Israel beyond the Headlines with TILC 2025

Last week I finished guiding the “Teen Israel Leadership Council” (TILC) Israel mission. A rare Israel teen tour in these times. This is an Israel trip, sponsored by the MetroWest Jewish Federation of New Jersey, unlike any other Israel trip.  The mission was led by the indomitable Linda Scherzer, Director of the JCRC of the MetroWest Federation, and the logistics on the ground were smoothly organised by Routes Travel. TILC is composed of American high school seniors from the New Jersey area.  It is a highly acclaimed two-year Israel advocacy course aimed at preparing the participants for what can be the anti-Israel battleground of some North American college campuses.

Mark Twain is attributed with observing that, “I have never let my schooling interfere with my education.” Arguably, the best education is through the school of experience. One of the most effective ways of accumulating that experience is through travel, observation, and participation. Leaving ones “bubble.” If anyone wants to try and grasp the Israel behind the often sensationalist headlines, one needs to experience it in all its glory and complexity and form one’s own opinion.  There is simply no other way to feel an attachment to one’s Jewish identity, as there is when one stands in Israel and touches the ground and meets the people. There is nothing that one can do in one’s Diaspora classroom or synagogue thousands of miles away to give one a feeling for this land and for what this land means to the Jewish people, as well as all its inhabitants. One must experience Israel to gain clarity for its achievements, as well as to understand the many issues Israel is wrestling with.

The advocacy training and instruction on the history of Zionism in the United States as preparation for the mission includes a whole plethora of different presenters ranging from Pulitzer-Prize winning journalists to college campus activists. The culmination of the program is a weeklong mission to Israel for the seniors, where, in addition to touring and volunteering, the group gets to meet IDF soldiers, key journalists and thinkers, both Jewish and Arab, including Khaled Abu Toameh and Times of Israel founding editor David Horowitz, from across the religious and nationalistic spectrum. They are exposed to many different viewpoints.

TILC teens meeting with Israeli-teens of Ethiopian origin form the Olim Beyahad program in Tel Aviv. Photo (c) T. Book, 2025

The intense itinerary focuses on Israel as a modern dynamic society full of rich diversity and invites the participants to both grapple with the issues facing Israel and celebrate Israel’s achievements.   We also met with Israeli-Ethiopian peers from the Olim Beyahad program. The TILC mission complements both the Jewish identity formation and Israel education of the participants. Ambassador Dr. Michael Oren who addressed our students, observed that,

What we do on college campuses (regarding pro-Israel advocacy) is too late.  The process must begin in Junior High school.

This year, In the shadow of the ongoing terror war that Hamas terrorists unleashed on Israel the mission was very different from other previous missions.  The emphasis was to go beyond the often sensationalist headlines and try to understand what is happening on the ground, to witness first-hand the resilience of Israelis, both on the military and the civilian fronts, and most importantly be involved.  We had an emotional meeting with Gilad Korngold in Tel Aviv at the Hostage forum the day before he heard that his son Tal Shoham would be released from Hamas captivity in Gaza. The TILC participants were not just here to learn and take, but also to volunteer and give. In fact, a core component of this year’s mission was the volunteering element.

One evening we went with a wonderful group of volunteers from Ranaana to the Gaza border to meet with reserve soldiers serving on the Gaza border.  Soldiers we met with all shared with our group how proud they were to serve in such a moral and ethical army. Hearing from the faces “beneath the helmet” deeply moved the students. Not only did it humanize these defenders of our land, but it also broke stereotypes of the bloodthirsty Israeli soldier propagated on North American college campuses and throughout the world.

Making a BBQ and donating winter supplies to IDF troops. Photo (c) T. Book, 2025

Another stereotype was shattered during our visit to “Save a Child’s Heart” (SACH) children’s home in Holon.  The Save a Child’s Heart organisation provides life-saving cardiac surgery and other lifesaving procedures for children of all faiths and backgrounds from developing countries and the Palestinian Authority free of charge, even during the current conflict. In addition, SACH trains doctors to become pediatric cardiologists in their countries of origin. So much for “Apartheid Israel.” Our group came to volunteer at the recuperation center where the children and their parents, or caregivers, from developing countries are either preparing, or recuperating from, the surgery that will allow them to live normal lives.

One of the most moving elements was the day we spent visiting the Gaza envelope.  We journeyed to Sderot and heard first-hand accounts of the terror and bravery of that awful October 7. We then went to Kibbutz Kfar Azza and met with my friend Ralph Lewinsohn, who, after making Aliyah from what is today Namibia decades ago, raised two generations on this former paradise. After hearing Ralph’s moving first person account the participants were overwhelmed with a sense of disbelief at the evil of mankind, the slaughter of innocents, the evil hatred of the enemy, the apathy (and sometimes support and bitter antisemitism) of the world. The major difference is that today we Jews are not weak and defenseless anymore.  We are strong. We have a strong nation, people, and a powerful and just Israel Defense Forces.

It was a fascinating trip for me personally to observe these bright teenagers who all self-selected into this program. Despite their different backgrounds, religiously and politically, there was a tremendous atmosphere of mutual toleration and acceptance. This was seen in all our settings, from ancient synagogues, to volunteering at Moshav Shekef for hard manual labour in the greenhouses, to meeting Lone Soldiers at the Michael Levin Base in Jerusalem.

In addition, they learnt that Zionism is not a monolithic movement that brokers no argument. Rather it is multi-faceted and dynamic, with factions on the left and right, religious and secular, and is a living movement whose uniting link is love for Israel. The Teen Israel Leadership Council participants will be able to take with them to the university campus the magic of their visit to Israel and the three rules for advocacy: knowledge, gained through both learning and first-hand experience, passion, and delivery.

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Tuvia is a licensed Ministry of Tourism national guide who has spent the last fifteen months in the IDF reserves on the Gaza front and is enthusiastically preparing to welcome you back to Israel. His website is www.booktuvia.com.