Four alumni from the CJDS Class of 2020 - Lilly Cope, Micah Feigelson, Jesse Shapira, and Toren Strauss - are participating in the Young Judaea Year Course Gap Year program in Israel. 128 students from across North America arrived in Israel to begin this Masa affiliated program on September 5, 2024 and will remain in Israel until May 16, 2025.

The program consists of two parts - one semester living in Jerusalem, studying and exploring Jewish and Israeli heritage, language, culture and history, and one semester living in Tel Aviv, working in an internship of their choosing or serving as a volunteer.

Lilly, Jesse, and Micah are currently participating in the Jerusalem semester and will move to Tel Aviv second semester to begin their internships/volunteer opportunities. Toren is currently participating in the Tel Aviv Aviv semester, volunteering for Magan David Adom as an EMT, and will move to Jerusalem second semester.

All four are having an incredible time and are so grateful for the opportunity to spend a year in Israel prior to beginning their college studies. Upon returning, Lilly will attend Vanderbilt University, Micah will attend University of Illinois, Jesse will attend University of Wisconsin, and Toren will attend University of Denver.

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In other alumni-related Israel news, we are kvelling over Alum Michael Goodgold’s volunteer trip to Israel that Times of Israel reported on this week. This 10-day trip sponsored by the National Ramah Tovah Network and Birthright’s Onward Program was the first volunteering trip for disabled adults during the conflict. And because volunteering runs in their family, Michael's parents, Karen and Jay Goodgold, have been involved in CJDS leadership for years and Jay is our current board president! Read more about the trip, including Michael’s reflections here: https://tinyurl.com/3mzxjwfy