By Jill Abel
Israel Partnership Director

The seven-member teen delegation from Hadera-Eiron, comprised of four boys and three girls, traveled to Jacksonville in mid-July with their chaperone, Limor Tsarfati, a sixth-grade teacher from Pardes-Hanna, Israel. 

While here, the teens lived with host families, worked at Camp Ki Tov, and shared wonderful experiences with their host teens including visits to The Great Escape Room, Peterbrooke and an overnight to Orlando where they spent a day each at Universal and Aquatica. The Israelis and their host teens spent time with the residents at The Coves, shared a Cafe Europa event with local Holocaust survivors coordinated by JFCS and shared their love of Israel with our entire community.

Shahaf Masuri, one of the Israeli teens, said, “This has been one of the best experiences of my life. Whenever I hear the songs from this summer, I will think of all of you.” Shahaf was hosted by Jillian Penson and her family. Jillian shared that this summer exceeded her already high expectations.
The Israeli Partnership Summer Teen Exchange Program is open to teens in rising 10th and 11th grade. The American teens selected for the program travel to Israel for two weeks and are hosted by Israeli teens and their families. 

In return, those Israeli teens travel to our community and are hosted here for two weeks. The Jacksonville teens who participated in the program this summer made friends for a lifetime.  
A huge thank you to the Osher, Wright, Jacobs, Jaffa, Penson and Hernandez families for hosting our Summer 2018 Israel Delegation! These families provided our Israeli teens with the most amazing experience.  

If you are interested in learning more about the Israel Partnership Summer Teen Exchange Program for the summer of 2019, please contact Jill Abel at 904-224-1445 or jill@jewishjacksonville.org.