Meet your #Bus49 Staff
Get ready for an amazing adventure! #Birthright #Shorashim
*All pictures are either from your staff’s first trip to Israel, in general or as a staff person, or one of their favorite places*
Or Ben Ami
Why is it important to you to have Israelis on the trip for all 10 days?
Without the Israelis, the experience will be like seeing Israel only through the window of the bus. The Israelis bring the real Israel into the trip.
What's a fun fact about yourself?
I majored in film making in Sapir College
What's your favorite site to go to take your participants?
Jerusalem.
What's the best piece of advice anyone has ever given you?
"Hakuna Matata"! (The Lion King)
What's your favorite Shorashim memory?
"Achim circlel"- don't worry, you will know what it is.
What do you love most about Shorashim?
Israelis for the all trip!
What's your favorite city in Israel?
Jerusalem!
What's your favorite Israeli food and where is your favorite place in Israel to get this dish?
My mom's cous cous.
What's your favorite thing about Israel?
The people and the food.
What's your favorite place that you have ever travelled to and why?
Beside Israel, my favorite place is definitely New Zealand -heaven on earth and one of the most amazing trips of my life.
What are your words of wisdom for your future participants?
Welcome to what will be the best memory of your life!!
Carly Froomkin Barak
Where are you from originally and where do you live now?
Youngstown, OH - Champaign IL.
What do you do for a living?
Engagement Director at the University of Illinois Hillel.
When did you go to Israel for the first time?
When I was 16 on a BBYO summer trip. We spend seven days in Poland, two days in Prague, and three weeks in Israel.
What’s a fun fact about yourself?
I have a pet snake named Eve.
What's your favorite place to visit in Israel?
I dont' really have a favorite place. I love how different and unique every city and area is in Israel.
What's your favorite place that you've ever travelled to and why?
Traverse City, Michigan. Its beautiful in the fall, has amazing wineries and brewers, and is where I got married two years ago.
What's the #1 reason that you recommend that your friends and family should go on Birthright Israel with Shorashim?
I think its amazing that the Israeli participants stay for the whole 10 days. It makes such a difference for both the Americans and Israelis.
What /who is your spirit animal and why?
Yoda, short and full of wisdom he is.
What are your words of wisdom for your future participants?
Enjoy every moment.
Asaf Weiss
Where are you from originally and where do you live now?
Jerusalem, Israel and now in Champaign, IL.
What do you do for a living?
Israel Fellow at the Hillel at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
When did you go to Israel for the first time?
I lived there for 26 years straight.
What’s a fun fact about yourself?
I have visited 26 out of the 50 states.
What's your favorite place to visit in Israel?
Mt. Arbel - pretty view and nice hike.
What's your favorite place that you've ever travelled to and why?
San Francisco - a crazy place, but in a good way.
What's your favorite Israeli food and where is your favorite place in Israel to get this dish?
Meorav Yerushalmi (Jerusalem mixed grill), and I get it at Stekiyat Hatzot (Midnight Statehouse) right outside of the shuk in Jerusalem.
If there was one aspect of Israel that you could bring back to America with you, what would it be?
That people need to say what is on their mind.
What's the #1 reason that you recommend that your friends and family should go on Birthright Israel with Shorashim?
Israelis for the whole 10 days!
What /who is your spirit animal and why?
Hippo - nobody messes with it.
What's the best piece of advice you've ever been given?
Take things in the right perspective.
What are your words of wisdom for your future participants?
It's going to be great!
Anything else you want to share?
See you in Israel!
