Recently, the new Young Emissaries from Israel, Rotem Linchevski and Talya Machpood celebrated 100 days since they have joined the Greater New Haven community. Rotem is from Moshav B’nai Zion, near Ra’anana, and Talya hails from Eliat, Israel’s southernmost city.

By Rotem Linchevski & Talya Machpood, Our Young Emissaries from Israel

To mark this special occasion, we decided to use all that we’ve learned in these first 100 days to write a recipe for a “Perfect Year” as emissaries.

And on a serious note- we wanted to take this opportunity to say thank you. In our journey of trying to help build bridges between Israel and the Jewish community around the world, we learned so many new things about American families, Jewish identity, and about living our life together - as one Jewish nation. All of that happened because of you- you listened to our stories, shared your own personal experience and made us feel a part of the Greater New Haven community. That made the difference! We are so lucky to be in such a wonderful community that we can now call our second home.”

If you didn’t meet us yet, please contact us on our Facebook page! We want to meet and get to know as many people as possible. We encourage you to follow us on our Facebook page “Young Emissaries of Greater New Haven” and see updates from our daily work! We’re looking forward to the next 100 days of this year.

The Young Emissary Program is a 10-month-long volunteer service experience that is jointly sponsored by the Jewish Federation of Greater New Haven, the Jewish Agency for Israel (JAFI) and the Southern New England Consortium (SNEC). This is our community’s 17th year of participation in the program. If you are interested in hosting, contact Amalya Brownstein, our Young Emissary Coordinator, at (203) 387-2424, x385, or by email at: amalyab@jccnh.org.