You never know how this year is going to go when you apply to become a ShinShin.

We heard some stories, asked a lot of questions, got through training, and people tried to help us prepare for this year, but every person we talked with had a completely different experience from the person who preceded him/her. There is one thing that you do know beforehand – it is something that you can’t describe until you experience it for yourself.

These were the words that everyone kept saying to us and that echoed in our heads as we got to Milwaukee, “You just have to experience it for yourself if you really want to know what it’s like”, so coming here was very exciting but also very scary. Packing as much as you can in a couple suitcases, then getting on a plane that will land on the other side of the world where the only person you actually know is yourself.

Yet we quickly discovered that it was actually not scary at all. We got a warm welcome from our amazing host families at the airport and a tour of Milwaukee. Everyone was so nice and wanted to help us get adjusted to the US. Everything was overwhelming at first, yet working at MJDS, the JCC, the different synagogues and every other place is just so much fun. Our job is to teach about Israel but we also learn so much about life here and what it’s like to be a Jew outside of Israel.

This community is nothing less than amazing, and you’ve made it so easy for us to feel at home.

We are starting to understand what everyone meant when they told us you can’t really explain this year without experiencing it. We are really looking forward to the rest of the year and strengthening our connection to Milwaukee. We have lots of things planned to bring Israel and us to the community and look forward to getting to know everything and everyone even more.

The personal connections we make with our host families, the people in the community and the MJDS families are our greatest highlight so far, and we feel that we are really getting to know everyone well and that you are getting to know us.

So if you see us somewhere, please feel free to approach us and talk with us! We would love to get to know the people of the community as much as we can!

Chag Sameach,

Khen and Omer