The George Weinstein Fellowship, a program of Milwaukee Jewish Federation, offers young Jewish leaders in Milwaukee an opportunity to see firsthand how the Federation supports its designated partners and its partnership region in Israel.
Weinstein fellows learn from lay leaders, volunteers and day-to-day staff about how the Federation uses its resources both locally and as a partner with organizations such as the Jewish Agency for Israel and the American Joint Distribution Committee to benefit our partner region in Israel. We traveled to Israel in March and April, to see our Partnership2Gether (P2G) region, and to have firsthand experiences in Israel to support our understanding of the important work being done by the Federation.
The Weinstein family generously donated the majority of funds for the fellowship as they have for several previous fellowships. Midway through our trip we were fortunate enough to have dinner in Jerusalem with Shirley Weinstein and her grandchildren. What comes through crystal clear in conversation is the joy it brings her and her family to provide the fellows with this amazing opportunity to experience and connect with the people and places of Israel. Ultimately the hope is that the program will strengthen our connection to the Jewish state and inspire us to become the next generation of young Jewish leaders in the Milwaukee community.
I am a Milwaukee Jewish Day School graduate, a 10 year alum of The Steve and Shari Sadek Family Camp Interlaken JCC, and I have spent the majority of my life in Milwaukee. Needless to say, I have had numerous opportunities to go to Israel. Yet every time the opportunity arose, I passed. Why, I can’t explain… some odd combination of fear and circumstance always kept me from this place that I had learned so much about in school, at camp and from my family. When the Weinstein Fellowship opportunity arose, I decided it was time to go; it was time to experience Israel for myself.
The experience the Weinstein Fellows had over the course of eight days in Israel so far surpassed any expectation I had, that the trip barely seems real to me. I have traveled and lived internationally, my wife and I honeymooned internationally, and I am comfortable as a tourist abroad. This trip was different. The scheduling of our trip was brilliantly designed. We stayed with host families in our P2G Region for the first 2 nights. These people are locals who voluntarily participate in the P2G program and who opened their homes to us just hours after we stepped off the plane and traveled to the region around Tiberius. We had dinner at their tables, saw their day to day interactions with family, and discussed their lives as Israelis. We met their children, slept in their homes, and we became aware of their pride and love for Israel.
As I stood before the Kotel, wrapped in Tefillin, with tears streaming down my face, I was lost in the magnificence of the moment. I stopped my mind, turned off my phone and gave in to the singular perspective that place provides. Here I stood, before the Western Wall, arguably the holiest place on earth to the Jewish people. My hand reached up high against the wall to feel the rough edges of the stones above, then slowly slid down the wall to the soft, smooth time-buffed stones below. In this moment, I paused and struggled to comprehend my place in this story. How many hands, how many hundreds of thousands of Jewish hands, had softly polished this stone over thousands of years; how many young Jewish men had stood exactly where I was, and generation after generation touched these stones. As I stood before the wall, and placed my note inside, I made a promise; one day my son and daughter would stand before this wall and run their hands across these stones and in that moment I felt like I was home.
I am thankful to the Weinstein family, to the Federation, and to the leaders both in our community and those who led our trip. Shirley Weinstein, Lauren Berger, Mitch Moser, Brent Arnold and Shai, our guide, you have changed our lives and enriched them with an unforgettable experience for which we are all deeply grateful. Todah Rabah.
Ari Domnitz is the managing partner and co-owner at Karma Bar & Grill and Hannah’s Kitchen Catering and Events.
Loading ...