2018 MFF monthly newsletter
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Dear Friends,
Chag Pesach Sameach!
Spring has been a busy and productive time for the Milstein Family Foundation and our partners. We are proud of the extraordinary impact that our work together is making for the Jewish people and the State of Israel.
We're very delighted to have sent 360 college and high school students from our partner organizations to the 2018 AIPAC Policy Conference as Milstein Fellows in March. Our partner organizations do a tremendous job finding, cultivating, and following up with the best and brightest pro-Israel students — below we included the students' stories.
This month we are excited to share with you Adam's latest op-ed in the Times of Israel, which discusses why he's optimistic about the Jewish future in the U.S. despite the numerous challenges faced in the American diaspora.
Also, we share the success of our first Milstein Innovation Competition, which encourages out-of-the-box, pro-Israel ideas for campuses. Also, don't miss out on
Virtually Israel
, an interactive way to experience Israel from the comfort of your couch.
Finally, we're proud to feature Mustangs United for Israel at Cal Poly, an extraordinary partner who brought students to AIPAC as Milstein Fellows.
We thank you for all that you do to advance our shared mission — and look forward to partnering with you in the months ahead to strengthen the State of Israel and the Jewish people.
With sincere love and admiration for Israel and the Jewish people,
Gila and Adam Milstein
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Milstein Fellows: Students' Stories
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Last month, the Milstein Family Foundation supported 360 high school and college students who attended 2018 Policy Conference in Washington, DC with our partner organizations. Several Milstein Fellows share their impressions of how the conference impacted them below.
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High school student from Southern NCSY
Attending the AIPAC conference gave me an insight into Israel of which I was never exposed. For the first time in my life, I became involved in politics. Now that I have experienced the Policy conference, I will now act differently in a way that will help strengthen the United States–Israel relationship. This conference showed me all of the wonderful things that Israel has to offer, and the power we can have when so many people come together to advocate for Israel.
My intentions are simplistic, yet will be very effective. I learned at a young age that each of us can make a difference in the world. One person’s involvement can have a domino effect on the involvement of other people. Next year I intend to become involved in campus pro-Israel organizations that will promote a better relationship between America and Israel.
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College student from AEPi
This was my first time being at the AIPAC Policy Conference, and to me, it was one of the most significant experiences in my life. The reason is my family history, and how I grew up. My parents and older sister are from the former Soviet Union, specifically Minsk in Belarus. They left to Israel in 1989, shortly after my sister was born. They were the first ones in our family to go to Israel. In 1996 I was born, making me the first child born in Israel in my family. Sadly, they left a few months before the turn of the century to come to the United States. But since then I have always gone back to visit my family. Growing up, my parents raised my sister and me in a very Zionist household. Along with our beliefs on Israel, my father also installed the appreciation of our political freedom in the United States, and from there spawned my appreciation of American politics.
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College student from Chabad at UC Berkeley
AIPAC is more than just a conference. To me, AIPAC stands for passion, for life-long friendships, and for leadership. Having attended the conference last year, I was inspired to become a more active pro-Israel advocate on my campus, UC Berkeley. After attending several protests and standing up for Israel in many different ways, I decided to attend the conference again this year in order to learn more—as there is always more to learn about this beautiful country.
Having this incredible opportunity to attend the AIPAC conference this year thanks to the Milstein Foundation made me realize that being pro-Israel is easy only thanks to the many people who care about Israel and incentivize college students to attend.
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Jewish history teaches us that it takes great leaders to overcome major challenges….
I have great hope and optimism that these high-caliber leaders will emerge. This is because we meet them every day. The next generation of pro-Israel activists – passionate, innovative and incredibly hard-working leaders – are rising to meet the challenges of our time.
By Adam Milstein
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Milstein Student Reception at AIPAC PC 2018 -
Our First-Ever Innovation Competition
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We held our first-ever competition for high school and college students to plan and execute incredible pro-Israel initiatives at AIPAC last month at the Milstein Student Reception.
The winner of the $15,000 grand prize and $1,000 crowd favorite prize went to AEPi Fraternity for their outstanding
"Israel at 70"
idea. The idea is to celebrate Israel’s 70th birthday on 70 U.S. college campuses and will include non-Jewish students who don’t interact with Israel or understand its benefits. The goal was to engage more students, both Jewish and non-Jewish, with Israel!
Adam Milstein said: “This competition will empower the next generation of pro-Israel advocates to strengthen the state of Israel, the homeland of the Jewish people. I am very excited to see what new ideas these students will send us and how incentivizing creativity will help strengthen Israel and the pro-Israel community.”
Learn about the winning idea by watching the video below!
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If you haven’t had the opportunity to visit major Israeli tour spots, or if you want to revisit your favorite ones, you can now experience 360-degree, hi-def, 3D videos of Israel’s most incredibly places with virtual reality tours on
the Virtually Israel 2.0 website
.
A project of
the Adam and Gila Milstein Family Foundation
and the
MERONA Leadership Foundation
, Virtually Israel 2.0 features nearly a dozen VR videos that let you experience Israel’s natural wonders, vibrant culture, and ancient history—from the Dead Sea and Tel Aviv’s beaches, to hi-tech centers and bustling shuks, to the Tower of David and Bible Lands Museum!
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Featured Organization: MUFI
Policy Conference Edition
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Mustangs United For Israel (MUFI)
was founded at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo in the summer of 2015 to act as the main pro-Israel vessel on campus. Since its founding, the organization has rapidly grown, receiving recognition from Cal Poly, AIPAC, AEPi, and CAMERA for all of their tremendous work.
MUFI focuses its work on educating Cal Poly students about Israel, hosting events on topics ranging from IDF ethics in combat to Israeli water innovations. MUFI has also worked extensively with the Adam and Gila Milstein Family Foundation to sponsor dozens of Cal Poly students at AIPAC. Just this past month, MUFI sent 14 students to AIPAC Policy Conference, some of whom are pictured above, in large part thanks to the MFF. Check out Mustangs United For Israel on
Facebook
to follow all of their great activism on campus, hear about their upcoming events, and see their meetings with their members of Congress.
The Adam and Gila Milstein Family Foundation is proud to sponsor this impactful organization.
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The Mission of
The Adam and Gila Milstein Family Foundation
("MFF") is to strengthen the State of Israel, the homeland of the Jewish People, and its special ties with the United States of America; and to ensure the special affinity to the State of Israel of the young and future Jewish generations.
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