Coming HOme

Dear Friends and Family

Your children are having their final Shabbat tonight in Jerusalem. They had an amazing time on this trip. I am sure you are so excited to see them at the airport on Monday. Once again I am attaching their flight information.

Please give a big hug and thank you to Sarah Warren and Brian Meeron when you see them at the airport. As chaperones of this trip, they were outstanding and extremely devoted to your children in all matters. They were passionate about their roles, and dedicated to preparing the students before leaving. While on the trip they made sure all were having the best possible experiences both in Poland and Israel. Most importantly they each performed their duties with a high level of responsibility. Sarah and Brian kept extremely late night hours to make sure any issues of the day were resolved, that students were in their rooms, and that all was as it should be in order to have the best possible trip. They both dealt with hospital runs, flea bites, emotional issues, eye infections, ear infections, and logistical issues.

Through the entire journey, they communicated thoroughly with me on an almost daily basis, keeping me well informed of all the details. In addition to this the staff of Israel Experience was equally diligent and responsible, providing the best possible experiences for your children.

Our community trip to Poland and Israel is unique and special as you will soon realize upon your child’s return. Students not only bond with one another, by meeting and making friends locally and often with those whom they never knew before; they also bond with Israeli teens from Netanya, our Partnership city. Most importantly however they come back with a new perspective about themselves and about their own Jewish identity.

I hope your son or daughter shares with each of you all the wonderful things that he or she did in Israel and the tragic things they witnessed in Poland.

We are so blessed to live in a community where the Jewish Foundation and the Jewish Federation support travel experiences to Israel for teens and college age students. Both organizations see this very generous gift of $6000 in high school and $4500 in college as an investment in the future, in Israel and in our own local Jewish community. Most importantly it is an investment in your child as a Jewish leader and as a person of character.

Please welcome your child with open arms on Monday as I know they will do the same to you.

Shabbat Shalom,
Barb