Recent Stockton College grad in love with Israel & Judaism

AGE: 22

FAMILY: Parents, Hallie Freedman and the late Tony Yeni; brother, Zac (20)

SYNAGOGUE: Cong. Beth El

FAVORITE FOODS: Buffalo Wings and "movie theater popcorn"

HOBBIES: Movies, bike riding, reading, eating out

FAVORITE MOVIES: "Life is Beautiful," "Fargo," and "There Will Be Blood"

Alex Yeni is focused on the Jewish future. Alex, known to her friends as "AJ" after her first and middle names "Alexandra Josephine," just graduated from Stockton College and is interning at the Israeli consulate in Philadelphia. She is also the South Jersey outreach coordinator for Young Jewish Leadership Concepts (YJLC), an organization that brings young Jewish professionals together to meet, expand their Jewish horizons, and become leaders in the Jewish community. One of YJLC's signature programs is "Israel Encounter," its annual trip to Israel. Yeni is looking forward to going to Israel with the group on July 2.

"I love Israel," said Yeni, a native of Cherry Hill who wants a career in Israel advocacy or Middle East diplomacy. At the Israeli consulate, she works on cultural, academic, and media affairs. "It's really fun and exciting, but a lot of hard work."

Part of Yeni's job is reading everything printed about Israel in the mid-Atlantic region. "I worry about how Israel is perceived in the media," she said. Yeni said that she wants Israel's image to be as positive as possible.

Yeni pointed to the recent Israeli incursion into Gaza as an example of how the media distorts Israel. She said that some media outlets focused exclusively on Israel's army in Gaza and omitted the fact that Israel went into Gaza in response to an unceasing missile barrage coming from the Hamas-controlled territory. "The news you got depended on what channel you were watching. Some people perceived Israel negatively because they did not have the information."

In order to further her career, Yeni is learning Arabic. "I don't think you can be involved in Middle East diplomacy without knowing Arabic."

There was not a lot of Jewish life at Stockton, according to Yeni. She said that the school has a strong Judaic and Holocaust studies program, but not many active Jewish students. This was a marked contrast with Yeni's pre-college environment.

"Everything revolved around Judaism," said Yeni of her upbringing. She went to Kellman Academy, Akiba, and spent summers at Ramah in the Poconos. The family celebrated Shabbat dinners together. Her father, Tony, even decided to change careers. An accountant, he studied to be a rabbi at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College. Tragically, he became ill and passed away.

Yeni is working with local rabbis as part of her outreach efforts for YJLC. The group has a program called the "Bubbie and Zayde Network." Yeni reaches out to grandparents and rabbis to identify recent college graduates living in the area. She then encourages them to come to a YJLC event.