August 27, 2007
Forty-seven North Americans between the ages of 20 and 26 are due to arrive in Israel tomorrow to volunteer for 10 months through the OTZMA program.
Participants on OTZMA 22 will meet prior to their departure for a North American Orientation this afternoon at the Ramada Plaza Hotel at JFK International Airport. Once in Israel, the program will begin with an opening dinner and a week of seminars, activities, hiking and Shabbat in Jerusalem.
OTZMA, the Hebrew word for "strength," is an initiative of UJC and the Jewish Federations of North America, in cooperation with The Jewish Agency's Department for Jewish Zionist Education. More than 1,300 young adults from Jewish communities have participated on OTZMA since its inception in 1986. OTZMA gives young Jews the opportunity to play integral roles in Israeli society. Participants spend three months living, volunteering and studying Hebrew in an absorption center in the southern Israeli town of Beer Sheva. They spend the next three months volunteering in partnership communities and seeing many of the programs funded by the federation system. For their remaining three months, participants intern in nonprofit organizations or volunteer on kibbutzim. The work varies depending on the community that is being serviced and the time of year. Participants have found themselves working in after school programs, teaching English, working with the disabled, and the elderly.
Participants have held numerous internships while on OTZMA, from working and writing at The Jerusalem Post to pursing projects at the Peres Center for Peace or JAFI. Many OTZMA alumni find themselves pursuing Jewish professional or lay positions. At the end of this past year’s program in June, many of the participants accepted staff positions at Hillel, BBYO and JDC. For example, Joshua Gensler-Steinberg of New York is now a participant on JDC’s Jewish Service Corps (JSC) and is currently living and working in Turkey.
OTZMA Chair Liz Jaffe states, “As one of the oldest Jewish service learning programs in existence, OTZMA has had great success in developing committed Jews, Zionists, and future leaders of the North American Jewish community.”
Jordan Kwok of Los Angeles, who is departing with the group today is a good example of one of these young Jewish leaders. “Having participated on birthright israel last winter, I feel strongly that living in Israel is the only way I will be able to experience it fully,” explains Jordan. “OTZMA will allow me to truly explore my Jewish identity in Israel, while I contribute to the community through service work.”
Participants on OTZMA 22 represent 23 Jewish federated communities including: Los Angeles; Metro West, NJ; New York; San Francisco; Las Vegas; Washington, DC; Baltimore; Boston; Pittsburgh; Rochester, NY; Chicago; Indianapolis; Charlotte, NC; Greensboro, NC; Central Massachusetts; Milwaukee; Memphis; Richmond; Detroit; Cincinnati; Philadelphia; Monmouth County, NJ; and Central NJ.
For more information about OTZMA, please visit their website, call 1-877-GO-OTZMA (466-8962) or e-mail otzma@ujc.org.