HOD HASHARON, Israel – Brad Jeddis knew he wanted to come to Israel. He just wasn't sure what to expect.

"You always hear about Israel, in history and on the news. And you know it's the home to the Jews. But I was wondering how I would feel inside about it," he told a visitor to his dorm room.

What he is discovering during his eight-week stay at the Alexander Muss High School in Israel, located in the center of Israel in Hod HaSharon, is that he feels at home.

"It's strange walking around and for the first time in your life you're in the majority. That's a good feeling."

Jeddis is one of seven teens from his synagogue, Temple B'nai Abraham in Livingston, whose visits to Israel this summer were subsidized by the synagogue and United Jewish Communities of MetroWest New Jersey. In all, 60 high school students from Morris, Essex, and Sussex counties are visiting Israel for at least one month this summer on UJC MetroWest subsidies.

"Frustrated with the relatively low number, like next to none, of our youth who have traveled to Israel of late, we decided this year that we would create a significant no-need scholarship available to every high school student from the congregation who wished to go on a formal teen program in Israel of at least four weeks duration," said Rabbi Clifford Kulwin of B'nai Abraham.

The seven B'nai Abraham participants received $1,500 each from the synagogue, and an additional $1,000 from UJC MetroWest. (UJC provides $750 per student plus an additional matching amount of up to $250 if the synagogue also provides funding.) The UJC program was created in 1994, and 412 students have visited since 2003. (Numbers are not available prior to that year.)

The students have selected a variety of programs, including Israel Scouts, B'nai B'rith Youth Organization, National Federation of Temple Youth, and National Council of Synagogue Youth.

For the Jeddis family, the financial incentive was a factor in sending Brad to Israel.

"Honestly, I do believe it helped us get off the fence," said his mother, Randi. "We probably would have sent him anyway, but the money was so generous, [it] made us feel just how important these trips are to our youth, and we realized that our Jewish community was really backing this up by saying, 'We will help you go.'"

It was not the only factor, however. Security also played a role in Brad's trip. "When we decided on Israel for Brad, we all agreed that if the news was not good in the region, he would not go," his mother said. "Every day when we wake up, we cross our fingers and hope for good news. We do that even when he is not there, but we are a little bit more anxious this summer."

The rise in B'nai Abraham students traveling to Israel follows a general increase in tourism to Israel, and is mirrored in the UJC numbers. In 2005, 35 students took advantage of the UJC scholarship funds; in 2006, the number rose to 47. This year there are 60.

B'nai Abraham is among 15 to 20 local synagogues that offer their own scholarship programs in addition to that of UJC.

Kulwin's son, Noah, is participating in an Israel Scouts program this summer. Kulwin appreciated the scholarship and the relative quiet in Israel, but neither played a critical role in the family's decision.

"Obviously, we follow closely what goes on there, but we have never let that affect a travel decision by our family. If Israelis are there, we should be there too. In other words, if this was a good summer for Noah to be there, then we would have somehow made sure it happened, period," said Kulwin.

Regardless of the impact on travel, Kulwin believes the scholarships send an important message about "the priority we place on seeing our young people get to Israel," he said.

The Alexander Muss program Jeddis selected involves eight weeks of intensive study. Summer students take a survey course in Jewish history and visit sites as they come up in their lessons. (The program runs throughout the year, but while school is in session, students also take classes tailored to match those at their regular high schools.)

Jeddis said he likes the idea of not having to live out of a suitcase. He shows off his dorm, with its requisite unmade beds, raucous hallways, and the sounds of someone playing guitar in a nearby room.

Jeddis acknowledged that while he planned to go easy on the studying, he's really engaged and doing more than he expected. The best thing, he said, is the structure of the program. "We learn in school; then we go and see. We went to Jerusalem yesterday. We hiked up a mountain and had a lesson at the top about King Saul and the mountain. We'll go [to Jerusalem] again when it comes up in the next lesson."

The only drawbacks for Jeddis, he said, are the heat, which he called "exhausting," and his Hebrew, which he finds lacking. He has been thrown a bit by a new identity – among the most engaged kids Jewishly at both B'nai Abraham and Livingston High School, where he just finished 11th grade, he has found he is among the least knowledgeable at the school.

"But I don't really feel out of place. I feel that doesn't matter," he said.

At the end of his first week, having visited Jerusalem and the beach and having hiked several mountains, he offered his admiration for the country. "You know, this is where everything began, where Jewish history began. To be able to be here and see it all hands-on, it's an experience you need to have."