Extended study trips unite youth from Odessa,
NJ, Israel
, NJJN Staff Writer | 11.01.07

A New Jersey philanthropist, United Jewish Communities of MetroWest NJ, and an umbrella organization for Israel study programs are about to join forces in an effort to provide Israel study opportunities for college-age students from Odessa, Ukraine and MetroWest.

Beginning this fall, 50 students from the University of Odessa, an affiliate of Tikva, which has close to 1,000 students, and 50 students from New Jersey will travel to Israel to study through MASA Israel, an umbrella organization of Israel study programs of at least six months for young adults. The number of participants is expected to grow over time.

North Caldwell resident and philanthropist Edward M. Frankel, board chairman of Tikva Children's Home in Odessa, and his wife, Leah, have donated $250,000 to launch the project. That will be matched by the government of Israel for MASA. Additional funds totaling approximately $100,000 are also being provided, primarily by the Jewish Agency for Israel. Part of the funding will be used to help with MASA recruitment locally in MetroWest.

While the immediate goal of the project is to get as many students from Odessa and MetroWest to Israel as possible, the implications are far-reaching, said organizers.

"The time is right for this program," said UJC MetroWest executive vice president Max Kleinman. "Only a small percentage of Jewish students who study abroad study in Israel. But the more time they study in Israel, studies show, the greater impact it has on their Jewish identity, their attitude toward Zionism, etc. Therefore, this is strategically important for us to promote and to get as many of our students to go as possible," he said.

And bringing in Jewish students from another country broadens the impact significantly, according to Kleinman.

The students will have a chance to interact with each other and with their Israeli peers, he said.

"And the Israeli college students who are from UJC MetroWest partner communities – having already served in the IDF – are older, so they will be able to mentor the others," said Kleinman. "Peoplehood will not be an abstraction but a live model for how Jews relate to one another from around the world."

For the students going to Israel, said Kleinman, "there will be networking and Shabbatonim. They will be assigned to an Israel family. They will have quality time in Israel to build Jewish identity and a sense of Jewish peoplehood. There has been an erosion of a sense of Jewish peoplehood. This is the only program that brings students from three different continents to celebrate together in medinat Yisrael."

The Tikva MASA project will begin this fall.

Tikva Children's Home, a facility for abused, homeless, or abandoned Jewish children, includes 175 youngsters in residence and 650 studying in its affiliated schools. The home already sends 12-15 students to Israel each year. They come from Tikva's college-level program, begun two years ago and now affiliated with Odessa University.

Working in partnership with MASA, Tikva will be able not only to increase the number of students going to Israel, but also to provide participants with a deeper Israel experience.

"The point of working with MASA is to get these kids to Israel," said Frankel "We want them to take a deep breath and understand where they are, and then go to school," he said.

Working through MASA, they will greatly increase their numbers and be able to have what Frankel dubbed a "Birthright Israel-type experience" when they arrive, referring to the free identity-building Israel trips offered to young people.

MASA mandates that all of its programs provide a certain amount of travel throughout Israel – the word means "journey" in Hebrew – as well as offer an understanding of modern Israeli and Zionist history, according to North American operations director Avi Rubel. Most of its accredited programs offer a mix of academic and practical experiences, he said.

For MASA, the project offers an emerging model of cooperation. "This model of triangular partnership was initiated by Max [Kleinman], and this will be an example for other similar projects. It is the first one to come to fruition," said Rubel.

The program is being coordinated by the UJC MetroWest Israel office under the direction of Amir Shacham and MetroWest's Legow Family Israel Program Center, directed by Orli Dudaie.

Local stories posted courtesy of the New Jersey Jewish News