The Robert I. Lappin Youth to Israel Adventure
“What Israel left me with was a deep love I didn’t know was possible toward a small piece of land … Not only did I learn Jewish history, but I found the path I had been seeking for a long time. … I have found out who I am, a Jew, what I believe in, Zionism, and my second home, Israel.”
- Charlee Bianchini of Gloucester

Y2I is a free Community Trip to Israel provided by of the Robert I. Lappin Foundations. It is forJewish sophomores and juniors who live in the 23 cities and towns of the Foundation service area. The Foundation works in conjunction with the Jewish Federation of the North Shore on the Y2I program. For more information, call Rachel Jacobson at 978-564-0729 or email rjacobson@jfns.org.

Begin Your Adventure with an Info Session

Are you interested in a fully subsidized trip to Israel?

 The Robert I. Lappin Youth to Israel (Y2I) Adventure provides a free Community Trip to Israel offered in the summer of 2009. North Shore Jewish teenagers currently in their sophomore or junior year who live in the Foundation service area will have the opportunity to connect with their own Jewish identity and ignite the spark that helps keep them Jewish.

The Robert I. Lappin Y2I Adventure is a fully subsidized program of the Robert I. Lappin 1992 Supporting Foundation and partially staffed by the Jewish Federation of the North Shore. For more information or to view the Foundation service area, visit www.rilcf.org or contact Rachel Jacobson, Youth to Israel director, 978-564-0729 or email rjacobson@jfns.org.

Here is a schedule of informational sessions to learn more about the 2009 Community Trip. Please RSVP to Rachel Jacobson, Youth to Israel director, 978-564-0729 or email rjacobson@jfns.org. The sessions run from 7 to 8:30 p.m.

• Thursday, September 11, Temple Ner Tamid, 368 Lowell St., Peabody
• Monday, September 22, JCC Marblehead, 4 Community Road, Marblehead
• Thursday, October 16, Temple Ner Tamid
• Sunday, October 26, JCC Marblehead
• Tuesday, November 11, JCC Marblehead
• Monday, November 24, Temple B'nai Abraham, 200 East Lothrop St., Beverly

Y2I Shabbat, September 26

Attention Y2I 2008 alumni! Do you want to get that Shabbat feeling again? Come to Y2I Shabbat, Friday September 26, 2008, Temple Ner Tamid, 368 Lowell St., Peabody.

There will be a free, delicious Shabbat dinner, social time and an 8 p.m. service. Please RSVP and let us know if you would like a part in English or Hebrew by September 18. Parents are welcome to attend the service at 8 p.m. and the Oneg Shabbat following the service.

To RSVP, answer questions or if you need a place to stay for Shabbat, contact Debbie Coltin, 978-740-4428 or dcoltin@rilcf.org.

Y2I Community Trip Returns

To see photos of the 110 teens from 19 communities and 55 Israeli teens on the free Community Trip of the Robert I. Lappin Youth to Israel Adventure, click here.

Y2I Teens Return from Life-Changing Trip to Israel 

By Amy Sessler Powell

For Hannah Wolf, the free Robert I. Lappin Youth to Israel Adventure Community Trip provided a connection to Judaism that she nearly lost and was happy to find.

For Jon Gil and Ethan Cohen, the free Community Trip provided a connection to so many new Jewish friends who live nearby.

And for Sara Lodgen, the free Community Trip provided an opportunity to see and feel the land that she has studied for so many years at Cohen Hillel Academy and Prozdor Hebrew High School.

Though the free Community Trip provided these things, it also provided so much more to 110 teens from 19 communities on the North Shore who recently returned. The trip provided a connection on multiple levels, from connecting more strongly to existing friends to making brand new Jewish friends from the North Shore, from connecting to 55 Israeli teens who joined the trip in Israel to the connection with the land of Israel, their Jewish heritage and the understanding that they are part of the greater Jewish family, something unique and special. It is a trip that enhanced their Jewish pride.

Andy Bernstein, 16, from Danvers said, “You just feel the connection when you are there. It is just a whole different feeling when you are walking around and you know that Jews have been walking around that land for thousands of years. It made me feel like I have something special and I want to work with it more than I do.”

The Robert I. Lappin Youth to Israel Adventure includes a free Community Trip to Israel provided every summer funded by the Robert I. Lappin 1992 Supporting Foundation to every single Jewish sophomore and junior living in the service area of the Foundation. The Y2I Adventure includes pre and post-trip programs for teens and parents, and community service for teens. The Robert I. Lappin Youth to Israel Adventure is the most successful teen Israel experience in the country, attracting more than 60 percent of the identified pool of teens that participate compared to the national average of less than 10 percent for the non-Orthodox. The key to success is the full subsidy, in place since 1996, though trips have been subsidized since 1971.

Robert I. Lappin, trustee of the Lappin Foundations explained the purpose of the trip. “A teen Israel experience enhances Jewish identity, connects them to Israel and causes them to realize that they are members of the Jewish family, a wonderful and unique people. It is the one of the most cost effective ways to help keep our children Jewish,” he said.

For many, the trip motivated them to get more involved in their Judaism, to commit to staying Jewish and marrying Jewish. For Hannah Wolf, 16, of Marblehead, a turning point in the trip was the discussion with Shlomo “Momo” Lifshitz, the president of Oranim, the Israeli tour company, who is known for his passion for the Jewish homeland.

“He said that 1 million Jews have disappeared and I thought that all those people lost had their faith in Judaism. I have so many distractions day to day from sports to friends that I don’t concentrate on Judaism at all. I have not had a bat-mitzvah because it really didn’t mean anything to me and I didn’t want to take the time. Other things in my life felt more important and now I feel differently.”

Wolf, who is now planning to study for a Bat-Mitzvah said her thinking was also influenced by one of the Israeli teens she met on the trip, Shafi. “She thought it must be different to grow up in a place with so many different religions, but she made me feel like it was really important to stay Jewish and raise children Jewish,” Wolf said.

Carly Mears, 14, of Beverly, also felt recommitted to her Jewish faith after her visit to the Western Wall. “I went to Hillel and these were all the places we talked about in school, but I have not been focusing on the Jewish aspects of my life. When we went to the Western Wall, I touched the wall and put a note in and I thought I would never do that in my whole life, but I got to do it. It made me want to be more Jewish.”

Jonathan Gil, 16, from Swampscott, had already been to Israel many times with his family, but he said it was a completely different feeling to go with a huge group of peers and interestingly he described it as a “family feeling.”

“All of us became so close that it was like a family feeling,” said Gil. “I didn’t know I would meet all these kids who live near me. I go to private school and it is a lot harder to see the kids from my own town so it was a really good thing for me.”

Ethan Cohen of Newburyport echoed those sentiments. Cohen attends high school in Maine where his mother lives, but spends equal time with his father in Newburyport, where he knows fewer teens because he does not attend school there.

“I expected it to be a nice free trip where I saw the country and cool places, but it was much more than I expected,” said Cohen, who knew only one other teen before he left. “I actually made a lot of cool friends and learned a lot about the history and the culture.”

Many of the teens continued socializing with each other the minute they returned. Sara Logden, 16, of Marblehead, said she ended up hanging out with some of the trip people the same day they returned. By the end of the first weekend home, many of the teens had gotten together with their trip friends, had sleepovers and others had used text messaging and emails to keep in touch with both the local teens and the Israeli teens from the trip. “We are talking to a lot of kids online and the consensus is that we all miss Israel, we miss each other and we want to go back,” said Bernstein.

Coltin found it fascinating to watch the teens evolve over the course of trip. “There were moments on the plane, in the tunnels where kids had fears or reservations and they really relied on each other to get through them,” she said.

The biggest change from start to finish is the way the teens express their Jewish pride. “In the beginning of the trip, a few teens are wearing Jewish stars, but by the end, most are wearing stars and Jewish-themed T-shirts. When the bus stopped for a break in Milford, Conn., kids streamed out in their ‘Super-Jew’ T-shirts and it was so beautiful,” Coltin said.

Some of the teens said Israel looked a lot different than they expected. Jeremy Cohen, 16, of Beverly said he expected it to be run down or mostly full of stone walls. “I was really surprised at how modern it was and by all the different lifestyles and cultures within Israel, a place the size of New Jersey,” he said, noting the differences between the ancient stone walls of Jerusalem and the modern cities of Tel Aviv and Eilat.

For Meddie Levinson, 16, of Danvers, a highlight was having dinner with the family of an Israeli friend. “They could not have been more welcoming, they hugged us and told us to come back and stay with them and they really meant it. It was the best feeling to be welcomed by these people who have the same background as you,” Levinson said.

“For kids who are thinking about going, I highly suggest they do it because it’s a great experience,” said Ethan Cohen. “I knew one out of 110 kids there and made new friends really easily. I’d like to go back but I’m not sure when I will get the chance.”

Teens Return From Trip of a Lifetime, Y2I 2007

By Amy Sessler Powell

When Jessica Petrino arrived in Israel she was overwhelmed by the sense of community.

“I felt surrounded by Jewish culture and Jewish people and it was very different for me in a very good way. I felt more at home and like I was part of something that everyone else there was part of and I really liked it,” said Petrino, 16, of Rockport.

Petrino was one of the 95 teens from 18 communities that returned last week from the free Robert I. Lappin Youth to Israel Adventure community trip. Others, like her, were thrilled to be in an all-Jewish place.

“I felt so at home because I was not a minority anymore. Everyone around you is Jewish and there is a feeling like you are around your own people,” said Michael Hershberg, 16 of Wenham.

Deborah Coltin, Y2I Executive Director, echoed the theme of Jewish community. The teens came from so many different local communities and really got to know each other as a North Shore community, she said. Then, they started the “mifgash,” a part of the trip where Israeli teens join the American teens and travel together, ultimately hosting them for two days and one night in their homes.

“It is amazing how much they have in common because they are Jewish teenagers and part of the Jewish family,” said Coltin.

The Y2I program is a year-long program of education with pre-and-post-trip programming, highlighted by the free trip to Israel. Teens have the choice of going on the community trip or receiving a $3000 subsidy to go on another approved Israel trip, usually through a Jewish overnight camp, youth group or school exchange.

Robert I. Lappin, trustee of the Robert I. Lappin 1992 Supporting Foundation that subsidizes the Y2I program explained the purpose of the trip. “A teen Israel experience enhances Jewish identity, connects them to Israel and causes them to realize that they are members of the Jewish family, a wonderful and unique people. It is the one of the most cost effective ways to help keep our children Jewish,” he said.

The Robert I. Lappin Youth to Israel Adventure is one of the most successful teen Israel experiences in the country, attracting approximately 60 percent of the identified pool of teens that participate compared to the national average of less than 10 percent. The key to success is the full subsidy, in place since 1996, though trips have been subsidized since 1971. This year marked the first time, another community, Andover, traveled with the community trip. The Andover group was one of eight communities to receive a national Youth to Israel partnership matching grant from the Robert I. Lappin Charitable Foundation that covers half the cost of the trip for those communities. The conditions of the grant are that the trip must be free to the teens and the teens must be Jewish.

The teens on the community trip toured many parts of Israel including Jerusalem, Masada, the Dead Sea, Eilat, Tel Aviv, Tzfat, Jaffa, the Golan Heights and more. They spent their Sabbaths in Jerusalem at the Kotel (Western Wall) and in the homes of their new Israeli friends. Many were pressed to name a highlight.

“It was a life changing experience,” said Kyle Farmer, 17, of Marblehead, who along with his twin brother Alex and seven other teens celebrated their B’nai Mitzvah atop Masada.

“I really didn’t want to go at first and now I wish I was still there. It is probably the one time I will ever go on a trip as good as this. We were halfway around the world and they have a different way of life, yet I felt like I was a part of it because everyone was Jewish.”

Along with the wonderful feeling of belonging, Farmer enjoyed all that he saw in Israel. “I loved the Dead Sea and snorkeling in the Red Sea. I liked feeling independent. One of the best parts was staying with the Israeli families. They were really welcoming and I felt right at home with them,” said Farmer.

Y2I Director Rachel Jacobson likes to remind the teens of the first few introductory sessions to the program when they were not sure they wanted to go, not sure they would make friends. These feeling of nervousness dissolved minutes after they boarded the buses in Peabody to begin their adventure.

“Now they can see that this is an amazing trip and they each have something special to bring back to the community. They developed an attachment to Israel and to the culture. Spending time with the Israeli families made them feel part of the family. The teens are thanking us and hugging us all the time,” said Jacobson.

Though they were halfway around the world, many of the teens say one of the best parts was befriending so many Jewish teens from the North Shore that they might not have met. Sara Sommerstein, 16, of Marblehead said she really didn’t want to go on the trip, but Rachel convinced her.

“Now I just want to hang out with other people from the trip. I feel so close to them and I never thought I would experience something like that,” said Sommerstein. “We are also in touch with the Israelis. We definitely still have that connection.”

At the Kotel at Shabbat, Coltin described a scene of hearing languages from all over the world. As the group watched people dancing, Debbie urged them to join in. “We started dancing and women jumped in speaking Spanish and Russian. But we have something in common. We are all Jews.”

Understanding what it means to be a Jew was a big part of the experience for several teens. Leah Zwemke, 16, of Boxford said that praying at the Western Wall and dancing there on Shabbat made her realize that it is possible to be a Jew by being connected to community. Petrino agreed that being Jewish is not just about how often she shows up in synagogue but how she lives her life. “It’s about being a good person, doing mizvot.”

Teens Trips to Israel Work

How do we know teen trips to Israel work to reverse the trend of intermarriage and assimilation? The 2000 National Jewish Population Survey gave us the answer. The study found that of people who traveled as a teen to Israel:

• 96 percent are raising their children Jewish, including intermarried
• 83 percent who married, married Jewish

To see if the trip was working in our community, we conducted a local survey much like the NJPS. We polled 174 past participants and found that:

• 95 percent are raising their children Jewish, including intermarried
• 85 percent of the respondents who are married, married Jewish

Y2I Community Partnerships

The Robert I. Lappin Charitable Foundation is offering national matching grants for the fourth year in a row, for the summer of 2009, encouraging partnerships with communities across the U.S. to promote free summer Israel trips for Jewish teens. Jewish communities, which had 20 teens or less, who traveled to Israel in 2008, are invited to apply for matching grants for fully subsidized teen trips to Israel.

Getting our teens to Israel helps keep them Jewish. Here, on Massachusett’s North Shore, we are sending 60 percent of the available pool of teens to Israel with free trips compared to less than 10 percent nationally. The key to our success is the full subsidy, a program we expanded to the national level in 2006. For the summer of 2008, we have awarded matching grants up to $200,000 to Naples, FL, Sarasota, FL, South Bend, IN and Nashville, TN. For the summer of 2007, we awarded matching grants of up to $270,000 for free summer teen Israel trips to eight communities including Cape Cod, Mass. and Wichita, Kan. for a second year, and to Andover, Mass., Buffalo, N.Y, Oklahoma City, Okla., Sarasota, Fla., Maitland, Fla. and Youngstown, Ohio. In 2006, we piloted matching grants of $217,500 in Austin, Texas; Cape Cod, Mass.; Peoria, Ill.; Stamford, Conn.; Wichita, Kan. and Elmira, N.Y.

If you are a funder or professional who is serious about wanting to reverse the trend of intermarriage and assimilation, call us to see how we can work together to provide fully subsidized Israel experiences for our teens. For more information or an application, call Deborah Coltin, Executive Director, 978-740-4428 or email dcoltin@rilcf.org.