Many in JEWISHcolorado’s community see the five Jco Shinshinim at large events. But when they are not singing or lighting candles or socializing in public, they are busy at 23 sites plus 20 Jewish Student Connection Clubs at high schools across the metro area, serving as a bridge to Israel for young people from preschool through college. They come from Israel to serve the Colorado community thanks to support from the Jewish Agency, local sites that they serve, and generous JEWISHcolorado donors.
We spent a week in the life of the Shinshinim. See if you can keep up!
Tomer at JCC Preschool
“Who remembers what we did last week?”
Eleven little faces at the Staenberg-Loup Jewish Community Center (JCC) Preschool stare at Tomer Eli and then their hands shoot up. They definitely remember what they did with him a week earlier—they drew pictures of their lives in Colorado, including rainbows, trains, mountains with snow, and their families.
Those pictures were step one of a multi-day lesson Tomer prepared for these JCC preschoolers. Before serving as a Shinshin for JEWISHcolorado, he had volunteered with preschoolers in Israel. Now, he is leading his small but eager American students in a project to connect them to the preschoolers he knows in Israel. The pictures they drew and friendship bracelets they have made will be sent to Tomer’s Israeli preschoolers.
“To me, this is the best way these JCC students can make a connection to kids in Israel,” Tomer says. “For them to know that there are kids going to preschool in Israel normalizes the idea that the stages of life are the same in Israel and Colorado.”
Tomer also believes that the Israeli preschoolers will learn from this lesson.
“This project communicates the concept that the world does not end in Israel,” he says. “There is a whole big world with Jewish people outside of Israel. That is mind-blowing to a little child. It certainly was not on my mind when I was their age.”
When Tomer first started working with the JCC preschoolers, he discovered that he had to earn their trust, and over time, he has done just that.
“Tomer gets lots of hugs and high fives at the end of each class which shows how genuinely attached the children are to him,” says Stephanie Leen, Judaic Specialist and Early Learning School Educator. “This program creates a bridge between Israel and the Diaspora and between the Shinshinim and the JCC. It’s powerful to watch the relationships strengthen throughout the school year.”
By the end of this class, Tomer has helped students painstakingly add beads to their friendship bracelets, and he has shared ways that he celebrates Hanukkah in Israel. The JCC teachers take lots of pictures of the students making their gifts. When the gifts and the pictures arrive in Israel, the teachers there will send back pictures of the students opening the gifts. That, Tomer says, will be a “full circle moment.”
“The Colorado students will learn about the power of community,” Tomer says. “And the Israeli students will know there is a preschool in Colorado full of Jewish kids making gifts with love for Israel.”
Liraz and Maayan at CU Boulder Hillel
It might be a chilly, dark Friday night outside, but on this Shabbat, the rooms inside the CU Boulder Hillel House are packed with students, and the atmosphere is infused with warmth, laughter and light.
Elyana Funk, Director of CU Boulder Hillel, greets everyone with a broad smile as they come through the front door. Students and staff are preparing the tables and the Shabbat dinner. Rescue puppies arrive to provide the night’s entertainment. And when JEWISHcolorado’s two Shinshinim join the group, they are greeted with hugs and handshakes from the CU Boulder Jewish students.
“We are about the same age, and I can really talk to them at the same level,” says Liraz Bar. “Through me, they get to know an Israeli they have never met before, and it brings Israel closer to them. They asked me what it was like to live in Israel during the war, and they were surprised to hear that I was living my life and having fun with my friends!”
“We are not here in an official role like a teacher would be,” adds Maayan Hayoun Rozenfeld. “We are their Israeli friends, and we can show them that Israel is more than a news story. It is a place they can relate to.”
Liraz and Maayan spend the evening doing what friends do—chatting, joking, eating, and just being themselves. In doing that, they enhance the experiences of Jewish students at CU Boulder.
“They add a lot to our community because they give you a global perspective,” says CU Boulder student Tyler Rosenthal. “You can connect to them on a personal level, and through them, we see things through a different perspective from what we as Colorado students see.”
Through the Shinshinim, the Boulder students also discover connections that go beyond the walls of the Hillel building. CU Boulder student Josee Sherman lived with a family in Israel during a high school exchange program. Now, the daughter of that family is a Shinshinit in St. Louis.
“When I met Liraz, I realized that she knew my friend in St. Louis,” Josee says. “I’m so excited when I talk to my friend now, because it feels like all these friendships are coming full circle.”
For Elyana Funk, the Shinshinim add to what is already robust Hillel programming at CU Boulder.
“We love having them,” she says. “They bring energy and build meaningful relationships with our college students. They also bring a fun, spirited connection to Israel that is all positive, and we cannot have enough of that right now.”
Adi and Alma at Grandview High School Jewish Student Connection Club
When Adi Buchman and Alma Elad arrive at Grandview High School, they come bearing multiple huge pizza boxes and several smaller donut boxes. That may be one reason that Grandview students pour into a large lecture room at the end of the school day for JEWISHcolorado’s Jewish Student Connection (JSC) club, but it’s clearly not the most important reason. Faculty sponsor Rachael Narcisi credits enthusiastic marketing by club leadership for the turnout, as well as the perspective brought by the Shinshinim.
“It’s great to have people from Israel come and share their experiences of what it is like to be Jewish in Israel compared to what it is like to be Jewish here,” Narcisi says. “Not all members who come to the club are Jewish, so it’s especially interesting for them to hear from actual Israeli young people who have come to Colorado.”
Narcisi points out that Grandview has a very small Jewish population. In past years, she says, JSC might see an average of five students at club. This year, those numbers have jumped dramatically to an average turnout of 15-20 students. On this particular Thursday, the theme is a Hanukkah party, and there are nearly 30 students filling the room.
“It has surprised me that not all the kids in the club are actually Jewish,” says Adi. “They come to learn about the culture and about Israel, and they are not just asking questions about the war.”
Today, Alma and Adi are presenting “Our Hanukkah” to the group, with a discussion of how the diverse city of Haifa celebrates “Hannukristmas” a unique festival in December where the city showcases Jewish Hanukkah, Christian Christmas, and Muslim traditions together.
As the Grandview students create menorahs out of marshmallows, Alma and Adi move around the room, reinforcing friendships.
“The best part of JSC club is bringing Israel to the students and getting to know the kids as our friends,” says Alma. “I see some of these kids outside of JSC at Temple Emmauel or at BBYO and that just reinforces these friendships.”
Today’s program was lighthearted, but some days are much more serious. Adi remembers the day they did a program commemorating October 7th.
“We talked about our experiences on October 7th and a lot of the kids were very interested,” she says. “It was amazing to hear responses from non-Jewish students. It was inspiring because I felt like I was doing the work I wanted to do by coming to be a Shinshinit in Colorado.”
Adi at HEA Sunday School
It’s Sunday morning, bright and early, and dozens of young children from Kindergarten through Fifth Grade are excitedly gathering for Sunday School at Hebrew Educational Alliance (HEA). The tefillah service includes singing, dancing, praying, Hanukkah gifts, and “L’chaim,” the word of the week presented by Shinshinit Adi Buchman. It’s a perfect word to describe the joyful celebration of life that Shinshinim bring wherever they go.
“Having Adi here brings Israel to life for our students,” says Mallory Bustow, Director of Education at HEA. “It’s important to start early to build a foundation for students who can actually meet a real-life Israeli. The more exposure they get, the more real Israel becomes to them.”
For her part, Adi could not be happier to be engaged with small children on a Sunday morning.
“The second I was accepted to be a Shinshinit in Colorado, Michelle (Ruby, Jco Director of Israel Teen Emissaries and Education) asked me where I wanted to be the most, and I said, ‘Little kids are my love,’” Adi says. “They are just so happy, and that makes me happy.”
On this particular Sunday, the theme is Hanukkah, and Adi says she always tries to come with “Israeli activities, not just Jewish activities.” In classrooms with older kids, she helps make Hanukkah crowns and does a presentation about “Festigal,” a large Hanukkah children’s show in Israel with star Israeli performers.
With the smaller children, Adi helps make dreidels out of old CDs. With care and concentration, she guides them as they write the Hebrew letters on their homemade dreidels.
“I love seeing that people are choosing to be Jewish and coming here because they want to,” she says. “Kids may not be all that excited about going to regular school, but they love to come here.”
From Grandview High School to HEA Kindergarten, from JCC Preschool to CU Boulder Hillel, the Shinshinim are spread throughout the Denver metro area, constantly changing their presentations and personalities to fit the moment.
“We are working a lot—that’s no secret,” says Adi with a laugh. “I love working, giving of myself to other people. I came here to do that, and I’m glad that I have a chance to do it as much as I can.”
Has the experience been what she hoped it would be? “No,” she says with a smile, “It’s even better than I hoped it would be.”