Albina Chizik, Tel Aviv, Israel

Albina is an education and theater student at the Seminar Hakibbutzim College in Tel Aviv, and hopes to be a theater teacher. She grew up at a Reform Jewish kibbutz, was an active participant in Noar Telem, the Israel Movement for Progressive Judaism’s (IMPJ) youth movement, and participated in the IMPJ’s Mechina (gap year between high school and military service) in Jaffa, Israel.  She has also worked at the IMPJ’s Havaya Camp and URJ Greene Family Camp in Bruceville, TX.

 

Sammi Donchin, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

Sammi is currently studying at Austin Community College. She attended URJ Greene Family Camp as a camper and for the past three summers has been on their staff. In high school, she was heavily involved in NFTY- TOR (Texas/Oklahoma region). Last year, Sammi lived in Israel for ten months as a part of Shnat Netzer, a leadership training program for young Jewish adults. She hopes one day to be a camp director.

 

Lotem Eilon, Haifa, Israel

Lotem was born and raised in Haifa, and studied from kindergarten to high school at the Leo Baeck Education Center, which includes a Progressive congregation. Through school, she got involved in volunteer work and found her passion in filmmaking and video editing. Lotem worked at URJ Camp Coleman in Cleveland, GA last summer as a video specialist and is returning this summer. This fall she will be a Roswell Lech Lecha fellow, doing a joint Shlichut with Camp Coleman and Temple Beth El in Boca Raton, FL.

 

Eliana Fischel, New York, New York

Eliana is a rabbinic student at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in New York. Eliana earned her undergraduate degree at Connecticut College. She spent many of her summers at URJ Eisner Camp in Great Barrington, MA, most recently as a Unit Head. She also interned at Nashot HaKotel/Women of the Wall and Interfaith Community, Inc., and she now teaches at Temple Shaaray Tefila on the Upper East Side of NYC.

 

Aaron Fox-Snider, Fort Myers, Florida

Aaron is a student at Florida Gulf Coast University and founded the Jewish fraternity there, AEPi. He grew up as a camper at URJ Camp Coleman in Cleveland, GA and has now been a counselor there for the past three summers. Aaron also was selected as both a URJ Olim Fellow and a Foundation for Jewish Camp Cornerstone Fellow. He teaches eighth graders at a local religious school.

 

Brett Hausler, Hoboken, New Jersey

Brett grew up in Vermont and went to the University of Massachusetts, Amherst for his undergraduate studies. He has been going to URJ Crane Lake Camp in Stockbridge, MA for many years, and is currently their full time Assistant Director. Brett has volunteered with Ethiopian-Israeli communities in Israel and was a Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America (CAMERA) Fellow.

 

Lavi Hoffman, Jerusalem, Israel

Lavi works full time at Russell’s Bakery. He grew up in the Reform Movement and from a young age was an active member of the community. He studied in the Reform Movement school system and was a camper, counselor, and member of the logistical staff throughout the year for the Israel Movement for Progressive Judaism’s Havaya Camp. He also participated in the IMPJ’s pre-military Mechina program in Jaffa, Israel.

 

Ariel Homa, Trojmiasto, Poland

Ariel Homa holds a BA degree in Journalism, Media and Communication from the University of Gdansk. Ariel also graduated from the one year program of the Paideia- European Institute for Jewish Studies in Sweden and the Hochschule für Jüdische Studien in Heidelberg, Germany. He is also one of the co-founders and a very active member of Congregation Beit Trojmiasto, the Progressive congregation in Gdansk, Poland.

 

Boglarka Palko, Budapest, Hungary

Boglarka currently works at Citibank International as a Senior AP Accountant. Prior to that, she was a Financial Analyst at IBM Global Financing and at the beginning of her professional career she also served as diplomat of the Hungarian Foreign Ministry. She is an active member of two Progressive congregations in Budapest and is a member of the Hungarian Jewish Federation. She is a certified Taglit counselor for European groups. She also volunteered for the Onward Israel program and taught English and math to children in South Tel Aviv. She studied Hebrew at Haifa University as a scholar of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Israel, and was chosen as an Israel Government Fellow, working for a year as the international spokesperson of the Ministry of Public Security of Israel.

 

Tamás Pandzarisz, Budapest, Hungary

Tamás graduated from the University of Buckingham. He grew up in Jewish day schools and was also a camper for three summers at Szarvas- Lauder Camp, one of the largest European Jewish camps for children. He served as a counselor of Habonim Dror Hungary and later became a head staff member there, and is a member of the Youth Council of the Hungarian Jewish Federation. He was also a participant, and later a leader, in the voluntary Jewish security service.

 

Dina Purits, Bochum, Germany

Dina is earning her Master’s degree at Ruhr Universität Bochum. She was involved with Netzer growing up, and after high school spent a gap year in Israel with Shnat Netzer. She is now the president of Tamar Germany, the young adult progressive Jewish movement in Germany.

 

Artur Raisky, Minsk, Belarus

Artur is in his final year at the Belarusian State University of Culture and Arts. Artur has spent the past few summers at Netzer camps as a counselor and as the head staffer. He is the coordinator of the Netzer movement in Belarus, and is the head of the Tamar Reform student community in Minsk.

 

Alon Weismann, Bet Hashmonay, Israel

Alon joined the staff at URJ Greene Family Camp in Bruceville, TX last summer as a counselor and waterfront specialist. He has been a competitive swimmer most of his life, and is also interested in cinema and music. About six months ago, Alon fell in love with Reform Judaism at a Jewish Agency seminar, and has been exploring it ever since.

 

Ori Zeevi, Tel Aviv, Israel

Ori Zeevi grew up in Tel Aviv, Israel and for 10 years was a member of the Israeli scouts as a trainee and a counselor. In the IDF, he served as a combat medic in the artillery corps. For the past two summers, Ori has been a counselor at URJ Eisner Camp in Great Barrington, MA, first at day camp and then as a Bonim general counselor. He will return to Eisner this summer as a senior staff member. Next year he will be a Roswell Lech Lecha fellow, doing a joint Shlichut with Eisner Camp and Westchester Reform Temple in New York.