Hagit Bar-On, Head of Primary Jewish Studies

Hi everyone!

Guess what? We had some awesome visitors from Israel during Term 3 – Yael and Yiftach, two cool young adults who finished High School and hopped on over to our side of the world.  

They are part of an Israeli Program that sends young adults abroad to Jewish Day schools before they dive into army life, to teach and excite Jewish kids about Israel.

In Israeli Slang, they are called “Shinshinim” because they are doing a year of community service before they are drafted to the army.

So, while they were hanging out with us in Sydney, things got a bit heavy on October 7. Luckily, their families weren’t directly affected, but Yael and Yiftach went through some tough times. They were shocked and understandably sad like all of us. But you know what’s amazing? Despite all that, they became even more passionate about teaching our students all about Israel.

These two brought energy with regular Pe’ulot (activities) that shed light upon Israel, mixed in some fun games and catchy tunes. They showed off cool spots in Israel, shared some tasty Israeli food, and got our students to write notes to be placed in the Kotel. Yael and Yiftach took those notes home with them to place in the Kotel when they flew back to visit their families.

Our students totally clicked with Yael and Yiftach. They are close in age, share similar passions, and the connection was real. We were seriously lucky to have had them with us, and we’re sending them both good vibes for whatever comes next.

Lots of love to Yiftach and Yael and thank you for being with us!

Yiftach and Yael with our High School students

With our Year 4 students