This article appeared in the September 6, 2013 Jewish Advocate (North Shore edition).

Teens discover home, and themselves, in the Holy Land:

Y2I trip is gamechanger

by Susie Davidson

Special to the Advocate

“It took 5,470 miles for me to understand [that] I am a part of much more than a religion,” writes Rachel Grant of Beverly. “I am a part of a culture that is thousands of years old, a way of life that has defied all odds of survival.”

Grant was one of 94 lucky North Shore teens who took part in this summer's Robert I. Lappin Youth to Israel Adventure (Y2I), a 12-day trip to the Holy Land sponsored by the Lappin Foundation and CJP/Jewish Federation of the North Shore. According to Lappin Foundation Executive Director Deborah Coltin, approximately one-third are teens from interfaith families, and approximately 15 percent are from Russian-speaking families. Thanks to an additional grant from the Ruderman Family Foundation, teens with disabilities were also included.

“There were 92 teens from 14 cities and towns on the North Shore, plus two full-paying teens from Andover, for a total of 51 girls and 43 boys,” said Coltin, who helped welcome them all home on August 25 at the Lappin Foundation's annual Youth to Israel Celebration, held at Temple B’nai Abraham in Beverly. Over 325 people attended, enjoying a Kosher dairy dessert reception and honoring community benefactors Dr. Harold and Zelda Kaplan and Dr. Marvin Wilson.

But it doesn't seem that the Y2I alum will need planned parties as an excuse to get together in the future.

“I made 93 new friends, with whom I already shared a bond,” wrote Mike Kuznetsov of Marblehead in his post-trip essay. “For me, Y2I is community. It allowed me to realize that there are so many amazing Jewish teens on the North Shore!” wrote Andrew Jacobson of Swampscott, who created a comprehensive video of the trip. “I am excited to continue connecting with these new friends that I have made locally. This is so important because the Jewish population, believe it or not is small. For this reason, it is vital for us Jews to connect with others of the same religion,” he said.

“I now have a lot of new friends and I feel more connected to the Jewish community because of Y2I,” wrote Matt Batsinelas of Peabody in his account. “After the trip, I realized that Judaism is more than just my religion,” he reflected, noting that his new friends were local as well as universal. “After meeting and talking to some Israeli teens, I realize that we are all one big family. It does not make a difference where we live, because we are all Jewish teens,” he wrote.

“I was born and raised not knowing which religion I belonged to,” penned Davi Dunn-Pilz of Newburyport. “With one parent Christian, and one Jewish, I never knew that answer.” But Y2I resolved that dilemma. “Now the answer is smacking me in the face. I’m a Jew,” he wrote. “All my new friends are Jews, and my counselors, and all the wonderful people I met during the trip. This is my family. [Y2I] showed me that no matter where I go, I'll have a family looking out for me, a really big family. The best Brady Brunch a guy could ask for.”

Launched in 1971 as a joint effort by the Jewish Federation of the North Shore and the former Robert I. Lappin Supporting Foundation, Y2I was partially subsidized until 1995, drawing approximately 25 teens each year. “In 1996, Bob Lappin implemented the concept of the fully subsidized trip, and participation immediately doubled and ultimately quadrupled, to where it is today, an average of 100 teens year,” said Coltin.

The experience goes far beyond the travel component. Other elements include pre and post-trip programming for teens and parents, and community service, as well as a four-day Mifgash ("encounter" in Hebrew) with Israeli teens from the Young Ambassadors School of Petah Tikvah. Opportunities for leadership development include AIPAC’s Schusterman High School Leadership Summit, and a Public Speaking Certificate Course for Y2I Teens at Salem State University. Israel Advocacy programs include Jerusalem Online, The David Project, and Stand Up for Israel, and there are Ulpan courses for teens and direct connections to other North Shore Jewish youth groups such as the North Shore Teen Initiative, Jew Crew, and Smartyaish. Coltin said that next year may see college credits for travel at Salem State University.

“We believe that Y2I is the most successful community teen Israel experience, per capita, in North America, and perhaps in the world, as we attract more than 60 percent of the identified pool of teens who go to Israel every year, as compared to less than 10 percent nationally, except for the Orthodox,” she said.

Success, however, is measured in far more than just numbers, as can be seen in the enthusiasm and dedication in the teenage travelers. For Haley Blumenkrantz, who turned 16 after returning, the trip far exceeded expectations. Upon arriving, the group was greeted by tour educators Amnon and Menashe with a "welcome home." At first, she was unsure if that was the case, but that soon changed. “I fell in love with the land, the culture, and the history,” she wrote. I had a new concept of what home really was, and I decided that Israel was my home.” She explained further in an email. “Despite all the conflict you see on the news, not once did I fear that I could be in danger,” she wrote. “I liked the intermingling of all the different religious cultures, and I also loved being surrounded with people who celebrate the same holidays as I do. I felt connected to the people and the land.”

Israel also hit home for Trevor Brown of Georgetown. “When asked what Israel means to me there is only one simple answer: home,” he wrote. “Some say strangers are just friends you haven’t met yet. But I say Jews are just family you haven’t been introduced to yet.”

And Lauren Sliva of Peabody didn't even want to return home. “After being forced to attend Jewish events for the bulk of my life, the last thing I wanted was to spend nearly two weeks of MY summer running around Israel,” she wrote. “When July 7 came around and it was time to get on the bus to New York, no one was less excited than I was.” But this outlook changed. “I began to make friends, absorb the culture, and enjoy the freedom that being away from my parents gave me,” she recounted. “By the end, I heard myself say something what I would have never believed: 'I don’t want to go home.' This trip is what you make it, and for me, it was a period of self recognition and growth.”

It was a panoramic scene at the Western Wall that changed the life of 16-year-old Doug Mears of Beverly. “I saw so many people singing and dancing, I saw the Golden dome in the background, the Wall standing proud with hundreds of people making their prayers at the bottom of it, and the Jewish flag flowing with the wind,” he wrote. “I was completely overwhelmed with emotions, and this was truly one of the greatest moments of my whole life.” He clarified this over the phone. “I realized that this doesn't just happen when we were there,” he said. “It happens every single week.” He told of the group's trek to a family's nearby home for dinner afterwards, complete with homemade challah. “They welcomed 40 kids into their home. They let all of them in and eat their food, welcomed them.”

Surely, the overall goal of Y2I is to inspire the participants to help perpetuate the Jewish people, and essays reflect its attainment. “I have definite plans to marry Jewish, and to raise my kids Jewish,” wrote Mears. “I plan on trying to go to temple more, and I plan on getting more involved with Jewish organizations, not because I feel the need to because I'm Jewish, but because I'm proud to be Jewish, and feel as if I have the right and obligation to be involved,” he wrote. What instilled this pride? IDF soldiers, being among people of the same religion. “We all believe in the same thing,” he said. “I could never do that here unless I was in a secluded room at an event. But there, I was surrounded by all the same people.”

Jacobson told the Advocate that he had been in Israel many times, visiting family and attending Camp Kimama in Michmoret (“I know some Hebrew, so I ordered falafel once or twice for the others,” he said over the phone). But he had never been there with a group of North Shore kids. He knew less than 20 of his fellow travelers; now, like the others, he has a mishpechah of peers. And he had experiences that he hadn't had before. “I've been to the wall, I've definitely ridden camels before,” he said. “But I'd never been to the Bedouin tents in the desert.” And he hadn't climbed Masada at sunrise. “We had to get up at 2 a.m. so that we could get to the top in time,” he said. “Seeing the sun rise over the desert and the sea was incredible.”

Jacobson's video was going to be a recruitment tool for the Lappin Foundation, he explained. “But I asked Debbie if I could interview Mr. Lappin, and she then asked me to interview participants of the trip,” he said. “So the video now has three perspectives. One is me giving the highlights of the trip, then Mr. Lappin's view, and then those of participants.”

Judging from the essays, we can only assume how positive those must be. “Venturing to our people’s homeland of Israel with Y2I was the most interesting, exciting, and life-changing experience...a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to witness Israel’s beautiful and unique culture first-hand,” wrote Ethan Talkov of Swampscott. “Prior to this trip, I did not have much of a Jewish identity. After my Bar Mitzvah several years ago I had lost touch with my Jewish roots. This trip to Israel thoroughly changed that.”

“To me, home means a place where I feel safe and comfortable,” wrote Blumenkrantz. “In Israel, even though it was over 5,000 miles away from Massachusetts, I felt both safe and comfortable.”

Sam Schale of Beverly summed it up well: “Going to Israel changed me from being Jewish to being a Jew.”

For more information about Y2I, please visit www.Y2I.org. To view the video made by Andrew Jacobson (Y2I 2013) of Swampscott that debuted at the welcome home celebration, please visit http://vimeo.com/72647170 Password: "lappin"