winter Trip
Our group at the Haas Promenade in Jerusalem with one of the Israeli soldiers.
On December 25th, 8 students from Hillel at VCU and Randolph-Macon College traveled to Israel to participate in Taglit-Birthright Israel with Young Judaea. The Hillel of Richmond group was joined by Jewish students from Tulane University, Florida State University, and Texas A and M University Hillels. Shoshanna Schechter-Shaffin, Hillel Director for Hillel of Richmond served as one of the chaperones for the trip. This 10 day whirlwind tour of the Jewish state included visits to: the Golan Heights, Tzefat, Masada, The Dead Sea, the Negev Desert, Tel Aviv, and of course, Jerusalem. According to Randolph-Macon student Dustin Baellow “The Kotel was by far my favorite part. Just being with that many Jews at the same time was incredible, but then actually being at the Wailing Wall, the wall that has been a part of our Jewish heritage for thousands of years was amazing. Then adding the spiritual aspect of the wall, the Western Wall was the best experience of my life. I now consider myself more connected with my Jewish identity due to this whole trip, but especially the Kotel.” As part of the Taglit-Birthright experience, 8 young Israeli soldiers, who are the same age as the students, joined the group, which many students felt was the highlight of the experience, as expressed by VCU student Marc Kaplan “The trip really changed my perspective about Israel and what is actually going on there. Before going on the trip I had little to no idea about what the current situation was in Israel. Being able to meet and talk with people in Israel who were our age and older than us gave me a really well rounded view of the situation.”
Two of the girls from our group with the Israeli girl soldiers.
Despite the fact that this trip was only 10 days, many of the students also expressed an immediate and deep connection to Jewish people hood and State of Israel. “The biggest thing for me was that this trip and experience further strengthened my Jewish identity and Judaic pride. I already had a pretty strong sense and pride of my Judaism but to go there with 39 other Jews my age, be around millions of other Jews from the full spectrum of Judaism really was an inexplicable revelation how connected we all really are to each other and the Jewish state..” shared VCU student Josh Shenker.
- Marc Kaplan and Josh Shenker on a camel.
Taglit-Birthright Israel provides the gift of first time, peer group, educational trips to Israel for Jewish young adults ages 18 to 26. Taglit-Birthright Israel’s founders created this program to send thousands of young Jewish adults from all over the world to Israel as a gift in order to diminish the growing division between Israel and Jewish communities around the world; to strengthen the sense of solidarity among world Jewry; and to strengthen participants’ personal Jewish identity and connection to the Jewish people. Hillel of Richmond is pleased to be partnering with University of Richmond Hillel for a summer Birthright trip in late May. Additionally, there are many spots and dates available for summer Birthright trips for 22-26 year olds. The Taglit-Birthright Summer registration period opens on February 14th . If you know of any Jewish 18-26 year olds in the Richmond area that are interested in participating in a Taglit-Birthright trip, please have them contact Shoshanna Schechter-Shaffin at 804-545-8657 or sshaffin@weinsteinjcc.org.
Hillel of Richmond and Taglit-Birthright Israel are generously supported by the Jewish Community Federation of Richmond.