Thanks to the Jewish Foundation's Israel Experience Scholarship, Zach Infeld had the incredible opportunity to travel to Israel. This summer he and 49 of his peers, all high school seniors from URJ Eisner Camp, had the trip of thier lifetime. “Our journey in Israel started in the Negev desert, just like our ancestors who came to this land escaping slavery in Egypt,” he recalls.
Over the course of the trip, the group also visited Jerusalem and the Western Wall — where Infeld donned tefillen for the very first time — the Dead Sea and Masada. After spending the night in Bedouin tents, they traveled north, visiting Haifa and Tzfat, the Sea of Galilee, the Jordan River and the Golan Heights. “We had a week where six Israeli teenagers joined our group and ate, slept and traveled with us. We spent time deep in conversation about the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, discussing with Arab-Israelis their situation and visiting a security barrier between Israel and the West Bank,” he recounts. “This trip was an incredible experience. Traveling through Israel with all of your friends is an indescribable feeling. The memories which I created on this trip are ones that I will cherish for years to come.