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Hi to all readers, this is Adam checking in from the holy land. We just arrived here yesterday, but this trip is definitely off to a fantastic start. After a surprisingly bearable flight, we enjoyed a tour, literally on the run, of Jerusalem’s old city and the area surrounding our hotel. This was followed by a great dinner and introduction to our program. In a nutshell, we have been sent here to investigate the many self-made communities comprised of young Israelis with similar values, as well as the many social action initiatives that UJA Federation of Greater Toronto is involved in. Many of these are examples of social welfare entrepreneurship by young Israelis. We are trying to determine what aspects of these programs, movements and ideologies can be successfully translated to a different society (i.e. Toronto).

We received an enthralling update on Israeli political and foreign affairs today from Ha’aretz journalist Aluf Ben.  We also began to delve into the issue of bridging the gap between the religious and secular residents of Israel. We met with Renana Pilzer, who was kind enough to host us in her home. She spoke to us about the Elul beit midreshot across Israel. They are informal learning settings in which people from all kinds of varying religious (and non-religious) denominations can meet to discuss myriad Jewish topics and issues, making use of biblical texts as well as a pluralistic, open-minded and modern philosophy. Elul is a perfect topic of examination for us, as it is not a product of Israel’s rabbanut and religious authorities, which tend to be polarizing forces for many. Instead, it started when yeshiva and university students began studying together. Only later did it become more institutionalized. We were lucky to come into contact with such a unique approach to community building on our first full day on the job overseas.

To summarize, the trip has been great to start. I enjoyed a breakfast full of mysteries today, including an as-of-yet unidentified fruit that tasted like pear infused with cinnamon. Hopefully more adventures await us in Eilat, which we depart for tomorrow.