We all smile in the same language - and 29 travelers from the Horvitz YouthAbility program of the Jewish Family Service Association were happy to use this form of communication throughout our volunteer mission to Israel from March 25 - April 2, 2012. YouthAbility, based in Cleveland, Ohio, serves disabled and at-risk youth by engaging them in volunteerism. We believe that we can help ourselves by helping others. Our group members represent a wide range of abilities, ethnicities and cultural backgrounds. Once a year, YouthAbility participants who demonstrate an outstanding commitment to service are invited to travel with the group on a volunteer excursion.

Our Israel trip was highlighted by two performances of our original play about tolerance and respect, called We Will Be Friends. First, we were at the Bialik-Rogozin School in Tel Aviv, a facility which serves immigrant refugee children from 48 countries. Our show was part of a special school ceremony about “Giving”. The second performance was for students of the Golani School, a school for children with special needs in Beit She’an, Cleveland’s sister city. The most exciting aspect of each performance was the connection that seemed to be made between the actors and actresses on the stage and the children in the audience. Their faces were so bright it was as if a smile factory had been created!

Other volunteer projects focused on learning about and helping the needy of Israel. We began by picking potatoes in Rehovot as part of the Leket project. Leket uses volunteers to harvest produce for the hungry. The organization then distributes the produce to families, organizations and soup kitchens. Two days later we went to a hunger center to help prepare food for the needy. We cleaned and chopped peppers, radishes and cucumbers. For our final volunteer project we planted oak trees in a forest outside of Jerusalem. We felt honored to be part of the “greening” of Israel.

Our trip would not have been complete without stops at some outstanding tourist attractions. We were fortunate to visit such wonderful places as the Nachalat Binyamin art market, the Tower of David light show, Yemin Orde Youth Aliyah Village, Deganya Bet chocolate factory, the ruins of Beit She’an, Yad Vashem, and the new art wing of the Israel Museum. Many in our group doubted that they would actually float in the Dead Sea - but they didn’t doubt it for long. Although we traveled to Israel to “give back” … we all felt we received much more than we gave! Toda Raba Israel!