As some Jewish teens opt for summer travel experiences outside of Israel in light of the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, RootOne and Mosaic United, an initiative of Israel’s Ministry of Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism, are partnering to connect Jewish teens with Israel — by bringing Israeli teens to Europe.

In March, in response to security and flight unpredictability, RootOne decided to expand its vouchers to cover trips to locations outside of Israel — including Greece, Belgium, Costa Rica and Spain — for this summer only. 

“I have a huge number of American Jewish families who are just not ready to send their kids to Israel, but are interested in having their kids do something Jewish. Why not utilize and leverage that to be able to provide them something of significance?” RootOne’s executive director, Simon Amiel, told eJewishPhilanthropy at the time. 

Now, Mosaic United is providing $2 million to increase the number of Israeli teen participants on the trips — half of which will go towards Israeli teens participating in standard Israel trips, and half of which will support Israeli teens on alternative trips. Through matched funding with RootOne and diaspora philanthropists, a total of $6 million will be allocated towards the initiative, Alana Ebin, division director of Mosaic United, told eJewishPhilanthropy.

In a typical year, RootOne requires all sponsored trips to include mifgashim — opportunities for Jewish teens to build bonds with their Israeli counterparts. Usually, between one-fifth and one-12th of participants are Israeli, said Ebin. This year, through a multimillion-dollar partnership with Mosaic United, around one third of total participants on alternative trips will be Israeli. 

“We asked ourselves, if they can’t come to Israel, how can we still create something powerful? The answer was to bring Israel to them,” Ebin said. “We wanted to be responsive, and not reactive, in ensuring that Jewish connection, and Jewish learning wouldn’t pause just because of a crisis.”

Since applications opened, over 1,000 Israeli teens have applied, said Ebin, though only 300 will be participating in the trips when the season kicks off next month. Applicants with strong English and leadership experience were prioritized, she added, and the 300 participants will be undergoing training in the coming weeks.

“There’s like a real power in coming together and sharing your different but related experience and just feeling less alone,” said Ebin. “For American teens, this is an opportunity to continue a strong connection to their Jewish identity, to Israel, to Israelis. For Israeli teens, I’d love for them to feel not so alone in the world, and get a better understanding of Diaspora Jews.”

According to Ebin, the increase in Israeli teen participation, like RootOne’s sponsorship of alternative trips, is intended to last one summer. 

“Israel travel remains our primary goal,” she said. “We see this as a one-time response to an unpredictable summer. Our best guess and our hope is that next summer, we continue back to regular Israel travel, and whatever funds we had dedicated for alternative trips will be rerouted back there.”