Jewish Student Union hosts speaker on Israel

Meeting informs students of opportunity to live abroad

Katie Hardie

Associate director of education at Jewish National Fund Amy Cytron gives a talk to students in the Jewish Student Union March 7. Cytron talked about Israeli inventions and other facts about Israel to students in attendance.

Maria Perez-Barriga, Katie Hardie, and Gabriel Kaplan
March 14, 2019

The Jewish Student Union welcomed guest speaker Amy Cytron who discussed an opportunity to travel to Israel, according to club leader senior Leila Raymond.  

“We started off by doing our usual programming where we discussed upcoming holidays and we briefly discussed the plot of Purim,” Raymond said. “Then we came and had a speaker who was representing a high school in Israel where students can study abroad.”

Cytron, the associate director of education at the Jewish National Fund, said she also aimed to inform the students about the positive side of Israel and the technology developed there.

“I wanted people to understand that Israel is a positive place that is very misunderstood. As people learned about the technology and all that Israel offers, they understand that Israel is a fabulous place that helps with a lot of different things in the world,” Cytron said.

According to junior Shaqued Ben-Harush, the club spoke about comparing Israel to the United States and things originating back to Israel.

“We talk about a lot of Jewish things and religions and differences between everything,” Ben-Harush said. “A lot of our (technologies) lead back to Israel because that’s where it was (originally developed).”

Cytron said she often does presentations in Midwestern high schools and colleges to shine a positive light on Israel.  

“I do these kinds of presentations at colleges as well — and not just in the Twin Cities, I actually travel to (many) Midwestern cities,” Cytron said.

Ben-Harush said she enjoyed being to able to learn more about Israel with others who share the same background.

“I think that it’s a nice way to connect with myself, being from Israel, and the Jewish part of myself that I can really compare with a lot of people here,” Ben-Harush said.

Raymond said she hoped the meeting was informational and that students would consider studying abroad in the country after the meeting.

“I hope (attendees) learned about some opportunities that are available to them in case they want to travel and study abroad in Israel,” Raymond said.