Jewish Community Partners

By: Aliza Wiener

Aliza Wiener, daughter of Dr. Hillel and Rebecca Wiener is a junior at the Goldie Margolin High School for Girls. Memphis Jewish Federation’s Lemsky Endowment Fund provided her with a Teen Israel Experience grant to offset the costs of her NCSY GIVE Israel program. All rising juniors and seniors are eligible for grants of up to $3,000 to attend a recognized teen summer or semester program in Israel. Teen Israel Experience applications for Summer 2026 are open and can be accessed at Lemsky Endowment Fund | Jewish Community Partners (jcpmemphis.org)

This past summer, I had the privilege to participate in NCSY GIVE, a summer program dedicated to volunteering through the land of Israel and helping in any way we knew. GIVE taught me the importance of giving of myself, for the sole purpose of helping others through things like packaging food for soldiers, creating a carnival for children whose parents are in the army, weeding avocado trees at kibbutzim, or spending time with the elderly.

Over the course of GIVE, we experienced many acts of chesed (kindness and love), but one that truly stood out to me was Save a Child’s Heart, an organization that helps young children from Africa receive the medical care they desperately need. Many of these children come from places where children either don’t have medical help or don’t have the money to afford the help. Save a Child’s Heart examines these children, some as young as six months old, and determines whether they need to be brought to Israel for life saving heart surgery and recovery. Once the child is brought to Israel and has the surgery, they need to stay in a home with children like them until they are healthy enough to return to Africa. We visited this incredible organization during our second week of GIVE. At first, none of us knew how to interact with the children who had been through so much and didn’t speak our language. The minute we got there we realized that wouldn’t matter. The children were so excited to see us, they ran up to us squealing with joy and hugging us. The lady who worked there told us that even though we couldn’t use words to communicate, love and happiness are a language everyone understands.

As we continued our trip, we went to more places that impacted me. Once a week we would visit a home for mothers and children who escaped abusive marriages. The first time we arrived, I immediately bonded with one of the babies named Yael. Despite my little knowledge of Israeli children’s songs and games, just running around and dancing with her was enough. Eventually, I learned a simple Hebrew song and was able to sing to her, and seeing the smile on her face brought tears to my eyes. On our last visit there, none of us wanted to leave. A few girls got the mother’s numbers so they would be able to keep in touch. This experience taught me that when someone is going through extremely difficult times, just knowing there is someone out there for you who cares means the world.

Although I was on a volunteer program, we did our fair share of traveling. We often went to the Old City, a place I know well since all my brothers stayed there during their gap year. Despite having been to the Kotel or Western Wall many times, the most life-changing experience I had was going to the Kotel on Tisha B’Av (holiday that commemorates the saddest day on the Jewish calendar and includes a 24-hour fast). Luckily, we arrived early, so we were able to secure spots, but seeing the huge swarms of people coming to the Kotel, all for the same reason, was very inspiring. Everywhere you turned, a person was crying into their siddur (prayer book) or there was a circle of people having a kumzitz (sing-along). Even though I was fasting, I didn’t even remember how hungry I was because I was so overcome with a feeling of Jewish pride. This was the first Tisha B’Av I truly believed that the Messiah would come. After the fast ended, no one moved to get food or water; people continued praying and singing throughout the night. It was an incredible experience, and I can’t wait to go back again soon.

It wouldn’t be an NCSY program without learning and inspiration; one counselor changed my life in many ways. My advisor Hannah’s chaburah (study group or lesson) taught us the importance of time. She explained that we didn’t have time to kill, we had time to fill. She instructed us to take out our phones and look at our screen times, then subtract that number from the 24 hours we have in a day. The numbers were concerning. She explained the number is how much time you have in a day, but if you add back the time spent on your phone, you’d have so much more. She explained that even on the bus just looking outside the window and soaking in the rich agriculture and history fills your time. The chaburah inspired me to take a step back and look at the world around me through my own eyes, not through a camera.

NCSY GIVE was a life-changing program. Not only did I grow spiritually and mentally, but I also overcame challenges, made connections with amazing people, tried new things, and developed a strong love for the land of Israel and all it offers.

Thank you to Memphis Jewish Federation’s Lemsky Endowment fund for enabling me to have such an impactful summer.