JWRP Trip to Israel Blog
Written by Cindy Liebson It will be almost impossible to describe this trip to Israel, as our tour guide explains on the bus ride to our hotel tonight. We started the day with a walking tour of beautiful Tel Aviv- a city that embodies in its name and its character the ancient and ultra-modern. This…
JWRP Trip to Israel: Jerusalem
Written by Lisa Gottlieb Cytron The women of St. Louis and the rest of the 184 Momentum participants hit the ground running and enjoyed a wonderful tour of Old City Jerusalem. The mix of ancient, holy buildings intermingled with pizza parlors, barber shops, and residences was fascinating. We ended our tour on the rooftop of…
JWRP Trip to Israel Blog: Tel Aviv
Written by Jen Bernstein It is our second day in Israel and the St. Louis contingent is having a wonderful time. We started our day by going to the Bara Herb factory, where we learned the process of making herbal medicines. Many of us did some damage in their gift shop as well. We moved…
The Interfaith Mission
Alex Sommer and Tommy Taylor participated in Federation’s Interfaith Mission to Israel in May. In this episode of the podcast, they talk with Federation’s Senior Director for Community Engagement Karen Sher about the trip, the challenges of being in interfaith marriages, and how going on the trip allowed Tommy to help the Blues win the…
Israel & Overseas Committee Visit – Day 2
Our day began after sunrise with a great Israeli breakfast at Kibbitz Dalia in the Meggido region. We started off with a briefing on the goals, objectives, successes, and challenges from Yok’naem Mayor Alfasi and his team. There is excitement and progress around improving the lives of Ethiopian families in the area, helping create empowering…
Israel & Overseas Committee Visit – Day 1
Today, the Israel and Overseas Committee began our annual meeting in Israel to ensure that our funding is used with maximal impact and effectiveness. This is our largest group to go to Israel in a while and includes eight volunteers and four staff. Our Board of Directors chair-elect is here, Greg Yawitz. The morning started with…
Israel Legislative Mission Log: Day 6
Above: Outside our hosts’ home in the Old City to light the Chanukah candles. Day 6: Jerusalem We started our last day of the official trip with a visit to Yad Vashem, the world’s leading center of learning on the Holocaust and intolerance. Yad Vashem (pictured right) is also a memorial honoring and remembering both…
Israel Legislative Mission Log: Day 5
Day 5: Ramallah and Jerusalem Today we were greeted by chilly weather and constant rain, but in spite of this we carried on with an ambitious agenda. Our first stop was across the check point into the West Bank where our guide, a Palestinian-American journalist for the New York Times, provided context on the issues…
Israel Legislative Mission Log: Day 4
Above: Dinner with MK Yoel Hasson (Deputy Speaker of Knesset) Day 4: Nazareth and Jerusalem Today was dedicated to discussions around national security and domestic issues facing Israelis. In the morning we had an opportunity to receive a security briefing from an expert in national defense and retired Lt. Colonel in the IDF (pictured…
Israel Legislative Mission Log: Day 3
We started today at Leket, Israel’s largest food redistribution program. Leket’s partnerships in agriculture, tourism, and the business community allow them to use excess food and fresh produce to feed vulnerable individuals.