Hi,

My name is Ruth, I’m 25 years old, and until a few weeks ago I lived in Israel, within the central region. This year I joined Makom to work as a “Shliha” on behalf of the Jewish Agency of Israel.

A little about myself… My family made “Aliya” in the nineties from the former Soviet Union to Israel. I have quite a big and diverse family, and I was brought up to know and learn from different cultures and currents from a young age. I went to an Ultra-Orthodox elementary school in Jerusalem, and in high school, my family moved to Karmiel in the north region where I started to learn in a Religions Zionism school. There, I found myself connecting with the values ​​that this stream represents. Values ​​of action and respect for others and love for the Land of Israel.

I started my activity in the social world as an instructor and youth coordinator in the “Bnei Akiva” youth movement. Later, I did my national service in the “Amit” youth village for at-risk youth. From there, I continued my academic study and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in behavioral sciences at Ariel University. Naturally, it was clear to me that I wanted to start to work in a place related to the social world, and that’s how I came to work at Beit Eckstein.

Beit Eckstein is a leading organization in providing solutions to special populations in Israel. After a year I felt that it was right for me to develop in the direction of creating and leading social or educational programs. Personally, I believe that when someone sets a goal, opportunities come. So, I received a call from the Jewish Agency who told me about the “Shlichut” world.

To be honest, I did not have a deep familiarity with the term “Shlichut” but after reading and talking to people who were in the role of “Shlichim” in Diaspora Judaism I could relate very well. As I mentioned above, my family made “Aliya” and breathes the connection between the different Jewish communities. “Shlichut” for me is an opportunity to bring Israel, with its diversity, and make it accessible to the staff, the individuals of Makom and my environment in general. For me, working with Makom is an outstanding way to bring two areas that I am connected to, people with disabilities and the State of Israel, together.

I look forward to learning about the organization, the people and the activities in a non-Israeli environment, while hearing the story of the local culture. I am very excited to get to know a new place and people. So far, I have met amazing ones. In addition, I love traveling and look forward to experiencing the States for its variety of landscapes, its people, the music…and the food of course. To sum up, I am beyond excited and impatiently waiting to start teaching everyone about Israel and creating new experiences with individuals and the teams of ‘Makom’.