Gaya Zohar is a biology and music major. She is a typical teenager in many ways, but as a young Israeli, Zohar, 18, spends part of every day hoping for peace.
“We really hope that there will be peace in Israel, but there are still hostages in Gaza, so it’s really hard to believe in this right now,” said Zohar, who arrived in St. Louis in late August from her home in Ramat Gan, near Tel Aviv. “We really hope for these things, but it seems so far away. We wish for peace in Israel every day, when we get up and when we go to sleep.”
Zohar and three other Israeli teens will be living and working here for the next year. They are the 2024-2025 shinshinim, high school graduates who delay their service in the Israel Defense Forces to serve as cultural ambassadors.
One of Zohar’s goals while she’s assigned to work at United Hebrew Congregation and with St. Louis’ Israeli Scout for the next 12 months is to share details of her culture with St. Louisans.
“After Oct. 7, I felt as a Jewish person I needed to raise my voice for the people to hear,” Zohar said. “People abroad don’t know anything about the situation in Israel, and that is frustrating. I want to make people see what is going on in Israel. When I decided to become a shinshin, I thought ‘This is such a cool way to introduce myself to this world.’ ”
Roni Shhory, 18, lives in the small Israeli village of Gedera. She studied physics and biology in high school. Shhory joined the shinshinim program because she wasn’t quite ready to make the leap to the army.
“I wanted to prepare myself and become more independent,” said Shhory, who is assigned to Kol Rinah, Temple Israel and the Israeli scout troop. “I talked to a lot of people who did this year of service, and they told me how much it’s meaningful and how they felt the connection with the Jewish and the Israeli side of them.
“After the seventh of October, I think our feelings became more connected. We wanted to really share our stories. A lot of us know people that were at the Nova Festival or in the army, so I wanted to tell their stories and to let the Jewish community here feel the connection to Israel.”
Ziv Shalev, 19, comes from Yehud, a small city near Ben Gurion Airport. He loves movies and theater. During his year in St. Louis, Shalev is assigned to work at Congregation Shaare Emeth and Temple Emanuel. He’s already experienced some of the St. Louis Jewish community.
“Everyone here is so kind,” Shalev said. “It’s really special. I think the year here will give us the opportunity to get to know everyone and also show them a lot about us.”
Shalev said Oct. 7 was a pivotal and significant day for all Israelis, especially young adults.
“It really affected us, and I think it changed a lot about myself, about my personality,” he said. “I think now I’m more mature. When you experience pain, it can help you after a while because you dealt with the challenges and with the tough times. So I think now I’m stronger than I was before Oct. 7. There’s something in my brain — I always think about that day because it was the longest day I’ve ever experienced.”
Roni Scheuer, 18, is from Bitzaron, in southern Israel. She will be working here at Saul Mirowitz Jewish Community School and Congregation B’nai Amoona. Scheuer, who was staying hydrated on a recent warm afternoon using her Mirowitz School insulated water jug, has a cousin who served as a shinshin.
“I knew about the program because of him, and I think the war really pushed me to be in this program,” Scheuer said. “I knew that I wouldn’t be in the army this year because I needed a year to prepare myself before. So I thought that this program would be the best for me.
“I want to teach, and I want to learn while I’m here. The Jewish community here has already taught me how to open my heart and my hands.”
The four shinshinim said they’ve already experienced American fast food, which Shhory said impressed on them the importance of fitness.
“We are working out a lot every day,” she said, smiling.
The Shinshinim program is a partnership between the Jewish Agency for Israel and the Jewish Federation of St. Louis with the support of the Lubin-Green Foundation. Several partner local Jewish organizations participate in the program.
