“All of us on the Jewish Agency’s Garin Tzabar program came to Israel without friends or immediate family. By connecting us with a kibbutz, the program gave us a place to call home and the chance to make new friends.”

From Switzerland to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), Felix Palacci, 21, began a new chapter in his life when he made aliyah and entered the army’s prestigious paratroopers unit just last year. Growing up, Felix was very involved with the Jewish youth movement Bnei Akiva and would come to Israel nearly every summer to visit his father’s family. More