Hillel of San Diego’s vision is to connect the next generation to Jewish life, learning, and Israel. We take that vision as our guiding directive for everything we do. Specifically, we seek to get Israel just right. Young people should have an understanding of the beauty and the complexity. Just like you can be proud to be American and disagree with things that happen in our country, we want students to feel like they can be proud of their connection to Israel and comfortable holding an understanding of the many challenges a Jewish democratic state in the middle east must face.
One of the best ways to connect to Israel is to go there. To be with the people. To touch the Mediterranean Sea. To smell Machane Yehuda market. To hear the beat in Tel Aviv. Simply, to be in Israel is to love the land. We send four trips to Israel every year (and this year, we will be sending a fifth trip! Stay tuned for more on that in a future email)– two Birthright trips and two Fact Finders Missions. Both programs, remarkable in their own right, serve our vision.
This winter, we sent a Birthright trip and a Fact Finders Mission. Most people know that Birthright is a 10-day free trip to Israel for all Jewish young adults. You might not know it is run locally through Hillel with Hillel staff. It is a jam packed taste of Israel that helps participants connect to each other, their Jewish heritage, and the modern land. And here’s the thing– Birthright, if led by the right team and with the right follow up, really works. We are proud of our Birthright program but don’t take it from me, here’s what Brian, one of our trip participants from SDSU had to say:
“Going to Israel on Birthright was transformative for me. My connection to Israel grew substantially stronger. I am very grateful I got to relish the Israeli culture of fully embracing and living life.
For example, as I exited Yad Vashem, I was overwhelmed by the beautiful skyline of Jerusalem. I felt pride in calling Israel my home and was so grateful to be given the opportunity to experience the profound eloquence of Jerusalem. I realized that if we don’t do what we can to protect Jerusalem and Israel, then the lives of those lost during the Holocaust will have been in vain.”
We also send two Fact Finders Missions to Israel each year. This program sends non-Jewish campus student leaders with Jewish student leaders to really explore the conflict from the Israeli and Palestinian side. It can be transformational for a participant and leads to strong allyship on campus. Meet Prab, a non-Jewish student leader at UCSD who just came back from our winter Fact Finders Mission.
“On this 10-day trip, I learned so much more than I could have ever expected. It was so interesting to hear from the perspective of both Israeli and Palestinian individuals. To have the opportunity to first hand see what is going on, hear from the people themselves, and be able to form my own opinions on things.
This trip opened my eyes to the antisemitism that happens often, even here at UCSD; I have realized how important it is to be an ally for the Jewish community.”
Two very different types of trips with a similar outcome. Connecting the next generation to Israel and to their own Jewish community.
Hillel is the only organization in San Diego that is dedicated to connecting young people to Israel while they are in one of the most formative phases of their life– the time when they determine who they want to be as Jewish adults. By getting Israel just right, we ensure that our Jewish community continues to thrive far into the future.
