When Daniel, 18, from the suburbs of Washington, D.C., arrived in Israel in the fall of 2024, it was only his second time visiting the Jewish State – and this time it would be for nearly a year. His first time in Israel was in the spring, and he loved it so much that when he decided to take a year off before starting at Case Western Reserve University, he opted to spend that time in Israel through Aardvark Israel’s gap program.
Aardvark Israel operates in conjunction with Masa Israel Journey (which was jointly founded by The Jewish Agency and the Government of Israel). Aardvark’s mission is to bring together a diverse group of students from all over the world for a meaningful, life-changing gap year or semester in Israel that strengthens participants’ Jewish identity, deepens their commitment to Israel and fosters their personal growth.
“What appealed to me about Aardvark was its emphasis on community and getting to spend time in both Jerusalem, where I am for the fall, and Tel Aviv, where I’ll live next semester,” explained Daniel. “Plus I had choices as far as what track I could be part of, and for me, I knew I wanted to do the Tech Track, as I already had a bit of a background in computers.”
As a participant in the Tech Track, Daniel is learning to develop a strong foundation in technology alongside peers, learning website-building, and full-stack coding, and having the opportunity to network with leaders in the field and intern at an innovative startup.
“Every two weeks, we have a day off from the coding course to go to Tel Aviv or somewhere else to do a ‘tech tour’ at a company that could potentially be a place we could intern at next semester or also work at in the future, which is really cool,” shared Daniel. “For me, it’s great that I’ll have a chance to get professional experience on my resume before going to college and I’m also getting more life experience through Aardvark.”
Besides living like a local while being immersed in tech-related courses and completing an internship, Daniel is also taking part in Hebrew classes and going on field trips throughout the country while bonding with fellow participants.
“The people I’ve met through Aardvark are amazing and the staff here have been fantastic at helping us with whatever we need and offering support, especially during the week of October 7, 2024, on the first anniversary of the attacks, when we took a trip down to Gaza Envelope. It was a heavy but worthwhile experience, and there was lots of time for discussion and reflection,” Daniel said. “For me, the October 7 attacks actually strengthened my desire to go to Israel for a gap year and I feel it’s more meaningful to be here now when the country is recovering.”
