Alumni

Shana Tova to you and your families - May your New Year be sweet and full of blessings!

It was a great summer at Shorashim (between our High School programs and Taglit-Birthright Israel, we took over 1,500 people to Israel this summer).

We are gearing up for the fall with a great slate of Israel programs and  Taglit-Birthright Israel registration beginning on September 14! Registration is at www.israel withisraelis.com

Shorashim completed its second Taglit-Birthright Israel trip for 18 to 26 year olds with Asperger’s Syndrome last month. The trip was an incredible success thanks to the participants, the Israelis who joined the group, and of course, the staff.

Such a trip requires a tremendous amount of screening, and for the third year, Rose Sharon, a special education teacher in the Chicago Public Schools and Director of Camp Tikva’s Vocation Program, spoke to every participant, their parents, and at least one medical professional to ensure that they were fit for a 10 day program. She also hired a stellar staff which included Tikva camp counselors Syd Berkman and Kashmir Kustanowitz. Although participants on the Aspergers trip experience everything that a typical Taglit-Birthright Israel trip has to offer, there are also special considerations to make the trip accommodating. The planning of the trip took place in Israel by the tour educator Dror Kidron.

In addition, every Shorashim trip has Israelis. Lior Baruch interviewed every Israeli to ensure that they were happy to spend 10 days with an alternative trip. The participants had such a great time that Mark Fleischer created a Facebook group so that they could all keep in touch. Many of the participants joined Facebook for the first time to keep contact with friends that they had made on the trip.

“The trip was great,” participant Will Safran wrote on the group’s wall.