The program, similar to the Birthright program in North America, is assisted by the Jewish Agency and Israel's Education Ministry. It takes Jews ages 16-19 from Chabad-run schools in Russia and brings them to Israel to learn about their traditions and the Jewish State.
This year's group had students in its ranks from Odessa, Kiev, Nizhny Novgorod, St. Petersburg, Moscow, Kazan, Novosibirsk, Nikolayev and Dnepropetrovsk.
The group visited, among other places, Jerusalem's Old City, including the Western Wall (of the Temple Mount – Judaism's holiest site), the Beit Guvrin caves, Tzfat, the Golan Heights, the Latrun Armored Corps Museum and an archaeological dig – where one group found a 2,000-year-old coin.
"In my opinion, this was an incredible trip," gushed Sasha Golyanov, one of the participants from Nizhny Novgorod. "We've seen so much in such a short period - my thoughts are in a whirl."
Netzah is now planning a follow-up initiative called 'Parents After Children' - aimed at bringing the parents of the children on a visit to the Jewish State. The parents are being offered the opportunity to visit the same sites, with the same guides as their children had.
"This is a definite way of finding common ground with their children [regarding] Judaism, Jewish traditions and history, not to mention becoming more actively involved in communal life," the Netzah website says of the initiative. "These parents will have the unique opportunity of seeing Israel with their own eyes, diving into the world of Judaism and Jewish history, and touching the white walls of Jerusalem."