There is power in unity. After only a few days of participating in this impactful trip, there is already visible unity amongst the trip participants. The beauty of people of different backgrounds uniting in support of the state of Israel and Zionism has proven to surpass the boundaries of differences between us. The profoundly diverse […]

Israeli Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked’s proposed transparency law, which requires phony non-governmental organizations (NGOs) operating in Israel to identify themselves as foreign-funded when they lobby in Israel’s Knesset, is needed, reasonable, and long overdue.   Although the term “non-governmental organization” is supposed to refer to groups that are not affiliated with, supported by, or acting on behalf […]

She is grace, beauty, and light. She is pride, humility, and courage. She is 3000 years old and 67 years young and while her foundation is ageless her cracks are showing. She is Israel, and the heart of her is where my heart lies.   Growing up Jewish in the Diaspora meant that none of […]

As the beginning of 2016 has emerged, I find that I am able to define myself in a whole new light. I now identify myself as a passionate Zionist, but my trip with ZOA has made me much more than someone with passion, but rather someone with knowledge.  Rather than knowing that I should advocate […]

Yesterday we went to the Jordan Valley, which has an Arab/Palestinian and an Israeli community living and working side-by-side, however, side-by-side does not imply house next to house. The Palestinians work for the Israeli’s and the Israeli’s go to the Palestinians to utilize the goods and services they have to offer. The Palestinians work for […]

I’m thousands of miles across the Atlantic Ocean, not present with my family during, arguably, the most important day of the year for Christians. While my family visits and celebrates the birth of our Savior with extended family in Lynchburg, Virginia, opening gifts and reading the traditional Christmas story found in Luke chapter 2, I […]

Seeing as this is my 1296th program to Israel, I’ve become accustomed to the standard routine of the beginning days of a given trip. Ice breakers at the airport. Long and silent bus rides to the hotel. Jewish geography. And, most notably, we would always start the program at a relatively major city whether Jerusalem, […]

Anti-Semitism is practically as old as Jewish history. Over thousands of years, our ancestors suffered blood libels, inquisitions, expulsions, and pogroms, all leading up to the Holocaust, the ultimate tragedy in our history of persecution. And still today, the Jewish people continue to suffer from terror attacks in Israel around the world, vicious threats of […]

Syrian immigrants pose a grave danger to all Americans — and especially to American Jews and gays.   Top Obama administration officials testified that Syrian refugees cannot be properly vetted. As FBI Director James Comey stated, “We can query our databases until the cows come home, but nothing will show up because we have no record […]

As the bus rolled up into the hills of the Israeli countryside, I pondered just how lucky I was. Being in the state of Israel in person, to be standing on my own two feet in the holy land, was and is my own personal miracle, the latest in a long line of them.   […]