A gap year in Israel comes with restrictions and reservations
By Lacey Storer /
Contributing Writer
For many Jewish young adults, spending a year after high school or college in Israel is the dream of a lifetime. That dream was put on hold this year for some, but others managed to make it a reality despite the pandemic.
Although Israel banned anyone but citizens and permanent residents from entering the country in March, officials announced in June that travelers with Masa visas (those studying or interning under the Masa Israel Journey program) would be allowed entry. That exception allowed two young adults from Kansas City to leave for Israel in late summer.
Gavi Glickman, 19, arrived in August to study at Yeshivat Orayta in Jerusalem. Despite an increasing number of COVID cases, Glickman didn’t have any reservations about going.
“I’ve been anticipating this year for quite awhile so I was super excited when I found out it was still happening,” he said.
His parents, Rabbi David and Annie Glickman, said they had the same concerns as any parents when sending a college-aged child off during a pandemic, but the fact that he was going to Israel rather than a college here in the U.S. didn’t give them additional worry.
They are proud that Gavi wanted to live out the Jewish values of learning Torah and loving Israel.
“This year will be formational for his college years and beyond,” Rabbi Glickman said. “Having this experience opens a young person’s eyes up to the complexities of Israeli society, the dynamism of a Jewish state, and offers a great chance for developing independence by living abroad.”
Yeshivat Orayta, where Gavi Glickman is studying, is taking preventative measures by implementing a capsule system, designed so there is no transmission of the virus between subgroups of the yeshiva. Students can interact with each other without masks and social distancing within their own capsules, but are required to wear masks and preferably social distance when interacting with someone from another capsule. Glickman said the campus is set up with big plastic walls in classrooms to divide between capsules, and there are also dividers for the rabbis to limit exposure when they’re teaching.
Gabriella Sonnenschein, 23, daughter of Ken and Sheila Sonnenschein, is working at an advertising agency in Tel Aviv as part of the Masa Top Israel Interns program. She had many concerns and reservations about going to Israel during this pandemic.
“I was debating on whether I should go on the January trip or go now,” she said. “It was all very up in the air this summer, especially with the cases rising here.”
But Sonnenschein, who fell in love with Israel when she was there for seminary last year, had her heart set on returning to Israel and beginning the process of making Aliyah, so she decided to make the trip this year.
“I had slight reservations about her going to Israel during the pandemic, but at the same time, we knew she could contract COVID here, too,” said Sheila Sonnenschein.
When Gabriella arrived in Tel Aviv on September 1, she had to quarantine for 14 days. (Israel requires this of everyone arriving from the U.S.; Gavi Glickman also had to quarantine when he arrived in Jerusalem.) At the time, life in Israel seemed completely normal, with beaches, markets and shops open. That quickly changed when Israel went into its second national lockdown on September 18.
“I had a lovely three days of freedom before Israel went into a country-wide lockdown,” Sonnenschein said. “We kind of all sensed it was coming, just because the cases were getting so extremely high it didn’t even seem real.”
At first the restrictions were very strict. People couldn’t go more than 0.6 kilometers (about a third of a mile) from their homes and could only go out for absolute necessities, like the pharmacy and grocery store. The beaches were closed, but “personal sport” was still allowed so people were able to have some outdoor time.
“All of my friends and I, and the Israelis here, took that to heart and we all took long walks and runs and still watched the sunset on the beach,” Sonnenschein said.
Unfortunately, despite her best attempts to stay safe and healthy, she contracted COVID in late September.
“I don’t remember the last time I felt that sick. Absolutely bedridden, I didn’t feel like doing anything, body aches, fever, sore throat, runny nose, everything that is involved with a sickness,” she said. She also lost her sense of taste and smell.
Her first COVID test came back negative, although she suspected that it wasn’t performed properly. It took a few days for her to get a second test and then be transferred to the “Corona hotel,” where COVID patients were taken to recover. In those few days, she started getting severe chest pain and went to the hospital.
“I definitely didn’t feel at home, especially not speaking the language and being there late at night,” she said. “I had to fight for a bed and I was so ill, so it was just a really tough time for me.”
Once Sonnenschein was transferred to the hotel, she was disappointed to find it wasn’t as healing as had been promised. Doctors weren’t as readily available as she was told they would be, and those in the hotel were allowed to leave their rooms and roam around. She said there were a lot of parties, with people staying up all night and sleeping all day.
Still, there were a few benefits. The hotel provided meals so she didn’t have to cook. She was there during Sukkot and the hotel had a sukkah, something she wouldn’t have had at her apartment. She’s also grateful for the close friendships she formed while there. She has now mostly recovered but, more than a month after getting sick, has yet to fully regain her taste or smell.
While some of Israel’s top health officials are warning of the potential for another lockdown in December if COVID rates don’t decrease, for now the national lockdown that started in September has been lifted, giving Sonnenschein and Glickman more freedom.
Sonnenschein spends most of her time outdoors. Glickman and his schoolmates are still in a capsule system, and aren’t allowed to go out for weekends, but they have been able to leave campus to go shopping and walk around Jerusalem.
“It has been nice to go out and explore the city now that the national lockdown has ended. It’s starting to really hit us that we’re in Israel,” he said.
For Glickman, despite the uncertainties and restrictions, he has succeeded in having “a year of growth, meaningful experiences, and making new friends.”
“This year has just been different than every other gap year in that we are faced with unprecedented circumstances,” he said. “There have been many new challenges, however we are learning collectively how to handle them and be more grateful for what we do have.”
For Sonnenschein, it’s more of “weird middle ground.” Even with getting sick, she views her time in Israel as a positive experience, but ultimately wishes she had waited until next year to take the trip.
“I take the situation for what it is and understand the positive outcomes, but I think that overall me and my friends obviously wish we’d never had (COVID) and wish that the situation was different,” she said.
