Rachel Feuer isn’t changing her travel plans. Daily violence rages on in the Middle East, constantly threatening the region’s stability, but Feuer’s mind is unconflicted.
She’s going.
Feuer, a Weinberg freshman who lived in Israel for three years and studied there for a semester last year, says that the fighting scares her but won’t stop her from joining 10 to 15 other NU students from heading to the embattled country as part of a trip led by Hillel and Students for Israel.
“Americans consider it so dangerous to go there, but there is a whole nation of people who have to live there,” Feuer said. “There is a nation of people who are going about their normal lives, and I think people tend to forget that.”
The group will head to Kiryat Gat, a small community in southern Israel. For many, it will be their first trip to the country. Working at an Argentine and Ethiopian absorption center, the students will help immigrants adapt to Israeli society.
Rather than take side trips to Tel Aviv beaches, Feuer said the group is choosing instead to staff summer camps in the safer desert community.
“It is not a good time in a lot of ways, but I think that the importance outweighs how scary it might be,” Feuer said. “We picked this town partially because of security, and there is a program (Partnership 2000) that hooks up cities in the U.S. with cities in Israel.”
Though he calls traveling to Israel a strong, powerful and adventurous experience, Hillel Director Rabbi Michael Mishkin said it has been more difficult to persuade students and parents who have never been there.
“There are attachments a lot of people, specifically Jewish people, have to Israel,” Mishkin said. “There are a lot of forces, but I think it is particularly attractive to young adults.”
Mishkin also said a change in itinerary might be necessary to reduce possible safety risks, but that Hillel and other groups would cancel the trips if the students were in danger.
Other NU groups also plan to travel to Israel this summer, as Hillel offers a birthright program giving a free trip to Jews ages 18 to 26 who haven’t been to Israel before. Philanthropists, the Israeli government and Jewish communities worldwide have sent more than 24,000 Jews to Israel on a variety of 10-day trips during the last 30 months.
“Everything is so organized (that) the possibility for something terrible happening is very small,” Chabad Rabbi Dov Klein said.
He said that no students on similar programs have been killed or injured by such violence.
Brad Cutler, who went on a birthright trip last year, said he had the time of his life and felt safe, especially since an Israeli soldier traveled with the group the entire time.
“I’ve never felt more welcome in a foreign country than I felt in Israel,” said Cutler, a Weinberg junior . “People thanked us for coming.”
Still, safety remains a concern that could threaten the plans of NU students hoping to study abroad in Israel in the fall.
Bill Anthony, director of NU’s Study Abroad Office, said the office would decide by May 31 whether it would be safe for NU students to study in Israel during Fall Quarter.
“That gives us time to monitor events in Israel and get a better feel for the situation,” Anthony said.
Anthony said only four students have applied for Fall Quarter program, which begins at the end of July.
Anthony said the past two years have seen atypical participation rates because of the violence. In the future, he said he hopes 15 to 20 students will study in Israel each year.
“My hope is that once things quiet down and are more stable, we can be more aggressive in sending students to Israel,” he said.
