CHICAGO — As a business major at Indiana University, Chad Kreindler had been bombarded with opportunities to join corporate America upon graduation.
Sherri Brudoley had worked for a startup company in Chicago but was out of a job when the company went under. At age 26, she had some free time on her hands.
And during the months prior to an exchange program at Tel Aviv University, after his first year of law school, Alan Miller had hoped to learn Hebrew.
All three of their paths led to one place — the World Union of Jewish Students Institute in Israel. Geared to young Jewish graduates and professionals from around the world, ages 21 to 35, WUJS offers an Israel experience program for the more seasoned and mature student.
“Most of the [WUJS participants] already had been in the work field, so to stop working and go back and learn was an amazing opportunity,” Brudoley recalled.
The yearlong program is broken down into two parts: During the first seven months, WUJS students benefit from intensive Hebrew language instruction, called an ulpan in Hebrew, and take Jewish studies courses spanning topics on Jewish history, Israel and Judaism.
Students gain an out-of-classroom education as well on the hiking trails, in seminars and on a personalized three-week volunteer program. (WUJS also offers specialized tracks for young artists and the environmental-minded as well as a shortened session for the summer months.)
During the last five months of their time in Israel, young professionals break loose into their respective fields. WUJS prides itself on its onsite professional job placement that includes career counselors, an extensive job database and workshops.
“For people who are looking to really investigate life in Israel, whether they’re considering aliyah immediately or sometime in the near future, WUJS is very good exposure to what real life in Israel is all about,” said Ami Blaszkowsky, who went through the program and is now the North American director.
Many WUJS graduates do make aliyah. A recent informal WUJS survey found that 25 to 35 percent are currently living and working in Israel, according to Blaszkowsky.
The program has lost about 25 percent of its usual enrollment for the current session, though, because of the Middle East crisis, according to Rabbi Aubrey Isaacs, educational director of the WUJS Institute. But he said some young people want to be in Israel now more than ever.
“There is a flip side to the crisis,” Isaacs said. “Young, intelligent Jews are expressing the sentiments that they feel closer than ever to Israel. The crisis increases awareness of Israel and of the place of Israel in Jewish life. Many people feel they want to share the experience with the people of Israel.”
WUJS started in 1968 and since then has seen 7,000 young professionals go through its program. About 100 people attend the institute each year, broken into its three sessions, which begin in October, February and June continuously.
Unlike most Israel experience programs, the WUJS Institute is based in neither Jerusalem nor Tel Aviv. Instead, participants live away from the big-city bustle, in the city of Arad, population 25,000. Located just above the Dead Sea, Arad boasts a pleasant, dry climate.
“There’s a lot to be said about living in places that are not surrounded by city in every possible direction,” said WUJS graduate Miller, currently a Northwestern University law student. “Arad is surrounded by nature and by wilderness. You can walk to the edge and see the Dead Sea, which is kind of nice.”
Arad’s small size allows for a close relationship between the townspeople and WUJS. Participants live and take classes in the Arad Absorption Center, but most students are assigned to an adoptive family to visit for the occasional dinner or when in need of a familial setting. Families also give students a chance to put their Hebrew to use, often a challenge in a country where most of its citizens speak flawless English. Most WUJS students return from Israel at least comfortable with the language if not fluent.
“The trick to learning Hebrew was spending the time in ulpan to get the basics, to get the foundation, and finding Israelis and speaking with them in Hebrew — especially people who don’t speak much English,” said Miller, who identifies himself as a “conversational” Hebrew-speaker.
Brudoley took something else home to Chicago from WUJS besides a comfortable grasp of the Hebrew language — a husband-to-be. She met and fell in love with Jacob, a fellow WUJS student. They married within the year upon their return from Israel. Their experience is not unique. It’s common for students to pair up while on the trip, according to WUJS participants.
“People are together, and they’re together for a long period of time,” Blaszkowsky explained. “They’re sharing different kinds of experiences — very serious experiences — and people are really sitting down and talking about things that are important to them Jewishly, and out of that chemistry sort of comes this relationship.”