Last week, we had the pleasure of hosting Machtz, a teen leadership group from our Israeli partner community of Arad. Machatz is a two-year program built around the values are leadership and empowerment and supported by our Federation’s Global Connections Living Bridges initiative.
While here, the teens participated in Camp Yachad at the JCC Central where they facilitated Israel Day. They visited Temple Beth-El Mekor Chayim in Cranford and discussed Jewish life in the Diaspora with Federation President Michael Goldberg and other members of the community.
A large part of the experience was learning about Jewish life – and just life – in America. The teens had the opportunity see American life first-hand and make deeper connections as they were all hosted by families from our community.
From New Jersey they traveled to the Tel Yehuda camp in upstate New York and spent Shabbat with teens their age, getting the full experience of an overnight camp for the first time. And after a week full of fun and new experiences, the group flew back to Israel.
We’re excited to announce that next year we plan to bring back an American cohort of Machtz. For more details, reach out to me at treshef@jfedgmw.org.