Orthodox community joins shinshinim program

Yoni Hadad and Noa Voss

TORONTO — Netivot HaTorah Day School, Shaarei Shomayim Synagogue and Bnei Akiva of Toronto will be the first Orthodox institutions in Toronto to participate in the Jewish Agency for Israel’s (JAFI) shinshinim program.        

Shinshinim, a Hebrew acronym that refers to a gap year of service, is a program developed by JAFI for North American cities and implemented in Toronto by UJA Federation of Greater Toronto.

The program brings Israeli high school graduates to the Diaspora to volunteer for a year in various Jewish communities, educating the community about Israel and Israeli culture.

“The shinshinim program is not a new program to Toronto. Up until now it has been servicing a variety of organizations and institutions, but none of them have been Orthodox,” said Rabbi Elliott Diamond, Netivot’s head of Jewish studies, and leader of a minyan at Shaarei Shomayim.

“I think at some point we said, you know, we would really like to be a part of this exciting opportunity as long as the people coming to our shuls and schools reflect our values.”

Rabbi Diamond explained that in late January, a group of 55 Toronto-based Jewish professionals travelled to Israel to meet with 48 shinshinim candidates selected by UJA Federation and JAFI to participate in the year-long program.

“We met with these 48 candidates, and federation along with JAFI assigned each organization its candidates according to its needs. Netivot and Shaarei Shomayim and Bnei Akiva were represented by me and my wife. We interviewed nine candidates who fit the requirements and of those nine we picked a boy and a girl.

In August, Yoni Hadad, who is currently a student at a yeshiva in Ramat HaGolan for Israeli air force candidates, and Noa Voss, an 18-year-old student who majors in classical singing, will join Toronto’s Jewish community.

Rabbi Diamond said he chose Hadad and Voss because they are “bright, personable, excited, passionate, involved in their country, want to come, want to learn, what to contribute, want to make connections, want to touch people, and want to bring the excitement of modern Israel to the Diaspora.

Another important requirement was that the shinshinim candidates offer their services in the context of a religious perspective. 

“We wanted the kids who are coming to our schools and shuls to sort of represent the best of the religious Zionist perspective of modern Israel, and that’s what they are going to do.”

Voss, who has ambitions to work in Israel’s education system and eventually open a school that offers alternative teaching methods, told The CJN that she is looking forward to teaching Canadian Jewish youth about Israel.

“I think the main thing I would like to bring to Toronto’s young Orthodox community is the unique lifestyle in Israel that is hard to put into words – the Israeli warmth and mutual understanding we have between each other and a certain maturity and perception of life you have to gain from a young age,” Voss said. 

She said she hopes the program will benefit her as much as it will benefit the institutions she plans to serve.

“I take living [in Israel] for granted although it is something that for decades people were just dreaming about. I hope that being away for the year might bring me to a bigger appreciation and understanding of what we have here,” she said. 

“I see the shinshinim program as an opportunity to do an act of Zionism of what it means today, as well as giving back and thanking the community for its big support of Israel.”