Meet your #Bus77 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*
Yossi Nameri
How long have you been a tour educator?
37 years.
How long have you been working with Shorashim?
36 years.
Why is it important to you to have Israelis on the trip for all 10 days?
The Israelis bring with them the spirit of Israel, now days by their non-political behavoir, their music, food, jokes, army service, and thoughts about this country. A few years ago, David Cohen the grandson of our IDF Chief of staff, Dado Elazar, was one of the Israelis. His story about his grandfather made the trip so real!
What's a fun fact about yourself?
I love Israeli folk dancing and my age does not make me old.
What's your favorite site to go to take participants to and why is it your favorite?
Mount Arbel because of the beautiful panorama and the challenge to hike there.
What's the best piece of advice anyone has ever given you?
Never stop guiding.
What's your favorite Shorashim memory?
Meeting and working with Ann Lansky.
What do you love most about Shorashim?
That we have Israelis in our programs who make the visit is israel home for the participants.
What's your favorite city in Israel and why?
Haifa - city of co-exitence amoung many religons and the beautiful view of mountain and sea.
What's your favorite Israeli food and where is your favorite place in Israel to get this dish?
Figs in the Galilee.
What's your favorite thing about Israel?
The history, geography and most of the people, that make the impossible, possible.
What's your favorite place that you have ever travelled to and why?
Mount Shlomo near Eilat because it is unforgettable.
What are your words of wisdom for your future participants?
Come with open mind and open heart, so you will get the best of your visit in Israel!
Jeff Gates
Where are you from originally and where do you live now?
Omaha, Nebraska.
What do you do for a living?
I work at a children's shelter.
When did you go to Israel for the first time?
When I was 20 as a volunteer.
What's your favorite place to visit in Israel?
Jerusalem.
What's a fun fact about yourself?
I can play guitar left and right handed.
What's your favorite place that you've ever travelled to and why?
Israel. It has the most beautiful people and places.
What's your favorite Israeli food and where is your favorite place in Israel to get this dish?
Homestyle Moroccan food in Jerusalem.
If there was one aspect of Israel that you could bring back to America with you, what would it be?
The way people are so open and real with each other.
What's the #1 reason that you recommend that your friends and family should go on Birthright Israel with Shorashim?
It's something that every Jew should experience at least once in their life.
What /who is your spirit animal and why?
A lion. I'm not sure, but I'm sure I'm right on this one.
What's the best piece of advice you've ever been given?
Advice on how to live life, usually from Israelis.
What are your words of wisdom for your future participants?
Don't sleep, give everything to the experience, and remember that you probably won't see most of the other participants again.
Anything else you want to share?
Enjoy every moment of it.
Karys Rhea
Where are you from originally and where do you live now?
Originally from San Francisco, currently in Brooklyn, NY.
What do you do for a living?
I'm a drummer and founder/front-woman of Brooklyn-based retro pop band PEP. I'm also the International Letter Writing Associate at CAMERA, a non-profit media watchdog group that monitors anti-Israel bias in the press.
When did you go to Israel for the first time?
I went in 1994 for my brother's bar mitzvah.
What's your favorite place to visit in Israel?
My favorite place is probably the Bahá'í Gardens in Haifa, or the Dead Sea!
What's a fun fact about yourself?
I can memorize 100 numbers in five minutes. I can also memorize an entire deck of cards in five minutes.
What's your favorite place that you've ever travelled to and why?
I really love Japan. Like Outkast says, it's just so fresh and so clean.
What's your favorite Israeli food and where is your favorite place in Israel to get this dish?
My cousin used to bring me back these amazing jars of tahina from a kibbutz in the south of Israel. I can't remember the name of the kibbutz, but that was, hands down, the best food I've ever tasted from Israel!
What's the #1 reason that you recommend that your friends and family should go on Birthright Israel with Shorashim?
Shorashim connects people to Israel on all levels- physically, spiritually, and emotionally!
