Federation Mission to Israel taking 72 locals to the homeland





Federation’s Mission to Israel is its first in 13 years. Joining the mission are (from left), Rabbi Aaron Krupnick, Federation Vice President and President-Elect Vicki Zell, Rabbi Steven Lindemann, Federation Planning Director Ronit Boyd, Federation CEO Jennifer Dubrow Weiss, and Mission Chairs Betsy and Bob Schwartz and Margie and Mark Dannenbaum.

Federation’s Mission to Israel is its first in 13 years. Joining the mission are (from left), Rabbi Aaron Krupnick, Federation Vice President and President-Elect Vicki Zell, Rabbi Steven Lindemann, Federation Planning Director Ronit Boyd, Federation CEO Jennifer Dubrow Weiss, and Mission Chairs Betsy and Bob Schwartz and Margie and Mark Dannenbaum.

Danny Silverberg’s three sons returned from Confirmation trips to Israel transformed by their experiences. His wife Heidi, who visited as a teenager, also feels a strong connection to the Jewish homeland.

And soon it will be Silverberg’s turn to discover the spiritual, religious and cultural ties that Jews worldwide seek and discover in Eretz Yisrael.

“My middle son came home wearing tzitzit,” said Silverberg, 49, a financial advisor from Cherry Hill, referring to the fringed tassels on prayer shawls. “That’s something that is so outside of the box. I want to have a better sense of what my kids have come to feel for Israel.”

On Mar. 22, Danny and Heidi Silverberg will join 70 other South Jersey residents for the first Mission to Israel sponsored by Jewish Federation of Southern New Jersey in approximately 13 years. Like Danny Silverberg, many of the participants will be experiencing the Holy Land for the first time. Others have been there multiple times. They’re a diverse group, both in terms of age, religious practices, synagogue affiliations and motivation for signing on to the eight-day excursion. More than a third of them are younger couples taking advantage of generous subsidies offered through Federation. Thanks to a fund created to honor former Federation CEO Joel Kaber upon his retirement in 2012, participants 45 and under received a $2,000 stipend, which almost halved the price of the trip. (Those over 45 received $800.)

“I think of this as Birthright for adults,” said Voorhees resident Mira Aumiller, 37, referring to the widely popular Taglit-Birthright Israel 10-day heritage trips offered free to Jewish young adults worldwide. “For Jews in the Diaspora to see Israel is huge.”

Aumiller last visited Israel with her husband Aaron on their honeymoon 15 years ago. She’s particularly excited for Aaron, who majored in Near East history in college, has only been there once and never before on an organized trip.

“We don’t get to go away a whole lot,” she said, noting she created a spreadsheet to help her parents keep track of her four young children’s activities. “This was a brilliant move by Federation. We’re teaching our kids that this is a priority for us. We may not live in the Jewish country, but we go there to visit and support it.”

While the mission will include many of the must-see stops in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Masada and the like, it departs from typical tours, taking participants to off-the-beaten path destinations. For example, the South Jersey contingent will spend time in Arad, Federation’s partnership community in the Negev dessert, and to visit an Israel Defense Force army base.

Leaders expect that when the travelers return home on Mar. 30, many will feel stronger connections to Jewish causes, both in Israel and locally.

“Missions have traditionally been the very best tool that Federations have for involving people, in terms of both their time and financial support, and I’m sure this mission will prove to be no different,” said Kaber.

“There’s an expression that Israel will work its magic, and I have no doubt that will be the case, particularly for the first timers and those who have never been on a Federation mission,” he added. ‘I think it’s equally true that Federation staff and volunteers will ask participants to become more involved. Those two things, married together, will make for the success of the trip.”

Another unique aspect is the inclusion of two rabbis from different congregations who are combining forces to serve as mission leaders, in addition to the Israeli tour guides. Steven Lindemann, senior rabbi at Temple Beth Sholom, and Aaron Krupnick, head rabbi of Cong. Beth El, have already given the group a glimpse of the depth of their knowledge during two pretrip gatherings.

In early March, the group met at TBS in preparation for their first Israeli destination: Independence Hall in Tel Aviv. Leading discussion on Israel’s Declaration of Independence, Krupnick explained the document is something akin to Israel’s mission statement, summing up the rationale for the creation of the Jewish state and the ideals it represents. With lofty goals, such as “offering peace and unity to all the neighboring states and people,” it is clear that Israel is a work in progress, he said.

“You come to Israel with a perfect vision, but you quickly realize it’s a country like any other,” said Krupnick. “And then, pretty soon, you realize it’s a country like no other. There is something unique, something distinct, and something very holy about it…

“There is something that challenges us as Jewish people to be mensches and to really rise above the common denominator,” he added.

Lindemann, focusing on a Declaration passage calling on the Diaspora to rally by the country’s side and to “stand by us,” referred to the South Jersey contingent.

“We’re not tourists when we go to the land of Israel; we’re going to our homeland,” he said. “We go there as pilgrims. We go on a mission.”

(Voice Assistant Editor Jayne Feld will be reporting on the mission as it happens. Look for her posts on the Voice’s web site: www.jewishvoicesnj.org). .


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