Becca Schwartzman, Elli Friedman, Sydney Bernstein, Dana Cohen, Hen, Ben Casey, Hannah Mancoll, Emily Casey, Kaitlyn Kalfus, and Carly Roesen.
Tidewater was fortunate to be included in the StandWithUs Israeli Soldiers’ Stories tour on Thursday, Feb. 22. This innovative program which features reserve duty Israeli college students who talk about the Israeli-Arab conflict, give a human face to the Israel Defense Forces.
In addition to IDF service, the two visiting soldiers—Shay and Hen—are graduates of the StandWithUs Israel Fellowship, a unique public diplomacy program that selects and trains 150 student leaders each year from six Israeli universities. The soldiers speak in a number of cities across North America, in venues including university campuses, schools, synagogues, and churches. These soldiers shared their personal experiences in Tidewater as they did with thousands of students and community members across the southeast.
Forty teens from BBYO, NFTY, USY and the Jewish Teen Leadership program of the Simon Family JCC and their parents came out to hear the soldiers at Bite restaurant in Norfolk in an event organized by the Community Relations Council of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater. Engaging speakers, the young men shared stories of their years in the IDF. While American teens grow up in relative comfort and safety, Shay and Hen shared their first-hand experiences of growing up amidst terrorism and serving in the IDF at a young age.
The crowd was captivated by their stories. Becca Schwartzman says, “It was really interesting to hear from a combat point of view and a non-combat point of view of serving in the IDF. Both protected Israel in different, yet important, ways.”
Earlier that day, Shay and Hen visited Green Run High School and spoke to more than 100 AP Government and History students along with their ROTC students. They spoke to ODU Hillel students over lunch, to Tallwood High School students in the Global Studies and World Languages Academy and at Norfolk State University. The Norfolk State University event was hosted by Professor Carol Pretlow of the Consortium for Strategic and Global Studies, along with the Department of Political Science, the Norfolk State University Honors College, the Black History Month Committee, the Department of Interdisciplinary Studies and Professor Sharon Hoggard of the Department of Mass Communications.
The soldiers were well received at all venues. To learn more about StandWithUs visit www.StandWithUs.com. Learn more about the CRC and local initiatives, visit www.JewishVa.org/CRC.
by Elli Friedman, StandWithUs MZ Teen Fellow