A month before the start of my senior year, I made a last minute decision to leave the life I knew and join my family on a two year fellowship in #Jerusalem. I never went back. After six years of combined #yeshiva studies and #military service (at the Otniel #Hesder yeshiva and as a squad commander in the Duchifat infantry battalion), I figured it was time to understand more about the story and magic of this land that drew me here at such a young age, and enrolled in the official Ministry of #Tourism’s tour-guiding course. Anyone who has ever met a tour #guide knows that the job is about more than spinning tales while #hiking through the woods.

For many people, their tour guide is the face of the country, a mini-#ambassador for Israel tasked with giving them an authentic insider’s glimpse at the inner-workings of this complicated country. Knowing this, I joined the StandWithUs Israel Fellowship, a year-long public diplomacy course for country’s top #university students. A year and a half after graduating from both programs, I joined the StandWithUs #Israel team, where I have been blessed to combine my guiding and public diplomacy skills for the past five years. As a non-partisan Israel #education organization, #StandWithUs combats both misinformation about Israel and #anti_Semitism by introducing people around the world to the facts.

My job is to bring visitors to see those facts with their own eyes. Our strategic tourism department, StandWithUs Discover, takes visitors (and, these days, Zoomers) of all backgrounds across the country on tours that offer a deep and balanced understanding of the 3000 years old and 72 years young #history of Israel. At sites throughout the country, we explore the #Jewish People’s deep #indigenous roots, Israel’s incredible #diversity, the facts, perspectives, and geopolitics of the modern #Arab-Israeli #conflict, and much more.

For me, a successful #tour is one that strengthens people’s #connection to Israel and inspires them to keep #exploring and learning on their own, and I look forward to #guiding #tourists face to face again very soon