Instead of sending his friends and family a stack of typical tourist-geared postcards, Benjamin Garvey used water from the Sea of Galilee to paint watercolor postcards — and captured a piece of Israel for those who couldn’t be there.
Garvey was one of 40 Jewish students from the University who spent 10 days in Israel last summer. Hillel, a group for Jewish life on campus, is offering 40 students a free, 10-day trip to Israel again this June. The trip offers college students the chance to tour the country’s most contemporary and historic sites.
The deadline for registration to participate in the trip is March 7.
As the largest Jewish organization in the world, with foundations and affiliates on 500 campuses around the globe, Hillel is offering this intense program to college students ages 18-26 who have never been to Israel before.
Philanthropists Charles Bronfman and Michael Steinhardt created the trip, and it has continued through a $210 million partnership from a group of prominent philanthropists, local Jewish federations and the Israeli government.
Garvey recommended students take part in the trip to see highlights such as the sunrise on the Masada archaeological site. Other features of the trip include visits to Tel Aviv in Jerusalem, the Dead Sea and the Western Wall.
“It was an amazing opportunity. It’s a free trip. There’s no catch,” Garvey said. “I definitely want to go back and do it again and spend more time in certain areas.”
Garvey, a senior journalism major, said the trip was packed with events, including lectures and discussions about his identity and faith.
Boris Dolin, the programming adviser for Hillel, said the trip has been a success so far, and many students come back from Israel and become leaders in their Hillels.
“One of the big problems in the Jewish community is that college students do not have a good outlet for Judaism in college,” Dolin said.
Dolin said he hopes because of last summer’s program that this year’s trip will offer students a place to explore their Judaism.
Matt Nelkin, a senior religious studies major, attended the trip last year and said it offers students a chance to get in touch with their roots.
“It is the homeland of the Jewish people and just being there helps strengthen a sense of identity,” Nelkin said.
Nelkin also said the trip encourages education about Judaism.
“Through the discussions it is not necessarily a discussion about how to be more religious, but just a matter of discussing what it means to be part of the Jewish people in the 21st century,” Nelkin said.
Daniel Gruber, a junior physics major, said he came away from the trip with a sense of history about his people and bonded with other students from the University in the process.
Students can contact Hillel at 343-8920 for more information about the trip.