“IsraeLinks”: Learning at Mayanot, Volunteering at Kolel Chabad

The beginning of this month marked the close of 18 days of “IsraeLinks” – Three Weeks of Learning and Adventure in Israel, a project of Chabad on Campus International Foundation.

During the trip, a group of 40 students based themselves in Tzfat and Yerushalayim, where they dedicated most of their days to learning. The rest of the time was spent on thrilling excursions in the lap of nature as well as visits to historic sites around Israel.

The group was escorted by a team of shluchim. Accompanying this trip were Rabbi Zalman and Yehudis Bluming (Duke University) and Rabbi Eli Silberstein (Cornell University). The students enjoyed the experiential learning program and strengthened their Jewish connection to the land.

“A unique trip like this has a powerful effect on every one of the students who participate,” says Rabbi Yossy Gordon, Executive Vice-President of Chabad on Campus. “In the last three years, close to 300 students participated in this project. For more than 90% of them, the trip strengthened their ties with Judaism on many levels.”

A second group of IsraeLinks has already landed in Israel to enjoy the learning and touring in this spectacular setting. The group is accompanied by Rabbi Zalman and Miriam Lipskier (Emory), as well as the renowned Chabad lecturer Rabbi Yossi Jacobson.

Israelinks is directed by Rabbi Yossi and Chaya Witkes of the Chabad on Campus International Foundation.

“More than anything else, this project personifies ‘ואתם תלוקטו לאחד אחד’”, says the organization’s chairman, Rabbi Moshe Kotlarsky. ”The inner connection that is made with each participant in such a project has a great effect on every one of them, for all things related to Judaism”.

Photos by: Berala Shainer