Emma Sandler has always valued her Judaism, appreciating the close bonds that come from being part of the community.
An Overland Park, Kansas, native attending Blue Valley High School and a former BBYO board member, Sandler was looking for another opportunity to reconnect with that side of her identity.
Sandler’s aunt saw a social media post from her friend about Alexander Muss High School in Israel (Muss), Jewish National Fund-USA’s flagship college-prep study-abroad experience in Israel. Sandler happened to be in the room at the same time.
“I brought it up to my dad, and I didn’t think I would go,” she said. “I just kind of thought, ‘Oh wow, that’s cool.’ And then I ended up going.”
A big motive for her to consider the program was the Jewish community, and last fall, she took the opportunity to travel to Israel for a semester abroad.
“I wanted to be surrounded by more Jewish people, especially at school,” she said, noting that only about 20 of her 1,400 classmates at Blue Valley are Jewish. “This seemed like a good opportunity to get in touch with my Judaism and Jewish identity.”
Sandler expressed no regrets on traveling, saying that the trip is “life-changing.”
“I went on the program not knowing a single person, which, as you can imagine, was pretty nerve-wracking,” she said, “but I left with some of my closest friends, and I would do it all over again.”
Initially, Emma was concerned at being one of the only seniors on the program, but she quickly found common ground with her classmates.
“We were all here for the same reason, which was basically to experience Israel as a Jewish teenager, and throughout the program, things only got better,” she said.
Muss’ unique curriculum aims to blend traditional high school classes with an immersive experiential learning program that uses the land of Israel as a living and breathing classroom. Tiyulim (trips) to Israeli sites were frequent, and often the most memorable part of Sandler’s experience.
“I really liked going to Tzfat and learning about Kabbalah,” she said. “Seeing a different aspect of Judaism was very interesting, and to get in touch with my spiritual side was nice… [Then, regarding a trip to Yad Vashem], I feel like I learned a lot more about Jewish resistance and Jews who were fighting back during the Holocaust, as I didn’t know a lot about that before. The children’s memorial was also really moving, and the day’s overall educational impact will stay with me forever.”
Despite the trips, Muss continued to provide education to its students. Over the semester, she became close with many of her teachers.
“All of them cared about us as people, not just students,” she said. “Getting to work so closely with such small class sizes was really amazing.”
However, Sandler said the biggest impact Muss had on her was how it informed her Jewish identity and relationship to Israel. While her gap semester was not her first time visiting the country, it was the first time she truly felt a connection to her ancestral soil.
“[Because of] spending four months abroad, not only as a student and a tourist but as part of a family, I really think that I’ll end up going back to Israel,” she said. “Before coming, I don’t think I really understood what Zionism was about, nor did it form part of my identity, as I had no relationship with Israel. However, after coming home from Muss, I can now say that I’m a proud Zionist.
“If I’m going to say I’m a Zionist, I need to be doing something to benefit Israel, and to me it needs to be something more than just sending money,” she said. “I’m a very hands-on person, and I would want to volunteer in Israel or do something else tangible to help the Zionist State.”
Sandler offers advice for other high school students considering going to Muss. “Just go on the program; it will change your life,” she says. “You have to experience it, try to be the best version of yourself that you can, and just soak in every day, because it goes by really quickly.”
More information about Alexander Muss High School in Israel is available at amhsi.org or by contacting Sunny Cohen, Israel Program Admissions Director, Midwest at .
