Meet Your #Birthright Israel #Shorashim #Bus50 Staff
Yonatan Penn
Where are you from?
Kerem Maharal, Israel
Where do you currently live?
Beer Sheva, Israel
What is your favorite place in Israel?
My favorite place to bring participants is out in to the Negev, the Israeli desert. It is more powerful than any cultural barrier.
What is a fun fact about yourself?
I have milked six different types of animals.
What are your words of wisdom for your future participants?
Life is to short to miss an opportunity like birthright!
Anything else?
The best advice I was ever given is definitely: "Take it easy." I'm very serious. If you take it easy, you make it easy ( I have thought about that last piece myself :))
Ralph Landau
Where are you from?
Jacksonville, Florida
Where do you currently live?
Denton, Texas
What is your favorite place in Israel?
The Old City.
What is a fun fact about yourself?
I was master (president) of my AEPi chapter.
What are your words of wisdom for your future participants?
Go in with an open mind about the trip and you will have the experience of a lifetime.
Anything else?
This will be my 3rd time in Israel, after having gone previously with Birthright Israel and AEPi.
Hila Katz
Where are you from?
Petah-Tikva in central Israel.
Where do you currently live?
Oxford, OH.
What is your favorite place in Israel?
I lived in Jerusalem and I fell in love with it. The fact that it wasn't what I expected it to be and the surprises it held was a good mystery to me. My favorite place and time in Jerusalem is at Machane-Yehuda market at night when all of the stores shut down and the restaurants open. Everyone is going out, the music and musicians are starting to play and everything comes to life with a very social and cultural feeling.
What is a fun fact about yourself?
My life dream was to be an archaeologist and find unique finding in archaeological excavations.
What are your words of wisdom for your future participants?
Birthright Israel is the kind of opportunity we do not get much in life and to miss it is a crime against yourself!
Anything else?
Exactly 5 years ago, I was a participant on Shorashim on a Birthright trip as the Israeli participant on the trip and now I'm going to staff my 2nd Birthright trip! So excited to have this experience with students, to show you my country and to share my stories!
