Year Course 19-20 Graduation Speech
by Sofia Feldman

Each and every one of us sitting here today are the people we are because of the choices we have made. This past year has consisted of decision making. Not just small decisions and choices of what to eat or what clothes to wear, but decisions determining our futures. I want to share with you some of the decisions I have made which have formed me into the person I am today, standing here in front of you. 

After attending the Young Judaea summer program, Machon, I immediately knew that Year Course was something I needed to do. Four weeks on Machon did not satisfy my love and passion for Israel’s culture and everything that makes Israel Israel. It was my first time ever coming to Israel and I was positive I would be back. I knew that Year Course would be something I would regret not doing, but I was absolutely terrified. I was leaving behind everything I knew and loved. I would be going from the home of BBQ to the land of schnitzel and falafel. I’d be replacing Southern hospitality for Israel’s aggressive bus drivers. I would be leaving my friends for new ones and 14 random Israelis. I would also be leaving my family, not knowing that I would make a completely new one. 

By the end of senior year, I had solidified the next five years of my life. Although I was breaking out of the classic mold of attending college directly out of high school, I was comforted by the fact that I would be returning to life back in America. I would be close again to my family, my high school friends, and everything that I had grown up with. I would be coming back to attend the University of Florida and be a part of the classic American college experience. I knew after I had made my college decision to attend University of Florida, I was not being completely honest with myself. I made the choice to go to the University of Florida for other people around me. I was trying to live up to what was expected from me, not necessarily what was right for me. I was more satisfied with the knowledge that I had a plan rather than the plan itself. I tried to suppress these emotions because I was scared of them. When they reappeared a few months ago in Israel, I was forced to confront them. While on Year Course, I surrendered to the tough realization that my decision to go to the University of Florida was not what was best for me. I could not fight it anymore, because being a college student in America felt wrong. I essentially had a crisis of where I wanted to be and where I belonged. Every time I thought about the next few years of my life in America, it wasn’t something that necessarily made me happy or something that I saw a future in. I was faced with a choice that I did not see coming. The choice to go home and resume life in America or to stay in Israel and continue my life here. And deep down, the decision for me to stay was a no brainer.

 

With the current uncertainty surrounding starting college or university this fall, there’s been a tremendous increase in gap year interest and opportunities.

Previously seen as a complicated decision that might jeopardize academic or career prospects, more and more high school seniors are seeing the deeper, short-and long-term value of taking a year abroad before starting college – specifically in Israel.

It comes as no surprise that Israel is one of the top three gap year destinations for North American students. As the original gap year in Israel, Young Judaea Year Course has always seen the immeasurable value of spending a year learning, volunteering, and experiencing Israel. (There’s a reason 10,000 alumni have called Year Course home since 1956!)

Benefits Of Taking a Gap Year

There are numerous overall benefits to choosing a different track between high school and college:

• Gaining exposure to the larger world around you
• Figuring out what you really want to do in your life
• Building a community of truly like-minded friends
• Gaining invaluable experience for your resume

 

Why Israel?

Choosing to take your gap year in Israel unlocks an additional range of opportunities to learn and grow, including:

• Building your Jewish identity
• Living in Israel, one of the most interesting and complex countries in the world
• Learning from communities of all sizes and types
• Connecting with the history and future of the Jewish people

 

By the Numbers

The results from a recent study by the Gap Year Association give us a clear picture of the many benefits of choosing the gap year track as reported by participants themselves:

• 94% said their time spent abroad helped them learn to communicate with people from different backgrounds
• 90% said they have a better understanding and respect for different cultures
• 90% of students who take time off after high school will enroll in a four-year educational institution within one year of completing their experience.
• 84% of respondents to their study said their time abroad helped them learn skills that helped them become successful in their work
• 77% said their gap year helped them find their purpose in life

  The bottom line? You may learn a lot in class or in extra-curricular activities in college, but there’s no replacement for experiencing countries, cultures, and communities firsthand – especially when that country is Israel.

So, what are you waiting for? There’s no better time than now to take a gap year in Israel – and there’s no better choice than Young Judaea Year Course!

Dear Young Judaea Community,

We at Young Judaea have been continuously monitoring the ever-changing situation as it relates to the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic including guidance from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as well as local Departments of Health here in the US, and government, health, and partner agencies in Israel.

We are committed to providing a safe and healthy environment for all of our participants, volunteers, and staff and our priority is always for their health and safety. First and foremost we send wishes of healing to all those in our community who are affected by this outbreak, whether they themselves are ill, have been quarantined, or are feeling the impact of the restrictions being put on us and our communities. To that end, please review important information about our programs and events below. Note that the situation is very fluid and we will communicate when any changes are made:

US Programs

Year-Round Activities

We have made the difficult decision to postpone all national and regional overnight events at this time. Given that health departments in each community are issuing slightly different guidance, we will determine whether to postpone local events on a case-by-case basis in consultation with local staff and volunteers. We have made this decision out of an abundance of caution and while we recognize that this may be disappointing, we are actively working to find ways to meet virtually and stay connected with one another until the health risks have been resolved.

We will follow up with information about specific events that have been postponed and provide information about credits for future Young Judaea events and/or refunds. If you have any questions about year round programs please contact Sandra Marks, Director of US Programs.

Summer Camps

Our camps are moving forward with planning for a wonderful summer as they monitor potential implications related to COVID-19 and are considering numerous initiatives to ensure a safe environment for all participants.

Young Judaea Global NYC Office

Our NY-based staff is transitioning to working from home and we are supporting their working remotely to ensure organizational operations continue.

Israel Programs

Year Course 2019-2020

As Israel’s quarantine policies continue to become more stringent, Young Judaea Israel staff are working around the clock to ensure that we comply with all governmental regulations while still providing our participants with meaningful programmatic experiences and academics through coordination with the relevant ministries and partner organizations. We are grateful to our students who continue to handle this fluid situation with good spirits and maturity, and are working together to create the best possible experience over the next two months.

WUJS Interns 2020

We are in regular communication with our WUJS interns in Tel Aviv and Haifa, making sure they are updated as quickly and comprehensively as possible regarding developing quarantine, travel, and public gathering restrictions. Our participants are being strongly discouraged from any private travel, and our staff are providing them with ongoing social support.

Machon and Amirim Summer Programs 2020

We know that applicants may be concerned about the implications of ongoing travel restrictions with regards to our summer Israel programs, Machon and Amirim. While we anticipate and hope that both Machon and Amirim will run as planned, we have decided to offer a refund for the registration deposit fee (if requested) and hope that doing so will help our applicants feel more comfortable when making the decision to register.

Year Course 2020-2021 and WUJS Fall 2020

We are continuing to plan for Year Course 20-21 and WUJS Fall 2020, and looking forward to welcoming our participants in Israel at the end of the summer.

Alumni Events

At this time many of our alumni programs and gatherings are being postponed or cancelled. We will continue to communicate any event updates. If you have any questions please contact Andi Lewittes, Director of Development.

Young Judaeans have always stepped up in challenging times- this is no exception. We will navigate these changes to our programs and prepare for what lies ahead as a community and having the resources to respond effectively and responsibly is key, so please consider making a donation to help us handle the many unanticipated costs we are incurring because of the COVID-19 situation. Your help will enable us to continue to offer our programs as broadly and as widely as possible. You can make your donation here. Thank you for your support during this unprecedented time

Please bear with us as we work through this rapidly-changing situation. And, most importantly, stay safe and healthy.

Simon Klarfeld

Executive Director,
Young Judaea Global

Something Year Coursers can all agree on: Tel Aviv has some amazing options for cheap and tasty food, whether at noon, midnight, or anywhere in between. Here are six of Tel Aviv’s best meals in a pita, perfect for vegans, vegetarians, carnivores, and anyone who wants a taste of the city’s world-renowned cuisinse without hurting their wallets too hard.

Brianna Hacker, Year Course 19-20, is currently interning at The Israel Society of Ecology and Environmental Sciences (ISEES), an initiative promoting environmental studies and ecology in Israel. She recently authored the following article, featured in ISEES’ publication, Zavit.

 

 

 

by Jereme Weiner, Year Course 19-20

As a lifelong Judaean – six summers at Camp Judaea, Hadracha at Camp Tel Yehudah, and participating in Machon in Israel last summer – I feel like I have spent years preparing to having a truly meaningful Year Course experience, ready to connect what I learned at camp with life in Israel.

During my Hadracha summer at Tel Yehudah in 2017, we discussed all kinds of topics during our weekly Shabbat Israel Update. One week, I was frustrated to learn during a talk on gender issues at the Western Wall that women had significantly less rights to prayer at the Kotel and were not able to read from the Torah, among other restrictions. What could I do to get involved? How could I make my voice heard, too?

Last week, on Rosh Chodesh Cheshvan (the first day of the new month), I joined seven other Year Coursers and our madricha, Sarah, for monthly prayers at the Kotel with Women of the Wall (WoW), a group whose mission is to “attain social and legal recognition of the right of  women to wear prayer shawls, pray, and read from the Torah, collectively and aloud, at the Western Wall.” We joined the group at 7am, ready to show our support, and were amazed by the amount of people who had come to protest both for and against women’s rights at the Kotel. While WoW tried for more than half an hour to bring three small Torahs into the Western Wall plaza, security guards pushed us back and didn’t allow us in, while a crowd had gathered telling us to shut up and go home. It was a disheartening and frustrating experience to feel like my Judaism wasn’t being respected, and that fellow Jews were aggressively pushing us away from praying at the holiest site in Judaism.

After leaving, I thought back to that Israel Update during Hadracha – it felt like my Young Judaea experience had drawn a straight line from education to experience, not only exposing me to important topics in Jewish life and Israel while at camp, but bringing them to life while I live in Israel for the year. On Year Course, my views on Judaism and Zionism are constantly tested, questioned, and evolving. Seeing the issues we discussed at camp first-hand has been an experience I am so thankful for, and I can’t wait to see where my Year Course journey takes me.

Cafe Casbah is a cool little spot in Tel Aviv’s hip Florentine neighborhood, offering a nice and relaxed atmosphere.

Catering to a young and hip (and working on their laptops) crowd, Cafe Casbah’s vibe is best described as “90s counterculture,” with an indoor and outdoor space decorated with plants and a tons of stickers—everything from local bands to Jewish prayers to random websites.

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With the Beatles and Rolling Stones playing overhead, we checked out the extensive and vegetarian-friendly menu: tofu stir-fry, veggie burgers, red and green shakshuka, salads, quiche, and more. We all ended up ordering a special deal for croissant or bagels with coffee, and were thoroughly impressed! The coffee was strong but not bitter, the bagels pretty impressive by Israeli standards.

Overall, we would strongly recommend the cafe. It was really nice to explore a different neighborhood through food, and it was definitely worth the fairly lengthy bus ride. We would rate this place an 8/10.

Cafe Casbah is located at 3 Florentine Street, Tel Aviv

Hello! My name is Rabbi Adam Drucker and I am the Director of Experiential Education for Young Judaea Year Course.

In a nutshell, my role involves curating experiences that enable our students to gain a deep understanding of themselves, their people, its history, culture and country, using the wonderfully diverse educational canvas that is Israel. Ever since joining the Year Course team and extended Young Judaea family two years ago, I have been blown away by the passion, professionalism and dedication of my colleagues and find myself waking up each morning with an unbounded drive to give my all to our incredible students.

My personal Israel story started while I was growing up in the UK and was fortunate enough to join my father on school Israel tours. I was instantly mesmerized by the place and have not stopped trying to engaging with the paradoxes the Zionist dream. After spending many years working for different educational institutions in England, I made Aliyah with my gorgeous family 4 years ago and we are now a part of an exciting new community in the southern city of Kiryat Gat.

I have dedicated my life to pluralist Jewish and Zionist education and still cannot believe how fortunate I am to have my dream job working for Young Judaea Year Course. Over my relatively short time as the Year Course Rabbi I have been so lucky to have met some of the most inspirational, energetic and authentic young people and have found something magical about actualizing meaningful moments for each of these students during their Year Course journey. I treasure Kabbalat Shabbat with the sun is setting over the Mediterranean to the journeys through the delicious strawberry fields of Gadera to the seemingly innocuous but life changing conversations that take place in my humble office in Beit Arel and everything in between.

Every student I have had the honor of guiding and teaching has moved me with their humility to open themselves up to new ideas and challenges. I find myself coming back to a famous Talmudic statement when trying to understand what Year Course means to me, “I have learnt a lot from my teachers, more from my peers but most from my students” – Ta’anit 7a . My hope is that students who participate in YC strive for authenticity in everything they do and continue to inspire all those around them (especially me!)

Tucked away on Gordon Street, between the bustling thoroughfares of Dizengoff and Ben Yehuda, the always-packed Cafe Xoho offers patrons a funky and delicious blend of American-Israeli food with a relaxed and brunch-y vibe.

As North Americans transplanted to Israel, we’ve been on the hunt for good bagels and Cafe Xoho did not disappoint! We also tried a great burrito (who could imagine a great burrito in Tel Aviv?) and the chips and guacamole tasted as good as at home. We didn’t get a chance to try the amazing-looking pancakes and baked goods, but there’s an extensive and creative drink menu and we can report that having the option to add haloumi cheese to just about any dish is definitely worth the extra splurge.

With a fair amount of seating inside and out, solid service and decent prices, we’ll be happy to make Cafe Xoho one of our top spots while living in Tel Aviv!

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Cafe Xoho is located at Gordon Street 17 in Tel Aviv, easy walking distance from lots of buses on Ben Yehuda and Dizengoff and nice and close to the beach!