Meet the Humans of Shlichut | The Jewish Agency – U.S.Meet the Humans of Shlichut

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Ohad Tal, Shaliach

27 Sep Meet the Humans of Shlichut

Posted at 10:30h in Stories by
Across the United States

Meet the Humans of Shlichut
Hundreds of Shlichim (Israeli emissaries) are sent around the world to serve in Jewish communities every year. But what are their stories?

Photo by Erez Kaganovitz
Photos and stories by Erez Kaganovitz, founder of Humans of Tel Aviv, Humans of Israel, and Humans of the Holocaust, which tell the Israeli and Jewish story.

Erez Kaganovitz, a photojournalist based in Tel Aviv, started the Humans of Tel Aviv project seven years ago shortly after seeing the success of Humans of New York. His time documenting the lives of Tel Avivians and other Israelis that he met on the street, in addition to speaking in front of many Jewish communities around the world, enabled him to meet amazing Shlichim bringing the Israeli story to global Jewry.

“Every Shaliach (emissary) has a story to tell. They all come from different backgrounds but they definitely share the same DNA,” said Erez. “They all have this incredible commitment to Israeli society and to world Jewry and want to connect global Jewry to the Jewish state. Their work is key to a vibrant and thriving relationship between Israeli and Diaspora Jews.”

The project was initiated by the Shlichut Institute in collaboration with the Network of Shlichut Alumni. Just like the other “Humans of” projects, Erez photographed his subjects and had them share their stories. Here are three from some of our amazing Shlichim who have served in America.

“I was born in Jerusalem and grew up during the second Intifada, which was not an easy experience for me. I remember that on trips downtown I’d get off the bus three times because I was afraid it was going to explode. I would walk in the street and hear an ambulance siren and worry whether anyone I knew had been injured in a suicide bombing. Today, I live in Be’er Sheva and have to deal with the air raid siren, so my Israeli experience is interwoven with the history of this place. But despite the anxiety that living in Israel can provoke, I am an optimistic person, and this optimism has accompanied me all my life.

The world of Shlichut was far from me, but at the end of my army service I got an email from The Jewish Agency inviting me to go on Shlichut at one of their summer camps abroad, and after a long vetting process I found myself in St. Louis, Missouri. It was a crazy change because I was still enlisted in the army while doing Shlichut. I exchanged my morning routine at the military base with singing and dancing at the summer camp with hundreds of Jewish children. It was such a meaningful experience for me that over the past few years I’ve gone back six more times to be a counselor at different summer camps because I felt that I was successful in making a difference.

Today, I’m a social worker in an empowerment and feminism program for girls, and also part of a youth organization called “The Network: Be’er Sheva,” whose mission is to promote culture and volunteerism in the city, with an emphasis on teens.

From my multiple Shlichut experiences, I discovered a rich and self-contained Jewish world that is interested in a true bond with Israel. I learned not to judge people for their choices or way of life, and that there is room for everyone in the Jewish world. And I keep this in mind in my life in Israel today.”

– Noa Cohen, Be’er Sheva, Summer Camp Shlichut in St. Louis, USA

Photos and stories created by Erez Kaganovitz, founder of Humans of Tel Aviv, Humans of Israel, and Humans of the Holocaust, which tell the Israeli and Jewish story.
Photos and stories created by Erez Kaganovitz, founder of Humans of Tel Aviv, Humans of Israel, and Humans of the Holocaust, which tell the Israeli and Jewish story.

“I was born in Ashkelon and during Operation Cast Lead, the air raid siren was my alarm clock. I still remember the sprints, which wouldn’t have disappointed Usain Bolt, to the stairwell or the nearest bomb shelter. I felt that I was living in a crazy reality, and it frustrated me that people around the world didn’t understand what we were going through. I wanted to explain the Israeli reality to them, and this desire brought me to The Jewish Agency.

I ended up doing Shichut in Baltimore, landing in the homes of three host families who took me in as a guest over the course of the year and welcomed me with open arms. The encounter with the Jewish community of Baltimore showed me a different Judaism. In Israel, you aren’t concerned much, if at all, with your Jewish identity. But when you are 10,000 kilometers from your home you start to discover new things: men and women can pray together, girls can be called up to the Torah, and Kabbalat Shabbat can be a fun event. This Shlichut changed my life.

When I returned to Israel, instead of being a paramedic, I served as a commander and officer in the Education Corps. After getting my bachelor’s degree in Biology, I realized the Jewish world is calling to me, and I started working at The Jewish Agency as a coordinator of the Gap Year Shlichut overseas. At the same time, I started studying for a master’s degree in Jewish Education, in a program for returned Shlichim at Hebrew University with Hebrew Union College, because I wanted to deepen my pedagogical knowledge.

At holidays my family calls me ‘Ronit the Rabbi’ because I try to inject a little more traditional Jewish content to our holiday meals. I do this because it’s important to me to connect them to the Jewish experience that I had in Baltimore. I’m still secular, but with a strong Jewish identity. None of this would have happened without my year of service in Baltimore.”

– Ronit Pinsky, Ashkelon, Gap Year Shlichut in Baltimore, USA

Photos and stories created by Erez Kaganovitz, founder of Humans of Tel Aviv, Humans of Israel, and Humans of the Holocaust, which tell the Israeli and Jewish story.
Photos and stories created by Erez Kaganovitz, founder of Humans of Tel Aviv, Humans of Israel, and Humans of the Holocaust, which tell the Israeli and Jewish story.

“I was born in the Katamon neighborhood of Jerusalem to a traditionally-observant mother and secular father. I remember more than once people asked me why my father doesn’t wear a yarmulke. When I was young, it was difficult to explain the complexity of Jewish identity, but because of this challenge, I wanted to learn as much as possible. That curiosity led me to go on Shlichut to the Hillel at the University of Maryland.

On Shlichut, as I expected, I was exposed to a Jewish world that was totally different from what I was familiar with in Israel. What struck me the most was the idea of choosing to be a Jew. In Israel, you are a Jew by default, and don’t invest too much effort into it. In the Diaspora, you have to be active in order to be Jewish. When I came back to Israel I understood that here, too, there is a widely-encompassing Jewish culture, even if it’s not yet actualized the way it is overseas. This realization made me finally feel comfortable with my Jewish identity.

To me, Judaism is first and foremost a culture. The main aspects of the tradition that I observe, I choose consciously because they are meaningful to me. This conscious choice is the biggest lesson I’ve taken from Shlichut.”

– Yael Gertel, Jerusalem, Jewish Agency Israel Fellow to the University of Maryland, USA

Photos and stories created by Erez Kaganovitz, founder of Humans of Tel Aviv, Humans of Israel, and Humans of the Holocaust, which tell the Israeli and Jewish story.
Photos and stories created by Erez Kaganovitz, founder of Humans of Tel Aviv, Humans of Israel, and Humans of the Holocaust, which tell the Israeli and Jewish story.
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