Last summer before COVID-19, I had the amazing opportunity to travel to and throughout Israel with Camp Young Judaea’s Gadna program, and it was the best five weeks of my life. Throughout my time there, I got to see and learn so much. We traveled all through the country and got to experience new things in each of those places. We stayed on kibbutzim and in citIes. We volunteered with an amazing organization called Save a Child’s Heart and swam in the Dead Sea.  From Jerusalem to Tel Aviv and Eilat, there was never a moment without learning and fun. 
 

This trip meant the world to me. My camp friends are my best friends. We have been talking about this trip since our first year at Camp Young Judaea at age eight. Being able to go on this trip was such an amazing opportunity and I am so grateful to the Jewish Foundation for assisting me in this with their generous scholarship. This trip was life-changing, and I am so thankful that I was able to go on have this experience.

Aliyah Dworkin is a student at Amity High School. To find out more about the Jewish Foundation’s Israel Experience Scholarship program, visit JewishNewHaven.org/Scholarships.