Foreign students studying in the Thrive program at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem and Israeli participants of the Triumph leadership program gathered at the Dan Family Aish World Center in the Old City of Jerusalem this week to hear Diaspora Minister Omer Yankelevitch speak about Israel’s responsibility to Jews around the world.
Yankelevich spoke with the students about her ministry’s efforts, including a portal for Jewish educators anywhere in the world to access educational materials, lesson plans, and more.
She also addressed their choice to join a leadership program, saying “Taking on leadership is a big responsibility, but we need you. It is so important.”
The minister met with Aish Global CEO Rabbi Steven Burg and Aish HaTorah Rosh Yeshiva Rabbi Yitzchak Berkovitz and senior staff at the center, which has a stunning panoramic view of the Western Wall, the Western Wall Plaza and the Temple Mount.
Yankelevitch was clearly emotional as she took in those sights, central to the Jewish People and her current post, reaching out to worldwide Jewry and reinforcing their link with their eternal connection to Israel.
She concluded her visit to the center by leaving through the Aish “Sha’ar Hochshtein” exit, in to the Western Wall Plaza, where the minister took a personal moment to pray at the Western Wall.