Stephanie Kreitzer was packed onto a bus in a foreign country with about 40 students for 10 days. She discovered a new place to call home and developed a newfound sense of pride for her Jewish heritage during Taglit-Birthright Israel.
UF was recently selected for a two-year pilot program inspired by Boston’s Combined Jewish Philanthropies’ Israel Campus Initiative that will encourage students to attend the Birthright program, an all-expenses-paid trip to Israel, and provide support for them both before and after they return.
“I went on Birthright after my freshman year and have been back three times since, so clearly I'm hooked,” Kreitzer said.
The Israel Campus Initiative (IACT) was formed by Boston’s CJP in partnership with Hillel International, the world’s largest Jewish student organization. While the program is currently being run by colleges in Boston, UF was chosen among four other universities to expand the program: University of Texas-Austin, Ohio State University, University of Maryland and University of California-Santa Barbara.
Edward Fein, the New York native who is funding IACT’s two-year expansion with more than $3.1 million, said in a press release that IACT has been instrumental in leveraging the Birthright opportunity and ensuring that students are able to continue their Jewish journey well after they get back to campus.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a current participant in Boston’s CJP IACT, provides activities that give Jewish students the opportunity to reunite with their peers who traveled with them to Israel. Through IACT, MIT’s Hillel has also held events such as “Musing, Schmoozing and Sushi” and drum circles during the Jewish holiday of Sukkot.
MIT IACT assistant director Marissa Feinman said that sometimes students pick topics of interest in partnership with the campus rabbi and host events for Jewish and non-Jewish students alike. Such topics have included interfaith dating, Jews and tattoos, and life in outer space, a subject that Feinman said “is very MIT.”
With the example set by Boston universities and the help of some new faces, UF’s Hillel will bring this program to life. Rabbi Adam Grossman will be moving to Gainesville soon and will lead UF’s IACT program as the CEO of Hillel.
“IACT expands the opportunity for students to connect Jewishly,” Grossman said. “It provides an avenue to create greater meaning with one’s Jewish identity and looks to transfer those positive memories and experiences into a greater connection with one’s Judaism.”
UF alumna Gia Campana was recently hired to take on the position of UF IACT coordinator.
“She will be recruiting individuals to go to Birthright as well as creating innovative enriching experiences for individuals to partake in on and around campus,” Grossman said. “This really provides Hillel a unique opportunity to redefine itself and what is possible with Hillel’s engagement with students on campus.”
Kreitzer, who recently returned to Israel for the summer, said she will participate in UF’s new IACT program.
“After Birthright is over, it's hard to find a support system for everything you experienced during those 10 days, and you begin to lose your connection to Israel,” she said. “I think it would be a huge benefit to have Birthright reunions and other events that help bring the meaningful memories that keep your relationship with Israel alive.”
