Although Ben Miller, 13, has studied Israel while attending the Joseph and Florence Mandel Jewish Day School in Beachwood, and anticipated visiting, he likely didn’t imagine his first trip would include his family playing a basketball game with about 10 soldiers from the Israel Defense Forces.

The path of discovering Judaism for Alex Sweeney of Mentor began as a child. “I really didn’t have a Jewish identity; we celebrated some holidays, but it wasn’t anything consistent. My grandfather always talked about being Jewish. I remember learning about the Holocaust, but not thinking that really happened to my people.”

My name is Kendra Kaplan and this summer I've been working at CityKids as part of my Onward Israel internship.

My name is Emily Friedman and I am interning at the startup Daystage.

Hi! my name is Sam Terkel and this summer I am working for Waves Audio.

Abby Nikiforovs shares her experience as an Onward Israel participant.

Forty Cleveland civic leaders spent a week in Israel in July, as part of a new Jewish Federation of Cleveland trip, where they got a sense of the country and issues shared by Northeast Ohio and Israeli communities.

My name is Zach Izeman and I am doing my internship at a local theater company called The Stage.

Meryl Schor shares his experience so far as an Onward Israel participant.

A contingent of civic leaders just returned from a week in Israel. We'll gather some to discover what they learned.