By Mitch Cohen Growing up in America, I’ve always struggled with the way Israel was spoken about on my campus, online, the news, and amongst my friends. I’ve traveled to Israel multiple times in my life, and have found that Israel is so much more to me than the very negative tropes that are constantly […]
By Penina Lis Over the last few months on The Nachshon Project, Cohort 5 has heard from many different speakers. Some have focused on Jewish politics, sever have spoken about Jewish identity, and others have taught about the importance of Jewish leadership. Shana Goldberg, an alumnus of Nishmat’s Yoetztet Halacha program and teacher at Migdal […]
By Shayan Gilbert Burke Welcome to the largest synagogue in the world: a five-floor main sanctuary seating 10,000 men and women; a 12-meter high, 18-ton ornate wooden ark that can hold up to 70 torah scrolls; nine chandeliers, each containing 200,000 Czech crystals; multiple floors with minyanim every 10 minutes; weddings and bar mitzvahs on a […]
By Matthew Ghan What happens when you bring some of the best leaders from all across North America together in one space? In our opening week conference, one of the main goals was to bond as a cohort. Throughout the week we participated in many fellow-led activities. One of these activities was the classic “Build […]
By Jamie Gottlieb Growing up, my childhood Rabbi told the same story every year about his first time in shul. He was there for a friends Bar Mitzvah, and had no idea what he was doing. He reached down and picked up the book placed in front of him and mimicked the actions of the […]
By Yonina Silverman Every Tuesday afternoon we load buses and head to the Pardes Beit Midrash. Here, we divide into classes and learn for a couple of hours about different topics including Jewish Identity, Woman in Judaism, Talmud study and modern Jewish thought. These couple of hours are a combination of classroom learning and chevrutah […]
By Yonina Silverman After a wonderful Shabbat during orientation week, we all loaded the buses and headed to a forest to have a bonfire. Despite the cold weather, we gathered around the fire and had the opportunity of hearing from Yoni and Nina, also known as Yonina who are well known singers in the Israeli […]
By Mikayla Davis Shabbat is one of the highlights of my week and is an even more unique experience on a pluralistic program in Israel. I love learning about everyone’s customs and the different ways in which he or she celebrates Shabbat. It has inspired me to think more deeply in ways in which I […]
By Henry Weltman From the moment our cohort walked into the front doors of Shalva, we knew we were in a magical place. There were kids everywhere! Some were watching television, others waiting with the supervisors for their parents to pick them up, and we were lucky enough to shake hands with a few more […]
By Eva Wyner Today we had the opportunity to hear from Shalom Orzach who presented on his conception of Jewish and Israel education through his work with the Foundation of Jewish Camps, Cornerstone and the Avi Chai Foundation. After hearing from Avraham Infield, the previous president of Hillel International, Orzach presented a contrasting position. Whereas […]
