Below are bios of student leaders on J Street U’s Engage with Israel trip.
Aliyah Donsky, originally from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is a rising sophomore at Princeton University where she is the president of the Princeton chapter of J Street U and serves on the executive board of the Center for Jewish Life. As the daughter of a rabbi and an incredibly involved and passionate rebbitzen, Aliyah’s connections to the Jewish community and Israel have been life-long in the making. Despite these ties and frequent visits to Israel, Aliyah has yet to visit Palestinian communities, and views this trip as a necessary step in gaining a fuller understanding of the conflict.
Eli Gold, from Piedmont, California, is a soon-to-be-graduated senior at Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota. Eli has never been to Israel and is excited to experience firsthand the history and complexity of the country. Since the beginning of this year, Eli has been actively involved in the creation and expansion of Carleton’s J Street U chapter. He has always been involved in Jewish organizations but had never felt a comfortable home for Israel advocacy until he found J Street. Eli majored in Latin American Studies, with a minor in Political Economy.
Samantha Kaufman is a rising senior at Middlebury College in Vermont. Originally from Jamaica Plain, Boston, Samantha helped found the J Street U group on Middlebury’s campus, serving as Vice President in the fall semester. Samantha has never been to Israel and is beyond excited to go with J Street U this summer.
Emily Koppel, originally from Huntington Beach, California, is a recent graduate of the University of California, Berkeley, where she majored in Political Science and minored in Middle Eastern Studies. Emily has interned on two congressional campaigns in Southern California and has worked for the City of Huntington Beach in the City Administrator’s Office. On campus, Emily was an active member of Cal Berkeley Democrats for four years, serving as Events Director this past year. Emily is extremely excited to travel to Israel and the West Bank for the first time.
Rory Silver, originally from Queens, New York, is a rising senior at the George Washington University, studying International Affairs and Middle Eastern Studies. Rory will be leading the creation of a pro-Israel, pro-peace group on campus next fall. Previously, he was on the executive board of one of the leading Israel advocacy groups on campus, where he helped organize hundreds of students to lobby their congressmen on Capitol Hill. He has also interned with the State Department and his congressman.
Simone Zimmerman, from Los Angeles, just completed her second year at the University of California, Berkeley, where she is majoring in Middle Eastern Studies and Peace and Conflict Studies. This year she helped plan a Jewish dialogue group for students across the political spectrum. Last summer she studied at the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies and Simone is excited to return to Israel to engage more deeply with the issues and visiting the West Bank for the first time.
Evan Kelner-Levine, a native of Boston, Massachusetts, has just finished his junior year at Yale, where he is working on a double major in environmental engineering and political science. He is a member of the Yale undergraduate chapter of Engineers Without Borders, which partners with developing-world communities to design and build civil engineering projects with public health and environmental benefits. Over the past several years he has also volunteered/worked for several Democratic campaigns, including as a full-time field organizer last summer for a candidate in a Congressional primary in Rhode Island. This will be his first trip to Israel.
Lauren Donoghue is a rising sophomore at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill from Charlotte, NC. She is pursing a public health degree in Environmental Health Sciences and is a member of UNC’s Israeli-Palestinian Dialogue Committee. Lauren is very excited to be further exploring her Jewish identity and commitment to peace with J Street U on her first trip to Israel.
Gary Benedix, originally from Sunrise, Florida, recently graduated from the University of Florida with a Bachelor of Arts in History and Political Science, and will be starting his first year of graduate school at UF in the fall, studying Social Studies Education. Gary served as the Treasurer of the UF College Democrats and was elected to serve as a member of the UF Student Government Student Senate for one year.
Cole Eastman, originally from outside St. Louis, is a senior at DePaul University in Chicago. Cole is majoring in Political Science with a focus on the Middle East. He recently started a J Street U chapter at DePaul University which has focused on bridging the gap between different groups on campus regarding the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict. Last summer Cole traveled to Israel on Birthright and left feeling as if he hadn’t spent enough time in the country. He is very excited to return to Israel and is looking forward to visiting Palestinian as well as Israeli communities.
Ben Elkind is from Washington, DC and a rising senior at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. After taking his Birthright trip to Israel, Ben helped to establish a dialogue group at UNC about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that is made up of Jews, Muslims, Christians and others.
Ariela Weinberger, originally from a suburb just outside of Philadelphia, is a rising junior at Muhlenberg College where she is majoring in Anthropology and Jewish Studies. Before attending Muhlenberg College, Ariela participated in a gap year program based in Israel called Kivunim. It was from her time on Kivunim that Ariela formed her deep interest in the co-existence movement and a desire to bring peace to Israel. Ariela spent the past year as the president of Israel Affairs for her Hillel and is the scholarship chair for her sorority, Phi Sigma Sigma.
Noah Westreich is a rising sophomore at Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota. Originally from Montclaire, New Jersey, Noah involved himself fully in synagogue life ranging from acting in the Purim Spiel, preparing students for their Bar/Bat Mitzvahs, and serving as president of the temple youth group. Since the beginning of his first year, Noah has committed himself to creating an on-campus space for thoughtful dialogue regarding the Israeli/Palestinian conflict through involvement with J Street. This will be Noah’s first trip to Israel and he looks forward to gaining deep insight and connections.
