Though the absence of the CJF’s missions to Nicaragua and Mexico this year certainly did not go unnoted, feedback has been overwhelmingly positive for the three missions that were offered: Jewish Life Coast to Coast, in which participants travelled to different Jewish communities across the U.S. to learn about leadership and how to be an active participant in running a community; Counterpoint Israel, in which participants taught English and ran activities for children in several communities in southern Israel; and Service Mission to Ukraine, in which participants, through volunteer work and teaching, made a positive impact on the Ukrainian Jewish community.
Though many of her friends planned relaxing trips to exotic destinations such as Puerto Rico and the Bahamas, Michelle Levine, a junior and the treasurer for SCWSC, chose instead to go on this year’s mission to Ukraine. Though Levine concedes that a tropical getaway would have been an “appealing respite from the stress of finals,” she was inspired by her past Torah Tours experiences in Merrick, Washington D.C., and Albany to get involved in another program led by the CJF.
SCWSC recording secretary Danielle Lazarus (’15), who went on the CFJ’s Counterpoint Israel mission, echoed Levine’s sentiments. “After my experiences on Counterpoint Israel this past summer, I decided that I wanted to go back to Dimona in the winter.” Lazarus describes Counterpoint Israel as a “two-way street,” noting that her efforts on behalf of the Israeli children were rewarded with the “warmth and happiness that they radiate.” “After a semester of classes, I was eager to be greeted by those smiles,” she said.
For Alyssa Greenberg, a senior at Stern College and co-head of the Jewish education club Al Pi Darko, CJF inspiration was to be found not across the Atlantic Ocean, but in Jewish communities around the U.S. “Forever transformed by special experiences I have had with the CJF, I decided to embark on Jewish Life Cast to Coast,” she commented. “Germany Close Up, Counterpoint, and Torah Tours have taught me about the richness of Jewish history, the beauty of cultivating teamwork, the intrinsic connection among Jewish communities regardless of location on a map, and the spark within every child. I wanted to spend my winter break in a memorable way, and I trust the CJF to design and execute remarkable programming.”
As to the absence of the two volunteer programs in Nicaragua and in Mexico, Aliza Abrams, Director of the Department of Service Learning in the CJF, clarified that the loss of these two programs this semester was not for financial reasons. “In years past we partnered with the American Jewish World Service (AJWS) to run service missions in Central and South America,” said Abrams. “In the middle of the year last year AJWS announced that they would be restructuring their programming and no longer offering these types of service learning missions to college students. As a result we were unable to run the program in partnership with them.”
Though Abrams notes that she “definitely heard some disappointment from students who had wanted to volunteer in places like Nicaragua and Mexico,” the cancellation of the two programs did not affect application numbers; CJF received an “overwhelming number of applications.”
However, despite the success of this year’s missions, Abrams revealed that the CJF is “currently looking for new NGO’s to partner with in order to continue to send students on similar service missions.”
Levine herself was disappointed when she heard that the Nicaragua and Mexico trips were cancelled, but is, in retrospect, grateful that the cancellations led her to participate in the Ukraine mission. “As a result of the downsizing, I ended up traveling to Ukraine, a trip I initially dismissed for other locations, and broadened my connection with the global Jewish community,” commented Levine.
While other international programs may be temporarily on hold, the CJF recently announced that Counterpoint Israel doubled in size this past winter, a sure sign that CJF missions are as anticipated as ever, despite this year’s “downsize.” And years-worth of student feedback and survey data received by the CJF from participants shows that the missions can indeed be life-changing. According to Abrams, studies showed that participating students became “more inclined to take positions of leadership on campus, as well as in their future communities, after graduation”; that, “more people [have chosen] to go into education after going on Counterpoint Israel and Jewish Life Coast to Coast”; and that there have even been “students who loved their experience in the Negev on Counterpoint so much that they’ve moved down there.”
Based on the responses of this year’s participants, the impact of the winter 2014 missions has been no less significant. Jennifer Stieglitz, who went on Coast to Coast, credits the program with teaching her just how much can be accomplished in one day. “When I got back and had my last day of vacation, during which I did not have too much to do, it felt extremely weird! This desire to be productive is now a part of me.”
Sophomore Shayna Schwarzberg, who went on Coast to Coast with Stieglitz, relayed that after visiting the Jewish communities in the Midwest, she has a greater understanding of the importance of communal involvement. “[This] trip has opened my eyes to realize that in addition to whatever I do professionally, I need to be an active participant in my Jewish Community- wherever that may be.”