TURNING
POINTS
STORIES FROM YOUNG JUDAEA
by NATHAN WINKLER, MICHAEL SANIEOFF, and ALE KLACHKO
W hat is the critical ingredient that motivates young adults to engage with the Jewish people? Following are three stories of participants in the Young Judaea Year Course, the veteran post-high school program in Israel with a strong Jewish educational component and an emphasis on volunteering. Two hundred fifty North Americans, from youth movement graduates to teens who have never taken part in Jewish group activities, join the program every year.
Nathan Winkler, 25, is a graduate student at Columbia University.
He took part in the 2004-5 Year Course.
When I flew from New Jersey to Israel for the first time, I knew one word of Hebrew and could count the number of Jewish friends I had on a single hand. Sitting on the bus from Ben Gurion airport to Jerusalem, I looked out the window at signs written in characters I couldn’t even sound out, and I was satisfied to know that I was in for the adventure I wanted.
The winter before, I was at a job fair, advertising a backpacking program. Sitting next to me were the “Zionist crazies” — or at least that’s what I thought of them at the time — pushing Young Judaea. The volume at the fair was low, so we started talking. Needless to say, the Zionists were much better at their job than I was, so I went to Israel for a year.
I traveled from Kiryat Shmona to Dimona and learned my way around Tel Aviv and Jerusalem better than I know New York. I learned so much about Judaism that I actually started to believe in it, culminating in my reading a Torah portion to celebrate my Bar Mitzvah in Jerusalem, and in my decision to start putting on tefillin every day.
Among the best parts of my trip were the stories of the people I met.
Young Judaea gave me the option of working on a family’s moshav in the Galilee for two months. The father was born on the moshav to parents from Romania who survived Auschwitz. The mother came from Tunis to Israel with her mother and six siblings in 1969. When I was living and volunteering in the slums of south Tel Aviv I met Alex, 15, from Kazakhstan, whose apartment was filled with books in Hebrew, Russian and English. In the Ethiopian community in Kiryat Gat, I listened to a young Ethiopian rabbi talk about seeing electric lights for the first time. I met a 30-year-old Hungarian named Denes who hadn’t discovered he was Jewish until he was 12. Hearing people’s stories was moving, and taught me that for us, rules of history don’t apply.
After I returned from Year Course and completed Freshman year, I studied at a yeshiva for nine months. When I returned, I met my future wife, and we have since been blessed with a baby boy. We’re Sabbath-observing Jews and active members of the Jewish student community.
Michael Sanieoff, 20, is an
under-graduate at Boston University.
He took part in the 2009-10 Year Course.
When I first came to Israel on Year Course, I thought I would be doing a little work here and there, with a tiny bit of studying and a lot of time at the beach. I would never have guessed that I would be working at a falafel stand. I always had a little something for food, and when I heard that I could work at a falafel restaurant, I jumped at the opportunity. What would be a better way to meet Israelis?
My boss introduced me to what was going to be my best friend for the next three months, the fryer. After that, he took me to see the falafel maker. You throw the falafel mix into the machine, you flick a switch, and then falafel balls drop into the scorching hot oil like rain falling into a lake. After some time, my boss said he wanted to teach me how to make my first falafel sandwich. I had been waiting for that day like a boxer who couldn’t wait to take a swing at his opponent’s face. There are many steps to this beautiful craft. The first step is the cutting of the pita. It should be a gorgeous curved line on top. The next step is spreading just the right amount of hummus. Next you ask if the customers want hot sauce, harif, and if they do, you know they’re real Israelis. You always put in five mouth-watering falafel balls. There are many optional additions: fried eggplant, salad, tahina and hardboiled egg.
I fell in love with working at the counter. I spent three months at the falafel stand, and not only did I learn how to make breathtaking falafel, but I came out more mature from the experiences. It was the best feeling for me just making sandwiches and feeding the people of Israel.
Ale Klachko, 20, is currently
serving in the IDF.
She took part in the 2009-10 Year Course.
I went for the chocolate. I had no interest in gap year programs, but a recruiter from Young Judaea had set up a stand to explain the Year Course, and he was giving out chocolate. So as I munched away, I mentioned to the recruiter that I intended to study drama in college, and I wouldn’t consider any Year Course program that lacked a Performing Arts track. There just so happened to be such a track. I decided to go for an interview. It sounded like fun.
When I arrived in Israel, I found myself getting involved and falling in love with the country. On Yom Kippur, I lay down on the road that was empty of all cars. I loved the idea that everyone, religious or secular, respected and cherished this day.
Israeli scouts lived with us Americans, and every two weeks they held scout nights. At one of these, they invited a representative of the Israel Defense Forces. I felt totally confused. The Israelis were all talking about going into the army, and I realized that was what I should be doing too. Part of me wanted to stay and enter the army, and part of me wanted to go back to my life as an actress in the US. I called my parents, crying, but they said they couldn’t help. I would have to decide myself.
Army life is tough at first — both being told what to do all the time and adjusting to the Israeli way of thinking. I was assigned a position in the Jordan Valley war room, dispatching soldiers to respond to terror attacks. Soon I’m going to be re-assigned as a shooting instructor. I finish in a little over a year, but I’m already thinking of extending my service.
One of the most important parts of becoming an Israeli has been living on Kibbutz Berot Yitzhak, as a lone soldier, and being adopted into a religious family with seven children. I’m an only child, and now I have all these adoptive brothers and sisters to give me advice and support me. I’m also lucky to have supportive parents back in the United States who respect and encourage me even though it’s hard for them to be so far away.
I’d still like to study drama — there are good departments at Israeli universities. But for me, the future is here. ■
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