Zoe Goldstein-McKay, Section 3 chanicha; Medford, NJ
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Just over a month ago, my trip brought me to the humble city of Bat Yam, scenically located close to the beach and next to the bustling city of Tel Aviv. A major part of being in Bat Yam is that there is a big focus on volunteering. I started my volunteer service at a middle school teaching

Natalie Lazaroff, Section 1 madricha
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When asked to write a blog post about being a madricha on Young Judaea/FZY Year Course, I immediately said yes and that I would have it ready as soon as possible. That was over a month ago. My job is absolutely incredible.  Fun, rewarding, special, and extremely unique. In theory I could have written about

Samuel Morse, Rockville, MD; Section 3 chanich
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When you have ten guys trying to backpack for a week, the planning can be a little bit difficult.  We packed our bags full of food for a week and, after much debate, decided to head up to the Golan.  After the four-hour bus ride that included a 20 minute layover in

Seth Finkelstein, a Young Judaea Year Course alumnus (2007-2008) and former National President of Young Judaea, recently staffed Masa Israel’s Building Future Leadership  … Read more Conference in Jerusalem.  I caught up with him to reflect on his experiences.
Looking back a few years later, how would you summarize your Year Course experience?
Year Course was an incredibly meaningful and defining experience towards my growth in to adulthood.

Aviva Summers, Atlanta, GA; Section 1 chanicha
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My favorite moments in life have been those that I look back on and say, “Wow, it was bashert”.  Beshert is a Yiddish word which means “fated or meant to be” and it is a term I have found myself saying multiple times, but two weeks ago it took on a

 
Hannah Fregger, Port Richey, FL; Section 1 chanicha
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As Year Course starts to wind down (forgive me, I had to say it), so do our weekends of exploring Israel. It has become exhausting trying to squeeze out from the land of milk and honey all we can, so when Special Interest Week rolled around before Pesach, we

Ari Kirsh, Loveland, OH; Section 1 chanich
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The week before Pesach, since much of Year Course elected to participate in optional programming for leadership or learning about the Holocaust in Poland, the entire program was offered a Special Interest Week which allowed those of us not participating in either one the opportunity to pursue new activities. Three friends

Sarah Orlik, Lafayette, CA; Section 3 chanicha
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In coming out of the desert and moving to Jerusalem, I knew that music would have a much stronger presence in my life. As much peace and quiet as Arad had to offer, I was more than looking forward to enhanced opportunities to get out there and really see what Israeli music

Yossi Sadowsky, Clearwater, FL; Section 3 chanich
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In Israel, you can take a bus in any direction and in an hour find yourself in a completely different environment, physically and spiritually. You could go from the Orthodox neighborhoods of Jerusalem to seeing completely unorthodox outfits on the streets of Tel Aviv. However, Year Coursers know there is more

It is hard to believe that Year Course is now 2/3rds over with our last trimester having begun last week.  As we did just a few short months ago during the first changeover, everyone gathered together to see their friends from across all sections, to laugh, catch up, and prepare to end the year on a high.  After a fair in Herzilya to explore fun  … Read more