<p>I second the recommendationfor Nesiya!!
i spent last summer on the progrma nd it was the best time of my life… i never felt ike a tourist and my hebrew improved tremendously… it was soo cool to see israel through the eyes of reform jews, conservative jews, orthodox jews, religious israelis and nonreligious israelis… all together for 6 weeks!</p>
<p>feel free to PM me for more info!!!</p>
<p>Ive just returned from a trip to Israel. We went all over the Northern borders and it was quite and peaceful. All buildings that were damaged during the war have been restored and the only reminders from that time are burned tree carcasses. There is a lot of construction going everywhere some places are difficult to recognize from several years back. We traveled all over the country and everywhere we went we met groups of American students there must be thousands and thousands of them. It was really nice to see them and all seem to be having good time. The groups are guarded by soldiers with loaded weapons. Bonding and traveling with the soldiers must be very special and unique experience for American students, does not matter whether they are Jewish or not - this experience alone must be worth the trip and cannot be replaced by any other sort of travel or college course. The soldiers are almost the same age as the students, but so more mature, some went through the war with Lebanon. D went with passport2israel and liked it a lot. She has also signed for an extension programs consisting of kibbutz immersion + gadna (a basic army training for HS students at the actual army base). PM me if you have any questions.</p>
<p>My d wnet to Israel last summer on a 5-week trip sponsored by YOung Judaea. This trip was for kids who had not participated in YJ programs, so no one knew each other. I can’t say enough about how wonderful the program was and how much our d loved it–they arrived right before the war, and the NY office of YJ did an incredible job of advising parents of all steps being taken to secure their children. </p>
<p>A suggestion–does your local Federation or central education agency have any kind of an “Israel Experience” program or advisory program for teens? We found this trip by calling our Fed, describing d’s interests and they directed us to the YJ trip–they were right on the money.</p>
<p>It appears there are so many great programs in Israel! We are focusing on something that has academic component as well as cultural. The Weissman institute sounds very interesting as D is very interested in sciences.</p>