Twelve students from Yeshiva University arrived in Israel Monday to spend a week participating in the construction of permanent homes, schools and community centers for Jews refugees expelled from their Gaza homes during the 2005 Disengagement.
The former Gush Katif residents, whose new homes were built in the southern desert community of Halutza, had been living for over four years in difficult conditions while the government sought a permanent solution.
Before arriving in Israel, the YU students raised $20,000 to support the Halutza project as part of the University’s QUEST student leadership program. The mission, which marks the first-ever partnership between Yeshiva University and the Jewish National Fund, is geared towards presenting the students with opportunities to develop their leadership skills and gain a deeper understanding of the Zionist cause.
“Our partnership with Yeshiva University has presented a unique opportunity to work with an exceptional group of students who are already committed to becoming leaders in the Jewish community,” said JNF Campus Programs Manager Rebecca Kahn. “It has also connected the Orthodox community to JNF’s work in Israel, so it has been very exciting.”
Over the last year, QUEST has refocused its programming to help YU’s undergraduate students to improve their leadership skills and take an active role in the Jewish community. During the first semester of program, student fellows practice skills such as public speaking, time management and team building. During their second semester, the students utilize these skills to raise funds for a specific JNF project while honing their leadership, event planning and fundraising abilities.
During the Israel mission, QUEST fellows visited the Jewish refugees they had helped in their new community of Halutza and met with local mayors and the heads of charitable organizations to discuss leadership challenges and the methods used to address those challenges.
Marc Spear, the leadership training director for Yeshiva University’s Center for the Jewish Future (CJF), praised the success of the QUEST program’s pilot initiative and expressed confidence in the future Jewish leadership being cultivated through the unique experience. “We challenged the QUEST leadership fellows to set goals for themselves and develop plans to achieve them. Now that they have raised the funds they need for the project, they are primed for the next phase of the leadership training: experiencing the cause they are supporting.”
Yeshiva University students have gained a reputation for political apathy in recent years and Spear expressed hope that the spirit of volunteerism and national responsibility that has made this mission such a success will spread beyond the QUEST fellows to YU’s general student body. “Our hope is that this mission will not only help these students learn about this specific cause and how they can contribute to it, but that it will inspire them to share their passion for Jewish communal causes with their peers.”