Israel Center
Shin Shinim
Shin shinim are young Israeli cultural emissaries who spend a year in service in Milwaukee before beginning their service in the army.
Overview
The annual young emissary program brings 18-year-olds from the Sovev Kinneret region to Milwaukee to spend a pre-army year doing volunteer service abroad, a “Sh’nat Sherut” organized in cooperation with the Jewish Agency for Israel.
The Shin Shinim are involved in a variety of activities, connecting them to area public schools, to American teens, and to Jewish organizations such as synagogue religious schools, Hillel Milwaukee and Camp Interlaken. During the week, they work at the Milwaukee Jewish Day School and Gan Ami Early Childhood Education at the Harry & Rose Samson Family Jewish Community Center. The Shin Shinim stay with host families during their service year, forming close and often lifelong family friendships.
Milwaukee’s Shin Shinim
Meet Mia & Eitan
Eitan Ben Zeev comes to us from Moshav Shadmot Dvora in northern Israel. In high school, he majored in biology and agriculture, combining his love of science with his passion for working the land. Eitan has been a youth instructor for three years in the Tnua Hahadasha youth movement, where he leads activities and trips for elementary school children. He has also taught kids to sail and kayak. In his free time, Eitan enjoys playing piano, running, reading, exercising, and spending time with friends.
Mia Ostrovsky is from Haifa, where she lives with her parents and younger brother. In high school, she majored in chemistry and art, blending her interest in science with her love for creativity and drawing. Mia has been active in the Scouts since 4th grade and has taken on multiple leadership roles, including troop leader for 7th graders. She has also volunteered in her community, from supporting schools and community centers to helping with agriculture and donating baked goods to soldiers. Outside of Scouts, Mia enjoys Pilates, going to the gym, and spending time on her art and dance.
Both Mia and Eitan are excited to spend the year volunteering with organizations across Milwaukee, sharing their love of Israel, and building meaningful connections with host families and the community.
Be sure to follow Mia and Eitan on social media for all the latest updates!
Milwaukee’s Connection to Israel
SHIN SHIN’S IMPACT ON MILWAUKEE
Watch a “day in the life” of a Shin Shin and how they impact the Milwaukee Jewish community in small everyday ways.
PAST SHIN SHINIM
2024-2025: Amit and Maya
Amit is from Moshav Salit, where he majored in chemistry and biology and enjoyed capoeira, swimming, cooking, and traveling. Maya is from Shoham and majored in biology and Bible; she was active in the Israeli Scouts and enjoys cooking, baking, traveling, arts, and photography. Thank you both for visiting Milwaukee!
2023-2024: Tom and Eitan
Thank you, Tom and Eitan, for visiting Milwaukee! We were so excited for them to connect with everyone in the Milwaukee Jewish community and beyond. Tom is from Moshavat Kinnert and majored in Biotechnology. Eitan is from Kfar Tavor and majored in Diplomacy.
2022-2023: Orri and Maya
Orri and Maya arrived in Milwaukee in August 2022. Orri is from Kfar Tavor (the same hometown as Gal!) and majored in Communications & Cinema Diplomacy. Maya is from Ne’ot Golan in southern Golan Heights and majored in Theatre, Biology, and Social Science.
2021-2022: Gal and Itay
Gal and Itay arrived in Milwaukee in August 19, 2021. Gal is from Kfar Tavor, a small village in the north of Israel, and Itay is from Hadera, a city between Tel Aviv and Haifa. Both Gal and Itay were involved in youth movements in Israel.
2020-2021: Noam
Noam joined our community virtually from Israel in September 2020. Noam is from Tzur Moshe, a moshav in the Sharon region. In school, Noam studied graphic design and biology. Noam enjoys baking, hiking and traveling as hobbies and volunteers as a first responder and counselor for Magen David Adom.
2019-2020: Khen and Omer
Khen and Omer arrived in Milwaukee at the end of August 2019. Khen is from Karmiel, a city in northern Israel, and Omer is from Kibbutz Degania Alef. In school, Khen studied electronics, physics and computer science while Omer studied Arabic, biology and music. Omer enjoys playing saxophone, piano, guitar and drums, playing in his band called “HaRaftanim” and playing sports.
2018-2019: May and Yogev
May and Yogev arrived in Milwaukee in August 2018. They have grown up in different communities – May from Tiberias and Yogev from a moshav called Moshav Arbel. May studied psychology and sociology and loves hip hop dancing. Yogev studied cinema and theater and enjoys traveling, photography and writing stories.
2017-2018: Omri and Amit
Omri and Amit were in Milwaukee from August 2017 until July 2018. Omri is from a village called Lehavim in the southern part of Israel, and Amit is from a moshav called Kidmat Tzvi in the Golan Heights. Orm studied physics, biology and agriculture in high school, has been involved in many youth movements in Israel. Amit studies biology and theater in high school, enjoys traveling and drawing and has been involved with the teen leadership program Diller.
Connect
Tziporah (Tzipi) Altman-Shafer is the Vice President of Jewish Communal Life and Learning. She is responsible for overseeing the Israel Center. She works with lay leaders in determining all Israel and Overseas allocations for Federation. Her responsibilities include directing the Coalition for Jewish Learning, providing support to all our local Jewish schools and educators, and overseeing the Planning Department, which is responsible for all local allocations.
Tzipi grew up in Milwaukee and has been working in Jewish Education since 1987. She has a bachelor’s degree in Jewish Studies and Women’s Studies from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and a master’s degree in Jewish Education from the Cleveland College of Jewish Studies. Before coming to MJF in 2015, she worked at summer camps, supplementary schools, and day schools (including six schools in Milwaukee). She has been a teacher, a family educator, and director of education and worked with children of all ages.
