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Reflections on my time at HU

By Rebecca Ash, Jerusalem

I headed off to study at The Rothberg International School from 2004-05.  It was a pretty challenging time to be in Israel since we were at the tail-end of the 2nd Intifada.  As a result, our class wasn’t the biggest class, but every single person was dedicated to being there for the year/semester.

I was determined to experience everything Israel had to offer and traveled all over the country as well as to Turkey, Jordan, Egypt, and Sinai, and other places I’m not sure I would have the courage to go to now.

Looking back, my year in Jerusalem had a profound impact on me.  I ended up making Aliyah in 2007, and so did many of my closest friends (and even roommate!) from that year at Rothberg.  We remain in touch to this day and they are my biggest support network here and all across the country. We’ve added at least 13+ sabra children to the roster.

In my current role as Associate Director of Missions at CIJA’s Israel office, I have the pleasure of often referring to my year at Rothberg.  I am reminded of what an amazing experience it really was and get to relive pieces of that year through the eyes of some of our visiting delegations.