With young Jews overseas growing increasingly disconnected from Israel, the Jewish Agency launched a new initiative aimed at deepening young Jews' relationship with the Jewish state.
The initiative - a year-long program dubbed the G2: Global Intergenerational Initiative - involves Jewish preteens and their grandparents and is designed to allow the older generation to relay Jewish values and the importance of maintaining a connection to Israel. The program culminates with a weeklong trip to Israel.
The idea for the program is based on research that indicates that grandparents are an important factor in shaping grandchildren's identity.
The first group of 36 participants from the United States recently landed in Israel for the weeklong visit, during which they will travel across the country, meet with lone soldiers and new immigrants and stay with Israeli grandparents.
The Israel trip will end with a one-on-one meeting with Jewish Agency Chairman Isaac Herzog, during which he will talk about the influence his grandfather, late Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Halevi Herzog, had on his life.
According to Herzog, the Jewish Agency initiative "succeeds in creating a unique intergenerational moment between granddaughters and grandsons, born after the founding of the Jewish state, and their grandmothers and grandfathers, who can recall the struggle for the establishment of the fledgling state."
Herzog said the initiative was part of the Jewish Agency's "extensive effort to bolster the centrality of Israel among the younger Jewish generation growing up overseas, who don't naturally feel an immediate connection to their homeland."
Among those taking part in the program are 11-year-old Simon, his sister Charlotte, 14, and their grandparents Arlene and Mike Falcon.
Arlene said she joined the program to "spend quality time with my grandchildren and share our legacy with them."
Mike said it was "amazing" to see his grandchildren's "excitement when they learn new things."
