BETTER LIVING FOR BABY BOOMERS AND SENIOR ADULTS SEE PAGES 1B-12B
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meet the shinshinim Young Israelis volunteer as emissaries, sharing Israeli culture with communities abroad BY ELLEN FUTTERMAN EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Here’s are just a few things they’re going to miss when they return home to Israel in August: Chipotle’s, Trader Joe’s, sale shopping and all of St. Louis’ professional sports teams. “There’s no hockey in Israel,” said Guy Dobrin, 19, laughing with the other three Israeli teens participating in the Shinshinim program in St. Louis this year. A Shinshin is an Israeli emissary, usually 18 or 19 years old, who defers their army service for a year to volunteer in Jewish communities abroad to help educate people there about Israel and Israeli culture. They teach at various local Jewish organizations, bringing their authentic Israel experiences to the community they serve. “Largely, they work with the young population, ages 4 through 18,” explained Cynthia Wachtel, manager of Israel Emissary Initiatives at the Jewish Federation of St. Louis. “The fact that these children and teens are meeting an Israeli closer in age to them helps foster better connections, find similarities and learn from each other. It works both ways though. For the Shinshinim, they get to live here and absorb what Jewish Americans are like, and they bring that back to Israel with them and hopefully share that with friends and family.” This is the sixth group of Shinshinim to come to St. Louis. They arrived in August 2022 for a one-year stay. Federation provides each of them with a monthly stipend,
From left to right : Inbar Bloch, Inbar Bachar, Alma Cohen and Guy Dobrin
access to a car, health insurance and a laptop while they in turn work fulltime at local religious and Hebrew schools, early childhood centers and with Jewish teen groups. They live with families who have volunteered to host them, changing homes – and host families — every three months or so. Wachtel, who jokes she’s not only program supervisor but also mom and an older sister to the Shinshinim, explained
that St. Louis got involved with the program after a 2014 Jewish community demographic study showed a lack of connection between Jewish St. Louisans and Israel. “We obviously cannot take everybody in the St. Louis Jewish community to Israel, so (the Shinshinim program) is the next best thing,” said Wachtel. “We are bringing See SHINSHINIM on page 7A
Q+ A
read a Q+A with each shinshin page 6A
CELEBRATE THE 75TH ANNIVERSARY OF ISRAEL’S INDEPENDENCE READ ABOUT THE J’S UPCOMING ISRAEL CELEBRATION page 4A