Students connect with Israeli heritage

Colin Sutker spent the worst night of his life during his winter excursion to Israel. He was sick and stuck sleeping in a tent shared by 200 people while touring the Negev Desert.

“It was warm, we were in dirty sleeping bags, and a lot of other people were sick, so it was just like an incubator of disease,” said Sutker, a senior journalism and political science major.

He wasn’t ready to pack his bags, though. Instead, the experience made him realize how significant this adventure really was for him.

“I maybe got two hours of sleep, but I still walked away with a good feeling,” Sutker said. “I figured that if I could do that, then this trip was pretty special.”

Sutker, along with 35 other UNC students and several more from other colleges around the state, traveled to Israel for 10 days over Winter Break with the Birthright Israel program, which sent them halfway across the world at nearly no cost.

“(Birthright Israel) is an international program where a number of philanthropists decided that every Jewish young person should have an experience in Israel in their lives,” said Or Mars, executive director of N.C. Hillel. “It creates a stronger connection (among the students), their heritage and the Jewish faith.”

The program, which is available to those between the ages 18 and 26 who affiliate themselves with the Jewish faith, has treated about 78,000 young adults from more than 35 countries to a free first encounter with Israel. Typically, UNC sends 30 to 50 students to Israel through the program, which has both winter and summer sessions.

Funded by several different Jewish philanthropic organizations, including the North American Jewish Federation and the Jewish Agency for Israel, those participating from UNC only needed to pay for snacks, souvenirs and their airfare to and from New York.

The next-to-nothing price tag wasn’t the only reason students were eager to get on board, though.

“I knew I was going to go (to Israel) at some point in my life, but it was a matter of doing it while I still could with friends,” Sutker said.

Rachel Rosenberg, a senior environmental studies major, was taking advantage of her final Winter Break.

“It was such an amazing opportunity to visit a country you hear so much about, but it was also probably the last time in a while I’d have ten days to see (Israel),” she said.

A relatively steady political and military state in Israel also gave the green light to students previously nervous about the prospect of visiting the Middle East.

Upon touching down, the students hopped on a bus and headed out to explore the young country that declared its independence only 57 years ago.

In addition to the Negev Desert, the UNC students were able to visit such exotic locales as Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and Golan Heights, among many other sites of historical and archaeological notability.

Rosenberg’s favorite point on the itinerary was a stop at the ancient mountaintop settlement of Masada, where her group was able to take a sunrise hike to the summit.

“There was just so much unity, energy and spirit,” Rosenberg said. “I had a really powerful feeling.”

Sutker remembers a visit to a modern dance company in Jerusalem as one of his most memorable points in the trip.

“I had never seen anything like it before,” he said. “I figured that if in all the conflict and violence that you typically hear of in Israel, there were these people whose sole job it was to create dance — well, it changed my whole view of the people and country of Israel. It puts a whole new face on the country.”

Contact the Features Editor at features@unc.edu.