ConnecTEEN: Building strong connections with Israel, even from afar
By Marley Comito
As we’ve officially reached one lap around the sun of COVID-19 and living in quarantine, like most people, I’ve tried to find fun projects and new hobbies to keep myself busy (and sane). I took a few road trips, became emotionally attached to FaceTime, watched probably 100 hours of Netflix, and I even applied to college! But one of the coolest things I can say I did in the middle of a global pandemic is make over a dozen teenage friends from Rehovot, Israel.
Partnership2Gether (P2G) is a program with a long history of developing and strengthening the relationships between Jewish communities in Israel and overseas. When mixing a program that focuses on people-to-people interaction and building community through travel with a deadly worldwide virus, the chances of making it work aren’t too likely. However, because we are Jews and we like finding solutions to problems, the P2G ConnecTEEN program was born. ConnecTEEN is a free virtual opportunity to unite and bridge the gap between Jewish American teens and Jewish Israeli teens all the while building lasting connections. As soon as I heard of the program being offered this fall, I registered and recruited many of my other Minneapolis Jewish friends. Since then, we’ve begun spending one Sunday a month on Zoom learning, hearing and telling stories, and chatting with our new Rehovot friends.
Halfway through the program now, we have heard from various guest speakers engaged in thought-provoking discussions on a wide range of topics and have had a chance to form personal relationships with one another in an enlightening way. Before the program began, I remember worrying about it being awkward, that there would be nothing for us to talk about, or that we wouldn’t be able to form genuine relationships since we were only talking over Zoom rather than meeting face-to-face. I was so pleasantly surprised that we had so many questions for each other right off the bat to get to know one another and that even in a virtual world, we’ve been able to make it work so successfully all this time. While I wondered if they were worried about joining the IDF in a few years, they wondered if I worried about leaving for college soon.
Talking with Israeli teens each month has opened my eyes to the fact that even though it seems like we live such different lives 4,000 miles away, we are all able to relate to so many experiences, feelings, and ideas together. Based on my personal experience so far, I can truly say that I feel like I’ve gained an entirely new perspective of Jewish values, Israeli culture, and a whole new set of friends!
After returning home last year from two months studying abroad at the Alexander Muss High School in Israel, I made it my goal to keep my connection to Israel alive. P2G ConnecTEEN has given me more of an opportunity to do so than I could’ve ever imagined, and I’m thankful for choosing to put myself out there and make new Jewish friends both near and far. I know I will take the lessons I’ve learned, discussions I’ve engaged in, activities I’ve led and participated in, and super unique little trinkets from the monthly gift boxes with me as I continue my life after the program ends. As a teenager in today’s world, we all feel alone and singled out at times while trying to work our way through hardship and understand the constant changes in society at the same time. ConnecTEEN has taught me that no matter where you live or however Jewish you identify, we are all so much more alike than we may have believed.
To read more of Marley’s incredible, wise writing for us, click here. Learn more about her time in Israel with the Muss program and more! Also, be sure to check out her podcast on TCJewfolk, Spill the Soup!