The Jewish Student Union of St. Louis is offering students the opportunity to take part in a monthlong Israel summer experience, The Jerusalem Journey (TJJ), for $1,500, which includes airfare from New York. TJJ will include visits throughout Israel. Participants will swim in the Kinneret, visit archeological digs, hike through the mountains and float in the Dead Sea. The group will pray at the Western Wall, hike up Masada and visit Israel’s holy sites. They will also have the opportunity to perform tikkun olam activities for the elderly, youth victims of terror and in hospitals and soup kitchens.   

TJJ is designed for high school teens looking to engage with and learn more about their Jewish heritage and Israel through hands-on, meaningful experiences. St. Louis teens will join other teens from the Midwest on their own bus, which will be one of 10 providing the leading Israel teen summer experience for more than 400 teens from North America.    

“TJJ is a game changer when it comes to inspiring today’s teens to take responsibility for their Jewish identity and connection to Israel,” said Rabbi Mike Rovinsky, Director of JSU of St. Louis.  “Without fail, each one comes back ‘on fire’ vis à vis their Jewish identity and relationship with Israel.”   

Rovinsky said JSU’s Hy C. Miller Israel Scholarship Fund, the Jewish Federation of St. Louis, and local and national donors, allow JSU to offer the highly subsidized rate (with additional scholarships available on a first-come, first-served basis).   

There will be an information night at 11:30 a.m. Sunday, March 27 at the Jewish Federation Kopolow Building (Room 216) and at 7:15 p.m. Monday, March 28 at the Starbucks located at Baxter and Clarkson roads.  For more information, contact Rovinsky at 314-498-6279 or [email protected].