A non-profit young professionals network
Upcoming Events!
(See Previous Events)
Pocono Rafting Weekend Escape —
August 15 — 17, 2008 — Our 21st Fantastic Year!
Keynote Speaker: International counter-terrorism expert Professor Ed Turzanski, LaSalle University and Foreign Policy Research Institute (and former intelligence officer in Beirut)
Program also features special Israel Update: “Behind the Headlines” with Lou Balcher, Academic Affairs Director for the Consulate General of Israel in Philadelphia.
Have a blast and party with the gang. Special added feature on Sunday: Dorney Park and Wildwater Kingdom!
Weekend plans include (subject to change):
- Parties / Mixers with Jewish young professionals
- 3 day / 2 night accommodations at the Days Inn & Conference Center, Allentown
- Friday afternoon Reception / Pool Party
- Friday Night and Saturday Night Dance-Parties
- Breakfast Saturday and Full Buffet Sunday Brunch
- Rafting down the Lehigh River and box Lunch on the River (optional)
- Special Seminars – Israel Update from experts
- Sunday afternoon special event (optonal): Dorney Park and Wildwater Kingdom!
- YJLC Welcome Kit and Rafting Weekend Souvenir gift
- YJLC One–Year Membership with discounts to future events
- A donation of (a minimum of) $10 per person will be made to Magen David Adom for Sderot, Israel Relief Efforts
Cost: $199* triple; $224* double; or $299* single
*Plus your choice of rafting ($39), Dorney Park / Wildwater Kingdom ($36), or both ($75)
Save an additional $18 with your early bird reservation we receive by July 11!
Scholarship assistance provided. Room shares will be arranged upon availability. Car pooling assistance provided.
A $36 YJLC processing and administration fee also applies but is waived for any past YJLC Pocono or Israel participant, including YJLC Israel Encounter or Birthright trip.
Save $36 for Birthright Israel Alumni (see above)
Fee Policy:
- $25 deposit due with booking to hold space
- Balance Due by July 25
- $25 Late Fee for payments after July 25
- $25 cancellation fee prior to July 25
- $75 cancellation fee July 25 — August 1
- No refunds after August 1
Sound like fun? Fill out the following form and click submit. If you'd prefer to print the form and mail it in, you may download the PDF version and send to:
YJLCPO Box 313
Langhorne, PA 19047
Your electronically submitted or snail-mailed form will hold your reservation.
Previous Events
(Click on title for details...)
20th Anniversary Chanukah Dance-Party Bash Pocono Ski Weekend
19th Annual Pocono Rafting and Resort Weekend Brigadier General (Res.) Ephraim Lapid
Philadelphia Bulletin Columnist Yossi Puder Entebbe Rescue 30th Anniversary Commemoration
Dr. David Zangen Speaks at National Liberty Museum Villanova Basketball Star Liad Suez-Karni
2007 Israel Encounter
Jewish history and culture come alive for young professionals ages 21-40, traveling throughout Biblical and modern Israel. Enjoy a personal encounter with your heritage through experiencing the land, the people, and the special feeling of uniqueness — living the miracle of being in the Jewish Homeland. Read more...
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YJLC Pocono Ski Weekend
Valentines, President's Weekend, February 16-18, 2007
Meet a "honey" on the "bunny slope"!
YJLC's 20th Anniversary Chanukah Dance-Party Bash
Sunday, December 17, 2006
8:30 PM - 1:00 AM
Mad River Bar & Grill
126 Chestnut Street
Olde City, Philadelphia
Please join us at the Mad River Bar & Grill for YJLC's 20th Anniversary Chanukah Dance-Party Bash. Doors open at 8:30 PM and the event features DJ dance music, drink specials, and a complimentary buffet. Mixer party games run from 8:30 to 9:30 PM and you're guaranteed to make new friends!
This year's Chanukah celebration honors the acceptance of Israel's disaster relief organization, Magen David Adom as an International Red Cross agency. See our Gimme 5 campaign for more info.
Hadag Nachash Concert Goers: The Chanukah BASH is YOUR After-Concert PARTY! Receive a discount of $5 with your Hadag Nachash ticket - admission after 10pm Sunday.
The Mad River Bar & Grill is at 126 Chestnut Street in Philadelphia. Click here for directions.
19th Annual Pocono Rafting and Resort Weekend
August 11-13, 2006
Not that we needed an excuse to get out of the hot city, but rafting down the Lehigh river made for a refreshingly cool weekend. We enjoyed playing volleyball, sipping drinks by the pool, and shmoozing over bagels and lox during Sunday brunch. We had a blast at Dorney Park and Wildwater Kingdom. Old friendships were renewed and new ones made. All in all, it was a wonderful weekend for all who participated.
Dinner with Brigadier General (Res.) Ephraim Lapid
August 1, 2006
With Israel being attacked this summer by Hezbollah and Hamas, a special program was arranged to meet and hear the latest from an expert who just arrived from Israel. Special Guest Brigadier General (Res.) Ephraim Lapid gave an Israel update on the current crisis, plus shared the "inside story" of both Munich '72, and the famed Entebbe Rescue '76, when he was Operation Officer of Intelligence for the Israel Defense Forces. Brigadier General Lapid was IDF Spokesperson, senior official for Public Affairs of the Jewish Agency, Head of Israel Army Radio, Galei Zahal, instructor at the National Defense College, and is a lecturer of Communications at Bar-Ilan University.
Philadelphia Bulletin Columnist Yossi Puder
July 12, 2006
On July 12, Philadelphia Bulletin Columnist Yossi Puder gave an analysis of the political situation just after returning from Israel and meeting with top government officials.
Yossi Puder (left) emphasizes a point.
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30th Anniversary Commemoration of Entebbe Rescue
July 3, 2006
Monday evening, July 3rd, YJLC capped off a Center City Kehillah Independence Day observance with the 30th Anniversary Commemoration of the Entebbe Rescue. The event was held at historic Congregation Mikveh Israel, next to the Memorial for Yonatan Netanyahu, hero and leader of the rescue of the passengers of the hijacked Air France jet liner. Netanyahu was the sole IDF casualty, who died leading the operation. Arab and German terrorists "selected" Jewish passengers to remain as hostages at the Uganda airport, while letting non-Jewish passengers free, reminiscent of Nazi era "selections." Mikveh Israel Rabbi Albert Gabbi (pictured) and YJLC Coordinator Lou Balcher led this observance, as they did for YJLC commemorations in 2001 and 1996.
Speaking at the 20th Anniversary Entebbe Rescue Commemoration was former Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres, in Philadelphia to receive the Liberty Medal from then Mayor Ed Rendell.
Dr. David Zangen Speaks at National Liberty Museum
June 19, 2006
On Monday night, June 19th, 2006, Dr. David Zangen, Hadassah Pediatrician and IDF Medical Team Leader addressed an audience at the National Liberty Museum in Philadelphia. Dr. Zangen is the Head of Pediatric Endocrinology at Hadassah Hebrew University Hospital, as well as a Major and Chief Medical Officer of the IDF 5th Brigade.
The event was sponsored by The National Liberty Museum, Young Jewish Leadership Concepts, Hadassah of Greater Philadelphia, American Jewish Committee, and Consulate General of Israel-Philadelphia. Approximately 40 individuals were in attendance, a significant majority of whom are active leaders in the Philadelphia Jewish Community.
This program was organized by YJLC board member and pediatrician Dr. Adda Grimberg, a personal friend and colleague of Dr. Zangen, and by Rishona Myers, Special Projects Coordinator of Greater Philadelphia Hadassah.
Dr. David Zangen, Hadassah pediatrician who was head IDF doctor in Jenin, with YJLC Board members Marla Block and Adda Grimberg
Dr. Zangen spoke for approximately one hour on the topic of "Medicine in Peace and War — A Jewish and Israeli Perspective — From Jenin to Hadassah". He spent most of the hour relaying personal experiences and impressions from his service during Operation Defensive Shield. He spoke about the care the IDF takes when fighting in difficult situations, the disregard the Palestinian terrorists show for both Israeli and Palestinian civilians, and the unfair media coverage that Israel received during the operation.
Although the audience had a predisposed favorable view toward Israel, many learned a great deal about the myths of the Jenin operation, which were not widely reported by the mainstream news media. Dr. David Zangen is a powerful speaker who is able to capture the attention of the audience. It is important that the international community continue to hear about his experiences, which range from the victims of bombings arriving at the hospital in Jerusalem to caring for soldiers on the frontlines in the West Bank.
Quick history: Immediately following the March 27, 2002 "Passover Massacre," in which Palestinian terrorists dispatched another suicide bomber who murdered 31 people during the Pesach Seder at the Park Hotel in Netanya, Israel was determined to rout out the Palestinian terrorist base in Jenin. Israel sent young Jewish soldiers in house—to—house searches in residential neighborhoods, rather than utilizing missiles and artillery against the terrorist base. Palestinian Arab fighters ambushed the IDF soldiers with booby traps and snipers, killing 23, 19 in one day. Hadassah pediatrician Dr. Zangen treated both Jewish and Arab casualties. Palestinian authorities promoted, and the world press published claims of more than 500 Palestinian civilians "massacred." Final UN reports put Palestinian casualties at 30 fighters, 22 civilians.
Villanova Basketball Star Liad Suez-Karni
June 8, 2006
Villanova Basketball Star Liad Suez-Karni and hubby Amir Karni shared from their experiences, and from their hearts.
Topics covered included their experiences as informal Israeli ambassadors to Americans:
- The role of sports as a connector among people
- Comparing Israeli and American cultures, and campus life, too
- Their motivation to return to Israel in order to reconnect with unique Israeli / Jewish experiences and values (eg. Extended family weekly Friday night and other gatherings)
- Devotion to country, such as connecting with every word of Hatikvah, the national anthem
- The deep sense of friendships among Israelis
- Army service as the social connector with true patriotism
- How the Holocaust is an ever—present reality
- The sense of shared survival living in Israel
- A very touching feeling of appreciation of the bonds between Jews in America and in Israel
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