Young Judaea and Year Course alumnus Benji Lovitt made Aliyah in 2006 and has been working both as a comedian/writer and as a Jewish educator.  Beni has had a continued connection with Young Judaea since his childhood in many capacities.  His latest article – of a more serious bent than his usual work highlights the need to teach about Tel Aviv as a relevant centre of modern Zionist and Jewish culture.

Here is a link to the full article

http://ejewishphilanthropy.com/israel-programs-the-case-for-tel-avi

Below are some blurbs from the piece:

“From synagogue and organization missions to Masa programs, and from high school trips to Birthright, we do a horrendous job of exposing Diaspora Jews to Tel Aviv and everything it stands for: modern Israel, the “start-up nation”, religious pluralism, and Jewish peoplehood.”

“when I came on a Federation mission and extended my stay, did I finally discover this “secret community”, still mostly unknown to English-speakers in 2003. In just a few days, I managed to lie on the beach, go dancing till 5 AM, walk around staring at Israelis with my tongue hanging out of my mouth, and ask, “HOW AM I ONLY DISCOVERING THIS NOW?????” This wasn’t about bars and sand. This was about connecting to modern Israel and my Israeli peers in a way that I had not done before.”

 

“Does Masada make a bigger impact on Jewish identity than time in Tel Aviv? I would argue that it does not. Is Masada more likely to make thousands of young Jews excited to possibly return to Israel for a long-term program, date other Jews, get an internship at an Israeli start-up, or discover a connection to Jewish peoplehood which they never had before? In my opinion? Absolutely not. Now repeat this exercise for many possible sites in place of “Masada”.”

 

“This is not a suggestion of “fun” over “education”. This is focusing on exploring membership as part of the Jewish nation, a nation and people that young Jews are often “reborn” to feel part of after meeting Israelis who are like them.

Lastly, this isn’t only about the “White City”. This is about evaluating Israel programs and figuring out not only what will turn on our participants to Israel and Jewish identity but also what will not. Israel has changed over 66 years. Our programs should reflect those changes.”

 

– See more at: http://ejewishphilanthropy.com/israel-programs-the-case-for-tel-aviv/#sthash.gxWFAs3O.dpuf

and of course a little clip of Benji’s comedy

Benji Shmoozes a Taxi Driver

 

Andrea LeVine is the Senior Programmer/Community Organizer for Tulane Hillel. She wrote about a day on the Tulane Hillel’s Young Judaea Taglit-Birthright trip.

We spent our volunteer day at Rosh HaAyin. It was an amazing experience to work with New Orleans’ sister city! We were greeted with an amazing performance by the Begin High School Gospel Choir, and then spent some time helping the students practice their English for their upcoming English oral exams. It was absolutely one of the highlights of the trip; many of the kids are even following some of our participants on Instagram now!

After volunteering, we had dinner at the homes of our Israeli soldiers, and it was truly special to feel like part of the family for a night. It really connected all of us that much more.

We were honored to have been a part of this unique partnership! We had a blast!