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Ultimate road trips
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Cleveland teens travel the U.S. and Israel with their Jewish youth groups and pick up more than gift- shop souvenirs along the way.
The CJN asked some Teen Reporters to weigh in on their unforgettable youth-group trips.
Trip: TJJ, The Jerusalem Journey, sponsored by NCSY.
Connor Weirick from Brush H.S. and Solomon Isakov of Solon H.S., in center, flanked by the friends they met this summer on TJJ, The Jerusalem Journey. Public school teens on the four-week NCSY-sponsored trip explore all of Israel, learn Jewish heritage and see history come alive.
Name: Evan Brudney
School: Orange High School
Trip: NFTY in Israel, four weeks of exploring the Jewish state
Sponsor: National Federation of Temple Youth (Reform). Evan is a member of NFTY at Temple Emanu El.
Biggest impact: Seeing the Old City of Jerusalem and, of course, the Western Wall.
The Wall was busy with Orthodox Jews in dark suits. One came up to a group of us, telling us that we were all “super-Jews”; that we have endured hardship and oppression for centuries, just like the Western Wall in front of us. The significance of the wall set in for me. It was not the size that mattered, but the connection to Judaism as a symbol of strength.
Best Part: Our desert experience. For four days, we camped out in the beautiful Negev Desert. Every day, we hiked to a different vantage point and took in the majestic desert scenery, gazing up at the stars and sleeping under the sky at night.
I am not one for camping, especially without modern conveniences. The hikes were not easy, the temperatures scorching. We had to move the campsites or pack up the bus more than once, and we had to assist in preparing our meals.
It wasn’t the scenery or the hikes that really affected me, but the values I picked up that will stick with me for a long time. I learned to get along and adapt. Being in Israel was certainly the most memorable time of my life.
A more complete account of Evan Brudney’s NFTY in Israel experiences appears on the CJN website, www.clevelandjewishnews.com. click on Family.
Name: Ben Sass
School: Hawken
Trip: USY on Wheels, Mission: Mitzvah
A six-week social-action trip starting from Chicago and hitting major cities in the West such as Albuquerque, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, and returning along the northern route. On the way, we did the standard sights like Disneyland and the Grand Canyon. On Mission: Mitzvah, we volunteered at food banks, soup kitchens, visited nursing homes, and learned about Judaism.
Sponsor: United Synagogue Youth (Conservative). Ben is a member of BJUSY, B’nai Jeshurun USY.
Biggest impact: Going to Beit T’shuvah in Los Angeles, the only spiritually rooted treatment center for addictive and behavioral disorders in America. Hearing the stories and talking to the residents was a truly moving experience.
Best part: I got so close with all 33 amazing teens and staff members on my bus. I also got a chance to reach out to Jewish communities all across America and make a difference. Although I was fairly religious going into the trip (most weren’t as religious), I learned so much more about Judaism than I knew beforehand. I forged bonds with different people, whether with residents in a home for the elderly, other social action workers, or kids on my bus. Definitely one of the best things I have ever done.
Name: Erica Debaggis
School: Kenston High School
Trip: Kallah Leadership Summer Training
A three-week-long program in Lake Como, Pa., to discover and delve into our Jewish identities, studying with rabbis and teachers from various denominations.
Sponsor: BBYO. Erica is a member of Hatikvah BBG.
Best Part: A discussion on what it meant to be Jewish. Boaz, an educator from Israel, asked what everyone in the room had in common that made us all Jewish. I was amazed that none of us could find a similar practice that we all peformed. Not everyone went to services on High Holidays or even lit Chanukah candles. Boaz opened our eyes that if we continue to separate, then one day the Jewish people might dissolve completely, and he stressed how important our rituals and practices were to unite us all as the Jewish People.
Name: Sophie Shiloh
School: West Geauga High School
Trip: PanimWorks
A five-week stay on a Navajo Reservation, performing community service and learning about Jewish values.
Sponsor: Panim: The Institute for Jewish Values. Sophie found the trip through Akiva High School.
Biggest impact: We all cooked breakfast and cleaned up the dishes n with no running water.
Best Part: Communicating with my Navajo hosts in their native language. I read that many of the elders on the reservation speak Navajo exclusively and do not understand English, so I began to teach myself Navajo with tapes and a library book. I found Navajo ‘words of the day’ to share with the other teens that would pertain to our activities for that day.
I discovered that there are a surprisingly high number of similarities between Jewish and Navajo cultures n respect for elders, the prominence of the east in ceremonies, respect for animals and nature, and the importance of loving your neighbor.
A more complete account of Sophie’s PanimWorks in New Mexico experiences appears on the CJN website, www.clevelandjewishnews.com. Click on Family.
Name: Mandy Gross
School: The Ohio State University, Brush High School ’08
Trip: SummerJAM
A four-week summer program in Washington, D.C., that focuses on Judaism, activism, and mitzvah (JAM).
Sponsor: Panim: The Institute for Jewish Values
Biggest impact: We did everything from volunteering at the Lombardi Cancer Hospital and visiting the Israeli embassy, to going white-water tubing for a day. We met our own senators and representatives and learned the Jewish view on homelessness, dating violence, fair trade, Jewish pluralism, even the 2008 Summer Olympics.
Best part: Walking into a Washington, D.C., park, where homeless people, like Frank, sat at almost every bench with their life next to them in bags.
A few of my friends were talking to Frank, and I joined in. He had served in the military, and he talked of all the places he had been. He was an educated man who knew a great deal. As we spoke, it hit me that he wasn’t looking for anything from us except a conversation. He wanted someone to look at him as a person, someone to give him back his dignity. And that’s what I did for Frank that Friday afternoon.
My assumptions about the homeless could not have been more wrong. The people I met were smart, talented, strong people who had tough obstacles to get through, and they were trying. Frank may not remember my friends or me, but I will remember him.
Name: Sarah Immerman
School: Laurel School
Trip: USY on Wheels
A 6-1/2-week teen tour with a focus on Jewish life across America as well as sightseeing.
Sponsor: United Synagogue Youth (Conservative). Sarah is a member of STUSY, Shaarey Tikvah USY.
Biggest impact: Learning from each other. I taught a friend how to lead a service. We practiced on bus rides and in hotel lobbies until he could stand in front of our entire bus and lead the prayers. I felt a sense of pride and accomplishment, too.
Best part: A lot of USY on Wheels is being constantly in motion, traveling from New Jersey to California and back. I hiked up a waterfall and down the largest canyon in the United States. I toured museums from the Coca Cola® museum, to the International Museum of Motor Vehicles and The Museum of Tolerance. I watched the Arizona sun rise over the Grand Canyon; went alpine sledding in Denver; read Torah on Alcatraz Island; saw endangered animals at the San Diego Zoo; celebrated Havdalah on the beach; and had the greatest summer of my life.
The CJN asked some Teen Reporters to weigh in on their unforgettable youth-group trips.
Trip: TJJ, The Jerusalem Journey, sponsored by NCSY.
Connor Weirick from Brush H.S. and Solomon Isakov of Solon H.S., in center, flanked by the friends they met this summer on TJJ, The Jerusalem Journey. Public school teens on the four-week NCSY-sponsored trip explore all of Israel, learn Jewish heritage and see history come alive.
Name: Evan Brudney
School: Orange High School
Trip: NFTY in Israel, four weeks of exploring the Jewish state
Sponsor: National Federation of Temple Youth (Reform). Evan is a member of NFTY at Temple Emanu El.
Biggest impact: Seeing the Old City of Jerusalem and, of course, the Western Wall.
The Wall was busy with Orthodox Jews in dark suits. One came up to a group of us, telling us that we were all “super-Jews”; that we have endured hardship and oppression for centuries, just like the Western Wall in front of us. The significance of the wall set in for me. It was not the size that mattered, but the connection to Judaism as a symbol of strength.
Best Part: Our desert experience. For four days, we camped out in the beautiful Negev Desert. Every day, we hiked to a different vantage point and took in the majestic desert scenery, gazing up at the stars and sleeping under the sky at night.
I am not one for camping, especially without modern conveniences. The hikes were not easy, the temperatures scorching. We had to move the campsites or pack up the bus more than once, and we had to assist in preparing our meals.
It wasn’t the scenery or the hikes that really affected me, but the values I picked up that will stick with me for a long time. I learned to get along and adapt. Being in Israel was certainly the most memorable time of my life.
A more complete account of Evan Brudney’s NFTY in Israel experiences appears on the CJN website, www.clevelandjewishnews.com. click on Family.
Name: Ben Sass
School: Hawken
Trip: USY on Wheels, Mission: Mitzvah
A six-week social-action trip starting from Chicago and hitting major cities in the West such as Albuquerque, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, and returning along the northern route. On the way, we did the standard sights like Disneyland and the Grand Canyon. On Mission: Mitzvah, we volunteered at food banks, soup kitchens, visited nursing homes, and learned about Judaism.
Sponsor: United Synagogue Youth (Conservative). Ben is a member of BJUSY, B’nai Jeshurun USY.
Biggest impact: Going to Beit T’shuvah in Los Angeles, the only spiritually rooted treatment center for addictive and behavioral disorders in America. Hearing the stories and talking to the residents was a truly moving experience.
Best part: I got so close with all 33 amazing teens and staff members on my bus. I also got a chance to reach out to Jewish communities all across America and make a difference. Although I was fairly religious going into the trip (most weren’t as religious), I learned so much more about Judaism than I knew beforehand. I forged bonds with different people, whether with residents in a home for the elderly, other social action workers, or kids on my bus. Definitely one of the best things I have ever done.
Name: Erica Debaggis
School: Kenston High School
Trip: Kallah Leadership Summer Training
A three-week-long program in Lake Como, Pa., to discover and delve into our Jewish identities, studying with rabbis and teachers from various denominations.
Sponsor: BBYO. Erica is a member of Hatikvah BBG.
Best Part: A discussion on what it meant to be Jewish. Boaz, an educator from Israel, asked what everyone in the room had in common that made us all Jewish. I was amazed that none of us could find a similar practice that we all peformed. Not everyone went to services on High Holidays or even lit Chanukah candles. Boaz opened our eyes that if we continue to separate, then one day the Jewish people might dissolve completely, and he stressed how important our rituals and practices were to unite us all as the Jewish People.
Name: Sophie Shiloh
School: West Geauga High School
Trip: PanimWorks
A five-week stay on a Navajo Reservation, performing community service and learning about Jewish values.
Sponsor: Panim: The Institute for Jewish Values. Sophie found the trip through Akiva High School.
Biggest impact: We all cooked breakfast and cleaned up the dishes n with no running water.
Best Part: Communicating with my Navajo hosts in their native language. I read that many of the elders on the reservation speak Navajo exclusively and do not understand English, so I began to teach myself Navajo with tapes and a library book. I found Navajo ‘words of the day’ to share with the other teens that would pertain to our activities for that day.
I discovered that there are a surprisingly high number of similarities between Jewish and Navajo cultures n respect for elders, the prominence of the east in ceremonies, respect for animals and nature, and the importance of loving your neighbor.
A more complete account of Sophie’s PanimWorks in New Mexico experiences appears on the CJN website, www.clevelandjewishnews.com. Click on Family.
Name: Mandy Gross
School: The Ohio State University, Brush High School ’08
Trip: SummerJAM
A four-week summer program in Washington, D.C., that focuses on Judaism, activism, and mitzvah (JAM).
Sponsor: Panim: The Institute for Jewish Values
Biggest impact: We did everything from volunteering at the Lombardi Cancer Hospital and visiting the Israeli embassy, to going white-water tubing for a day. We met our own senators and representatives and learned the Jewish view on homelessness, dating violence, fair trade, Jewish pluralism, even the 2008 Summer Olympics.
Best part: Walking into a Washington, D.C., park, where homeless people, like Frank, sat at almost every bench with their life next to them in bags.
A few of my friends were talking to Frank, and I joined in. He had served in the military, and he talked of all the places he had been. He was an educated man who knew a great deal. As we spoke, it hit me that he wasn’t looking for anything from us except a conversation. He wanted someone to look at him as a person, someone to give him back his dignity. And that’s what I did for Frank that Friday afternoon.
My assumptions about the homeless could not have been more wrong. The people I met were smart, talented, strong people who had tough obstacles to get through, and they were trying. Frank may not remember my friends or me, but I will remember him.
Name: Sarah Immerman
School: Laurel School
Trip: USY on Wheels
A 6-1/2-week teen tour with a focus on Jewish life across America as well as sightseeing.
Sponsor: United Synagogue Youth (Conservative). Sarah is a member of STUSY, Shaarey Tikvah USY.
Biggest impact: Learning from each other. I taught a friend how to lead a service. We practiced on bus rides and in hotel lobbies until he could stand in front of our entire bus and lead the prayers. I felt a sense of pride and accomplishment, too.
Best part: A lot of USY on Wheels is being constantly in motion, traveling from New Jersey to California and back. I hiked up a waterfall and down the largest canyon in the United States. I toured museums from the Coca Cola® museum, to the International Museum of Motor Vehicles and The Museum of Tolerance. I watched the Arizona sun rise over the Grand Canyon; went alpine sledding in Denver; read Torah on Alcatraz Island; saw endangered animals at the San Diego Zoo; celebrated Havdalah on the beach; and had the greatest summer of my life.
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