By Sharon Reisman Conway, Director, SNEC Israeli Young Emissary Program

The SNEC Israeli Young Emissaries are making an impact wherever they go. They are literally meeting thousands of Americans, from babies to grandparents, Jews and non Jews and impressing everyone they meet.

Some highlights of the year so far have been:

A weekend spent at the University of Connecticut Hillel House where they were hosted by American students.  They joined together for Shabbat services and dinner, slept in the student dormitories and then spent the weekend enjoying getting to know each other and sharing about life in Israel. Many friendships were formed during the weekend especially with the university students who were about to leave for a Birthright trip. We are hoping to do a followup program with them after their return.

A day long teaching event at an American public high school where the Young Emissaries taught all day about Israel in the school’s social studies classes. The school has only a handful of Jews (out of 460 students) so the day was enlightening for both the Americans and the Israelis.

Numerous new initiatives in our communities including Israeli movie nights with discussions, Hebrew conversation groups for adults and many many creative projects creating people to people connections with our 2 regions.

This is the 4th year that I am directing the program on the American side.  I am proud to report that our program is viewed nationally as the role model for the development and implementation of the Israeli Young Emissary concept. I have joined JAFI staff in consulting with Milwaukee, Washington, D.C., Cincinnati, Toronto and Greensboro, N.C. either regarding their interest in starting the program or addressing questions regarding the actual running of the program. We can all feel proud that the program started in our region, as a result of our partnership!