Teen Israel Memphis

Yosef with family at the Kotel

Yosef Vanderwalde, son of Drs. Lindi and Ari Vanderwalde, is a junior at the Cooper Yeshiva High School for Boys. Memphis Jewish Federation’s Lemsky Endowment Fund provided him with a Teen Israel Experience grant to help offset the cost of his Mach Hach Ba’Aretz Israel trip last summer. All rising high school juniors and seniors in the Memphis Jewish community are eligible for grants up to $3,000 to attend a recognized teen summer or semester program in Israel. Applications for Summer 2023 are now available online. To learn more and apply, please click here.

By Yosef Vanderwalde

Before this year, I never recognized Israel as anything more than a vacation destination. I’ve been to Israel with my family twice before: once when I was six and once when I was ten. I wasn’t old enough to appreciate all that Israel had to offer that America could not. This visit was very different. I went on a program called Mach Hach Ba’Aretz for five weeks and had the time of my life and grew a new appreciation for the Land of Israel.

I arrived in Israel after a very long flight, was greeted by my old summer camp friends, and then met the people on my bus who I would be spending the next month in Israel. After driving to our hotel in Jerusalem to put our bags down, we headed to the bus again to take the short trip to the Western Wall. I had visited the Wall before, but this time I felt an incredible connection with the city and the people around me and I was excited to experience Israel again.

Mach Hach Ba’Aretz is a touring program, we went from the Golan Heights in the north to the Red Sea in the south and from the beaches of the Mediterranean in the east to the Dead Sea in the west. We really covered a lot of ground. We went to many cities, including Tel Aviv, Haifa, Tzfat, Tiberius, Eilat, and so many more. Along the way we became friends with other Jewish teens from different countries such as England, France, and Belarus. My counselors were all amazing Americans who made aliyah to Israel after high school and it was very nice to get to know them and learn what made them love Israel.

While on my trip, I learned about what it is like to live in Israel. I really enjoyed being able to eat basically wherever I wanted because there were so many kosher options. It was nice to be in an environment where there were Jews always surrounding me. Sometimes in America, I don’t want to wear a Kippah because I am worried that someone will have a problem with me, but in Israel I was able to express my Judaism with everyone around me.

To conclude, I had an amazing time in Israel. I traveled throughout the entire country and was able to appreciate it as a young adult. Also, I saw what it was like to live in Israel as a Jew and enjoy all the delicious kosher foods. Lastly, I made tons of friendships that will hopefully last a lifetime. I love the Land of Israel and all that it has to offer, and maybe one day I will be able to move there.

Thank you to Memphis Jewish Federation’s Lemsky Endowment Fund for helping to make my Mach Hach Ba’Aretz trip possible.

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Henry Rochkind and friends in the Old City.

Henry Rochkind, son of Leslie and William Rochkind, is a junior at Lausanne Collegiate School. Memphis Jewish Federation’s Lemsky Endowment Fund provided him with a Teen Israel Experience grant to help offset the cost of his BBYO Israel trip last summer. All rising high school juniors and seniors in the Memphis Jewish community are eligible for grants up to $3,000 to attend a recognized teen summer or semester program in Israel. Applications for Summer 2023 are now available online. Click here to learn more and apply.

By Henry Rochkind

Ever since I was eight years old, I have spent my summers in Maine at an all-boys camp. Not surprisingly, out of the 215 or so attendees, 200 are from the East Coast, 14 come from California, which leaves me, the lone kid from Memphis, Tennessee. I always took this position with pride however, as my friends learned to embrace me with equal parts awe and curiosity. This year, as I embarked alone on my BBYO trip to Israel, the experience was no different, except I learned to embrace an entirely new culture. The day before I went to the airport, I was extremely nervous about the trip ahead of me. I was going blind into a group of 22 people, including myself, all from various places and backgrounds.

When my dad dropped me off at the JFK airport, my anxiety was even further increased. “This is it” I thought, “I have to spend the next twenty-one days with these strangers.” Although I was at first uncomfortable in my current situation, I soon realized that I and all the other people in my group were connected by one thing – Judaism. With this in mind, I quickly made some friends and took the grueling 11-hour flight all the way from JFK to Tel-Aviv.

The first few days in Israel were definitely tough. It was my first time outside of North America, and I had to adjust to new food, people, language, and not to mention the horrible jetlag you get. As more time went by, however, the adjustment from the United States to Israel became easier and easier. After getting more comfortable with the people around me, I realized the reason I was in Israel – to embrace my Judaism and learn more about my culture and background.

The BBYO Israel Journey I went on did the job. We traveled to all sorts of places: The Golan Heights, Eilat, Haifa, Tel-Aviv, Jerusalem and more. All along the way were experiences that gave me a larger perspective on Judaism as a whole. For example, in Tzfat, our group met a man named Abraham, a follower of a spiritual type of Judaism. He explained how Judaism defines who we are as people. Listening to Abraham especially gave me a new perspective, such as his ideology that our ancestors have been trying to reach Israel for hundreds of years, and we finally are there, honoring them.

Another experience our group had where I felt most connected to my Judaism was at the Kotel. The Kotel, or the Western Wall, is a sacred place in the heart of the Old City where all the people pray. Seeing the people of Israel together praying gave me a sense of unity, and further helped me understand what it means to be Jewish.

In total, the Israel trip I went on was one of the best experiences I ever went on – I got to experience a new culture, meet new people, and strengthen my Jewish identity. As I said before, I had gone to camp for my entire life. I was only in Israel for three short weeks. Yet, in that short period of time, I made what I hope will be lifelong friends from different parts of the country. We shared incredible experiences from sleeping in a kibbutz to riding camels to swimming in the Dead Sea – memories I will never forget.  Thank you to Memphis Jewish Federation’s Lemsky Endowment Fund for helping to make my BBYO Israel trip possible.

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Natalie and her cousin Shayna in Tiberius.

Natalie Mashinsky, daughter of Deena Thomas and Alex Mashinsky, is a senior at the Goldie Margolin School for Girls. Memphis Jewish Federation’s Lemsky Endowment Fund provided her with a Teen Israel Experience grant to offset the costs of her NCSY Euro Israel program in Israel. All rising juniors and seniors are eligible for grants of up to $3,000 to attend a recognized teen summer or semester program in Israel. Teen Israel Experience applications for Summer 2023 are open click here to learn more.

By Natalie Mashinsky

This summer I had the privilege of going on NCSY’s summer program Euro Israel. This trip consisted of eighty-six teens flying to Switzerland, driving to Italy, and then flying to Israel.

I could easily say this was the best summer ever. When we flew into Switzerland and started the drive to Italy, I saw parts of Switzerland I never thought I would see. We also drove through the French Alps which was even more awesome. When we finally reached Italy, it was a dream come true. My entire life I had wanted to travel to Italy, so this was a perfect program for me.

We went through the major cities in Italy and stayed there for a week and a half. Shabbos was amazing and we got to see the first ghetto established in World War II.

Italy was amazing but Israel was even better. I never felt much of a connection to the land of Israel until this summer. I even talked to my advisors about my guilt, and they said, “once you get there you will feel it,” and they were right. We covered all of Israel going from Tzfat to Eilat. We started in Teveria (Tiberias) and that was my favorite place. I loved the water there and the layout of the city. It was so beautiful to me I will never forget it. We stayed there for Shabbos and then drove north to Tzfat. I liked the cooler air in Tzfat and how beautiful the stone streets were. From there we went to Haifa and went surfing. This was my second time surfing, and I did not do so well. But I still made amazing memories with my friends as we all fell off our boards.

The next event was Yom NCSY (an annual event with an evening concert that marks the extended NCSY community spending the summer in Israel) and traveling in Tel Aviv. This was my first Yom NCSY, and it was one of the best days of my life. I saw other friends on other programs and got to see all of these Jewish kids come together. In the final weeks of the trip, we went south down to Eilat. The heat there was unbearable, but we got through it as we partied on a boat.

Finally on our last stop we stayed in Jerusalem. This was another one of my favorite parts of the trip. Learning about the history and even walking through the sites gave me an understanding of my heritage that I didn’t have before. After this program my feelings changed, and I love Israel more than anything now. Traveling throughout the land to different cities and different histories opened up my eyes to how important the land is. I also met the most amazing people on this program. I have made friendships I know will last a lifetime. I am forever grateful for being able to go on this journey.

Thank you to Memphis Jewish Federation’s Lemsky Endowment Fund for helping to make my NSCY Euro Israel trip possible.

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Yehuda and friends at the Kotel during the NCSY Kollel trip last summer.

Yehuda Kahn, son of Dr. Yosef and Talia Kahn, is a junior at the Cooper Yeshiva High School for Boys. Memphis Jewish Federation’s Lemsky Endowment Fund provided him with a Teen Israel Experience grant to help offset the cost of his NCSY Kollel Israel trip last summer. All rising high school juniors and seniors in the Memphis Jewish community are eligible for grants up to $3,000 to attend a recognized teen summer or semester program in Israel. Applications for Summer 2023 are now available online. To learn more and apply, click here.

I spent this past summer in Israel attending NCSY Kollel and had an amazing Israel experience. It is a beautiful culture with so many amazing landmarks. Israel is a great country for hiking because everything is so close together due to it being such a small country. During my trip, I went on many different hikes, such as the one in Ein Gedi, which was a beautiful water hike. Every 50 feet or so there is another lake that we would jump into, and it would be so refreshing.

Every Friday, the campers would all drive to the Machane Yehuda shuk (market) in Jerusalem. The kosher options were phenomenal. Food that is typically difficult to find kosher in Memphis, such as falafel, shawarma, and pizza, were readily available on the trip, which made it even more enjoyable. Israel is impressive since many American chains opened up in Jerusalem in a kosher version.  Pizza Hut or Big Apple Pizza are just some examples. I am sure some of you have heard about the famous Marzipan Bakery in the shuk. If you are ever in Jerusalem, you should try to go to the Marzipan Bakery and purchase some of their famous rugelach. There is no rugelach in America that compares to Marzipan rugelach in Israel.

 Every week there was one big tiyul (journey). Some of the tiyulim were hikes in great scenic sites, and others were attractions like the visit to the Blind Museum in Holon. Also, we met great Rabbis and visited a great Rabbi’s grave. Every day the campers went on one or two mini tiyulim to either the mall or to the Kotel or to some fun exciting place.

NCSY Kollel took us to the Kotel many times and it was an indescribable, beautiful and a very spiritual experience.

The learning in NCSY Kollel was amazing. I was in an amazing shiur (lesson) with a truly knowledgeable rabbi. We also had chaburas (small groups studying Torah) of about 4 to 5 kids with one madrich (counselor.) In chaburas we would learn and do fun activities together. Every time the whole camp goes somewhere, chaburas stayed together. My madrich was amazing and really taught us a lot and made the experience a lot better.

In NCSY Kollel I made many new friends and met amazing people throughout the entire six weeks. The kids that you are around determine how good the experience in Israel is going to be. Many nights I played pickup basketball with friends and would go to the canteen afterwards. We also had basketball leagues with about eight people on each team and 48 teams which encouraged everyone to play basketball and have a blast. I had an amazing team and we played very well together and made it all the way to the semifinals.

I thoroughly enjoyed my fun and spiritual Israel experience this summer. Thank you to Memphis Jewish Federation’s Lemsky Endowment Fund for helping to make my NCSY Kollel trip possible.

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