A Place for Your Spirit

I’d like to share a question from this month’s Jewish Journeys Booklet, Israel and the Jewish Spirit:

Think about your own personal challenges. Do you have a place, either physical or spiritual, where you find refuge? How does this inform your ideas about the Jewish people and the State of Israel?*

Do you have a place, either physical or spiritual, where you find refuge?

Come with me to my special place. We’ll glide silently on my paddle board through the corners of the marina where geese hide their newly hatched chicks. The only sound you’ll hear is the chicks chirping and the oar quietly slicing the water.

Suddenly the phone hanging on a cord around my neck rings. I answer it on my Apple Watch, Dick Tracy style. It’s the parent of a teen, asking if we’ve received his son’s Chai Mitzvah Teen Summer Israel Travel Stipend application.

Every year, teens who complete one of our courses through school or youth groups can receive up to $1000 towards a summer trip to Israel. To date, more than 300 teens have received the Chai Mitzvah Teen Summer Israel Travel Stipend. This stipend is not needs-based and can be combined with other scholarships. Teens who’ve received this stipend have reported that they learned a great deal by participating in Chai Mitzvah, and that their summer trips have connected them deeply to Israel.

Today, it is more important than ever for Jewish teens to connect to Israel before they encounter the anti-Israel sentiment on college campuses. Chai Mitzvah is working with different campus organizations to offer a course based on Scott Shay’s recent book, Conspiracy U: A Case Study. Through this course, students gain information about manifestations of global antisemitism and other forms of prejudice. Students who complete this course are also eligible for a scholarship towards travel to Israel.

And there is one more, brand new way for Chai Mitzvah participants to earn a scholarship towards Israel travel: the Aseret Israel Scholars Program. Chai Mitzvah developed this program in partnership with Project Aseret, a global movement focused on learning and living with the core values of the Ten Commandments. It is specifically designed to connect the values in the Ten Commandments to places in Israel, whether for a trip to Israel, or for a virtual trip. For physical trips, a stipend is available to Aseret Israel Scholar families for Israel travel.

Even if you’re not planning a trip to Israel right now, you might be interested in how the Ten Commandments connect to places in Israel. So, please join us on June 2, 2022, from 7:30 pm – 8:30 pm ET for an unusual Tikkun Leil Shavuot: Traveling the Ten Commandments. Through text-based conversation and virtual travel, we will explore the Power of Words, Respect for What is Sacred, and Seeing Our Life as a Gift – through inspirational sites in Israel. Here is the link to register.

If you’d like more info on any of the programs above, please contact me, nina@chaimitzvah.org

*I’d also really love to hear your thoughts about the question above, please respond in the box below!