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Hi! My name is Rachel Sharpe and I am seventeen years old. My story begins on June 19th, 2011 when I embarked on the trip of a lifetime. I traveled to Israel through a study abroad program called Alexander Muss High School in Israel (AMHSI). Before going on AMHSI this past summer, I had never been to Israel. I always heard about Israel through family, friends and my temple family but had the same questions as many other teens probably do. Why should I go to Israel? What importance does Israel have to my life? Through AMHSI, I gained a newfound appreciation and love for the land of Israel. My AMHSI experience was truly life changing and really had an impact on my whole outlook on life.
After returning from AMHSI, I knew that I wanted to continue strengthening my connection to Israel. I began to keep up with the Israeli news and look into ways that I could encourage others to go to Israel and have the same incredible experience that I did. A few weeks after I returned from Israel, I was selected to take part in a program called the MZ Teen Israel Internship, along with five other students from my AMHSI group this past summer. The program is a national leadership program for 36 teens who recently returned from Israel.
As an MZ Teen, I hope to inspire my peers by sharing my personal Israel experience with friends and community members and serve as a strong voice for Israel and the Jewish people.
That brings me to why I decided to create this blog. As news editor of my high school newspaper and an aspiring journalist, I have always loved writing. There was no question that I wanted to find a way of combining my passion for writing and my passion for Israel. I could not think of a more fitting way than by creating a blog, where I would post about Israel related topics and even share some of my own personal stories. Through my writing, I hope to express my passion for Israel and to share that passion with others, especially teenagers.
http://istandforisrael.wordpress.com
For more information about the MZ Teen Israel Internship Program, please click here.
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The Truth about the Boycott, Divestment
and Sanctions (BDS) Movement
The New Anti-Semitism
Archived Op-Eds
Summer 2011:
New Teen Internship: MZ Teens
Winter 2011:
Jewish, Latina Groups Launch Joint Campus Project
Fall 2010:
Reaching out to the Hispanic Community in the U.S.
Summer 2010:
We Must End the Silence
April-May 2010:
Israel Fellows: Defending Israel at Home and on Campus
March 2010:
Pro-Israel Advocacy 2.0
February 2010:
When Human Rights Go Wrong
January 2010:
Anti-Semitism in U.S. Textbooks
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