5 PM - Stand With Us Teen Event
with Columbia University Israel activist Rudy Rochman
at the home of Andrea and Steven Mail
Rudy Rochman was born in France and grew up moving around the world from Paris, Miami, Los Angeles, Palo Alto, Israel, and even to Singapore. At the age of 17 he voluntarily enlisted in the IDF Paratroopers and served as a sniper in the 101st Airborne brigade. After the army he attended school at UCLA, where he began publicly speaking and standing up for Israel on college campuses. After living in LA for a little over a year, he decided to backpack through Asia for 12 months, learning and experiencing other cultures while teaching them all about Israel. After a year of backpacking, he transferred to Columbia University and founded a grassroots pro-Israel movement on campus called Students Supporting Israel at Columbia University. After almost 2 years of activism, SSI Columbia has become the most famous and active pro-Israel group in the world and has up to date over 800 members just on the Columbia campus. SSI Columbia’s mission is to be a clear and united Pro-Israel voice on campus that strengthens the Zionist community, showcases the empowering story of Israel, and inspires a movement of coexistence on campus that will allow Israel to become an organic part of a united Middle East. Rudy has also been involved with several viral videos and has been active in ground breaking work to fight anti-Semitism while strengthening Jewish identity. He even got banned from Malaysia for being “too much of a Zionist”. He is now in his last year at Columbia University and plans to continue his activism in Israel in Israel after he graduates.