RootOne Trips Plant the Seeds of Connection to Israel: Part Two
Anyone who’s participated in a group trip to Israel can attest to how powerful and transformative that experience can be. But there’s something particularly special about visiting Israel as a teen, and that’s where RootOne comes in.
RootOne helps thousands of Jewish students travel to Israel each summer, providing funding for teens ages to visit the country with programs that span the entire Jewish community: through scholarships with youth groups like NFTY, BBYO, or NCSY, trips with their local communities or synagogues, and more. Teens who go on RootOne-funded trips are more likely to continue engaging in Jewish life and community, and seeking out more opportunities to get involved. And many of them find those opportunities at Hillel.
Students who participated in RootOne trips as teens are bringing their experiences with them as they get involved with campus Hillel. Check out these stories from some of today’s emerging student leaders from Hillels all around the country.
Yael Smith, Washington University in St. Louis
Like so many other young people, Yael Smith’s final summer at Camp Ramah in Wisconsin was called off because of the pandemic. Her last year as a camper — the end of a journey that she started in fifth grade — had been canceled.
But the following year, in 2021, a RootOne trip gave her the opportunity to reclaim that lost summer. Yael joined Ramah campers from around North America on Ramah Seminar, a six-week travel program in Israel.
For Yael, it was a light at the end of a long tunnel. For the first time since the pandemic began, she was able to socialize — and felt happier than she had in over a year.
Yael’s RootOne trip was her third visit to Israel, but it was by far the most meaningful thus far. For the first time, she was able to travel around the entire country, even with some pandemic restrictions in place. She visited a natural mikvah in the north, spent time in Jerusalem, and challenged herself to take on hiking trail Yam l’Yam.
One of the most meaningful moments was a Shabbat in Jerusalem. About 300 students had gathered in a natural amphitheater, and Yael’s close friend from camp was leading the entire group in Kabbalat Shabbat. After a long year away from all her friends, being part of this community was a powerful, standout moment.
When Yael came back to the states, she knew her Israel experience wasn’t over. Inspired by her time on her RootOne trip, she decided to sign up for the Nativ College Leadership Program, an immersive nine-month gap year based out of Jerusalem.
During her gap year, she spent more time at some of the places she had only briefly visited during her RootOne experience, while also seeing extended family, making new friends, and gaining a deeper understanding of her Jewish identity. One of the most impactful places she visited, one that she still thinks about regularly, was Moshav Netiv HaAsara, a village just outside the Gaza border. As part of their outreach and education work, the village has a program called the Path to Peace wall, where visitors can add a stone to a decorative mosaic directly on the border wall between Israel and Gaza.
Yael has thought about that mosaic almost daily for the past six months, as Moshav Netiv HaAsara was one of the border villages attacked on October 7. Twenty-two residents were killed.
Yael’s passion for Israel and the Jewish community has been a key part of her college experience at Washington University in St. Louis. She served on the first-year Hillel board and will serve on her Hillel advisory board in the upcoming school year, and also serves on the executive board for Challah for Hunger. She’s an active member of Alpha Phi Omega, the community service fraternity, regularly attends Shabbat services, and particularly enjoys connecting with other students during Kabbalat Shabbat — she often convinces her friends to join her for Shabbat with Hillel or Chabad.
Yael credits her RootOne trip with helping her develop her own relationship to Israel and to Judaism, and building her desire to connect with the Jewish community of her own will, not just because it’s what she grew up with. It also cemented her determination to speak out for Israel — not just in college, but for the rest of her life.
Olivia Ball, University of Utah
Olivia “Liv” Ball’s RootOne trip to Israel in summer 2021 wasn’t her first Israel experience, but it was the most impactful.
Liv grew up attending Jewish day school in South Florida. In eighth grade, she took her first trip to Israel, led by educators from her school. On that trip, she experienced what she fondly recalled as the “touristy things,” such as visits to important cultural and historical sites. She also spent the trip with her classmates, and didn’t meet new people.
Her RootOne trip was completely different. The summer between Liv’s junior and senior years of high school fell in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, and she wasn’t sure she’d be able to travel at all. When she found out about a RootOne trip called Trek Israel, through BBYO, she was excited just to have an opportunity to go somewhere.
That trip wound up changing Liv’s life.
Unlike her previous experience, the Trek itinerary was focused on hiking and outdoor exploration. For the first time, she spent all day hiking across Israel’s mountains and deserts, sleeping in campsites and kibbutz guest houses. One of her favorite experiences was taking a side trip into Tzfat, coming right off the trail, dusty and sweaty, and walking through the streets — a rare trip into civilization.
Her time hiking “Yam l’Yam,” sea to sea, made her fall in love with the outdoors — and cemented her decision to enroll at the University of Utah, where she’s double majoring in computer science and criminology. She’s gotten involved at her campus Hillel, and particularly enjoys educational programs like the Jewish Learning Fellowship and Kol Yisrael, a six-week curriculum centering on Israeli culture, history, and politics. Earlier this year, she attended Hillel International’s Israel Summit, where she loved interacting with students from all Jewish backgrounds from around the country.
Liv credits her RootOne trip with reshaping her college journey, and impacting every facet of her campus life: from her friends to her Jewish experiences at school.
The RootOne trip afforded her experiences and connections she’d never have had otherwise, and she’s already finding that her experiences with her Hillel community are doing the same. She’s excited to keep learning and growing with Hillel… especially anytime there’s an opportunity to study outside.
This is the second in a two-part series about RootOne. Read part one here.