JTS Mission to Israel: Student Perspectives

NEW YORK, NY - DECEMBER 15, 2002 — In a bold move to spur travel to Israel, the Jewish State's Ministry of Tourism has reached out to the future leadership of Conservative Jewry through the movement's flagship academic and spiritual center, The Jewish Theological Seminary.

Inviting JTS students to sign on to a subsidized solidarity mission to Israel, to take place Wednesday, Jan. 8 through Monday, Jan. 13, 2003, the ministry has designated participants official "ambassadors," who will return from their six-day journey prepared to encourage diverse communities and constituencies across the United States to put trips to Israel on the top of their agendas. In exchange for their lobbying efforts, through speaking engagements, teach-ins and articles and letters-to-the-editor submitted for publication, students will receive support from the ministry to help finance their travel expenses.

Unlike the raft of previous solidarity missions and several currently in the planning stages, the JTS mission is only the second student-focused mission to engage future Jewish leadership in an official capacity, through one of Israel's ministries.

The previous one, which took place a year ago, was conducted by the Modern Orthodox Yeshiva University. However, in an apparent nod to the importance of enlisting the support of the non-Orthodox Jews who comprise the vast majority of American Jewry, the ministry this time turned to JTS, whose students will in the not-too-distant future be front and center as the liberal community's lay, religious, educational and communal leaders.

(from official JTS Press Release, full text available at http://www.jtsa.edu/news/press/20022003/20021215b.shtml)

Three student perspectives:

www.koach.org/kocmay03sokol.htm

www.koach.org/kocmay03roth.htm

www.koach.org/kocmay03yohlin.htm

[Posted 4/30/03]