By Rebecca Wycoff, Bus 8 Participant For four days, a couple of my friends and I spent time on an IDF army base. The chavaya (or ‘choose your own experience’) that we chose was Gadna, an army experience designed for Israeli high schoolers. Gadna allows you get a sneak...

By Paige Wright, Maddy Cherry, Maya Greenstein and Kaleigh Silverstein, Bus 6 Participants This past Friday we had the amazing opportunity for eight Israeli teens to join our group for the next week. At first we were nervous about them joining us on our trip, but our...

By Evan Bazel, Bus 6 Participant I feel Judaism in America is a concept and practice plagued with superficialities and grey areas. Speaking from experience in both the Conservative and Reform sects, I can declare with the utmost confidence that the religion itself, an...

By Rabbi Rich Kirschen, Director The beginning of the program may seem like years ago, when your teens made their way to Europe and then on to Israel to find themselves wandering in the desert, just like their ancestors. Yet now, only a few weeks later, the story of...

By Rabbi Rich Kirschen, Director Now that the NFTY in Israel journey has ended, another journey is beginning. Once your teens have rested and have had a chance to catch up with the family and friends they missed over the summer, it will be well worth your while to...

By Jake Delforte, Bus 9 Participant  For my four day Chavaya program, I chose to do Yam l’Yam, or Sea to Sea. Over the course of the four days, we hiked from the Sea of Galilee to the Mediterranean Sea. Looking back on my Chavaya experience, I have nothing but great...