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Help Me Get to Israel

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A little more than a year ago, I was sitting in the exact place I am now, trying to figure out how on earth I'd raise and earn enough money to be able to go on a 5-week summer program, NCSY JOLT (Jewish Overseas Leadership Training). With the help of countless individuals, multiple part-time jobs, and of course with G-d's help, I went on the program. I traveled to Poland and places with names too horrible to mention without discussion, where my grandparents and great-parents grew up, lived, and survived, and then to the Austrian Alps, where we ran a camp for teens who wanted to reconnect with the Jewish heritage and legacy of their grandparents and great-grandparents. Finally, we spent the last 2 weeks of the program in Israel. Those 2 weeks might have just been some of the most formative I can remember.

Prior to that experience, I was ambivalent at best about spending a year before going to college to learn in a yeshiva in Israel. After I arrived back in the states, many greeted me with a "Welcome home!". My response was that I wasn't so sure about that.

Those too-few 2 weeks that I spent in Israel convinced me to go back and spend a year learning there before going to college.
Thank you to all who have enabled me to come to this realization. I'm preparing to go through the same process all over again. I've already gotten multiple part-time jobs, applied for multiple scholarships, and now I'm starting this fundraiser. For those who helped set me on this path by helping me go on JOLT, you had faith in me the first time around. With your continued support, and with Yeshivat Ashreinu’s program (more on that below), you will not be disappointed. For those who are reading this and considering helping me, please help me continue on the path I started last summer.

Since that experience, I've used the leadership training I received with your help to do things I never would've considered before, from speaking in front of a crowd of 100+ and 200+ people to being more vocal about the issues I learned about during my time on JOLT, for example, by interviewing Holocaust survivors and turning it into a documentary as part of my high school's Names Not Numbers program and publishing a well-researched op-ed in my school's Israel advocacy newspaper about the plight of Holocaust survivors living under the poverty line in Israel. I can't imagine what will be possible for me to accomplish with the experience I hope to have in Israel learning for a year in Yeshivat Ashreinu in Bet Shemesh. But I can only have that experience with your help, sharing and donating to this fundraiser. Thank you so much for your time. I know that everything will fall into place, with your's and G-d's help.
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Now a little bit about the Yeshiva I hope to attend. Out of all the yeshivot I could’ve picked, I chose Yeshivat Ashreinu because 1) Learning for and spending a year in Israel is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Therefore, I want to be in Israel and not in a building in Israel. Ashreinu’s program emphasizes that and as a result, has more tiyulim and programming in Israel itself than any other yeshiva I looked into. 2) My interest in chessed, nurtured by the experience many of you helped me have last summer, led me to choose a yeshiva which has their own interest in chessed. Yeshivat Ashreinu has more chessed programming than any other yeshiva I looked into.

Some of the numerous opportunities Ashreinu offers to be able to give to others include:

Managing and Coaching Sports Leagues for Underprivileged Children
Magen David Adom (MADA) certified first responders
Big Brother Mentoring and Tutoring Programs
Teaching English as a Second Language
Buddy Program with Yachad and Shalva
Assisting the Elderly
Visiting the sick and infirm

Your help and support for me to go to yeshiva for a year in Israel won’t be doing just that, it’ll also give back to those who need it the most, whether through saving the meaning in the lives of those with little of it left, saving people’s actual lives, or making people’s lives better in general. For more information about Yeshivat Ashreinu, go to https://www.ashreinu.org.il/
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Lastly, commonly asked questions:

Can I use Maaser to donate to this fundraiser?
Yes, Maaser can be used to donate to this fundraiser.

How much do you need to raise?
In order to learn in Israel for the next year, I need to raise and earn $1,000 a month. I plan on covering that by having multiple part-time jobs (working at a local restaurant, waitering for local simchot and events, and odd jobs on the side), applying to as many scholarships as possible, and fundraising through this platform. The goal you currently see posted at the top of this fundraiser ($1,850) is to cover the cost of the flight ($1,782) plus GoFundMe’s transaction fees (2.9% + $0.30 per donation). Once I have been able to cover the flight, I’ll update the goal to reflect the monthly amount.
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Donations 

  • David Hoffman
    • $50 
    • 4 yrs
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Organizer and beneficiary

Jacob Steinberg
Organizer
Passaic, NJ
Chaya Steinberg
Beneficiary

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