The shin shin program has brought Israeli young people to Wisconsin for decades, but this time the annual visitors know that things are different. This year’s shin shins say the current moment is more important than ever.
They have come to represent Israel in a post-Oct. 7 world.
The new shin shins for 2024 are Amit Fridman Merav and Maya Eliyahou, Israeli high school graduates who are spending a year in Wisconsin before service in their country’s military.
Shin shins typically spend summertime at the Steve & Shari Sadek Family Camp Interlaken JCC in Eagle River, in addition to their service in the Milwaukee area during the academic year. The shin shin program is funded and organized locally by Milwaukee Jewish Federation in cooperation with the Jewish Agency for Israel. The name is the Hebrew acronym for “shenat sherut,” which means “year of service.”
The shin shin application process in Israel starts in the middle of 11th grade, the new shin shins said. They arrived in August, after 12th grade. “We waited a long, long time to come here,” Eliyahou said.
They weren’t sure how the current conflict would affect their year-long visit to Wisconsin; might flights be canceled? But Eliyahou pointed out that they are the generation that has known COVID-19 and war, “so it’s a little bit like we’re used to unpredictable stuff.”
Fridman Merav said he wants to “show people that Israel is more than a war,” but also “remind people that there are still hostages” and that “Israel is not in an ideal situation right now.”
Eliyahou said the situation, if understood though social media and the news, can seem different than it does for those who live it, in Israel. She wants to bring to people here “the real Israel, the feelings, the mix of everything.”
Fridman Merav noted that social media is filled with “fake news and misinformation.” The situation is not “black and white,” Eliyahou said, referring to the nuance that can be lost on the internet.
She also thinks about the rise of antisemitism in the U.S.and hopes that she can somehow be helpful to the Jewish community.
Fridman Merav loves to swim, and you are likely to find him in the pool at the Harry & Rose Samson Family Jewish Community Center over the next year. In Israel, he swam four times weekly. Eliyahou loves photography and has a camera.
Both shin shins love to cook and bake, and traveling, interests they have in common, even though they didn’t know each other before they joined the shin shin program. They have also both studied biology. In high school, Eliyahou majored in Torah and biology, while Fridman Merav majored in chemistry and biology.
Eliyahou has lived in the U.S. before; her parents are Israeli diplomats, and she was a summer camp counsellor in Massachusetts.
“We can’t wait to start getting engaged with people, making the connections,” said Eliyahou, interviewing in late August. “I always liked the connection between Jews around the world and Israel.”
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Shin shins typically spend summertime at the Steve & Shari Sadek Family Camp Interlaken JCC in Eagle River, in addition to their service in the Milwaukee area during the academic year.
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