Who We Are
Passport to the World is BBYO's summer travel program for Jewish teens. Our trips are geared to students currently enrolled in 9th through 12th grades. Organized in partnership with Authentic Israel, a leading educational program provider based in Israel, BBYO Passport brings together the best of BBYO along with Authentic Israel's three decades of professional travel experience. Read on to learn more about BBYO, Authentic Israel, and the Passport Family...
BBYO (B'nai B'rith Youth Organization) is the leading worldwide, non-denominational Jewish youth movement, currently spanning 39 regions and over 25,000 members. For eighty years, BBYO has been providing opportunities for Jewish youth to develop their leadership potential and a positive Jewish identity. The Passport program provides Jewish teens an unparalleled opportunity to explore Israel and the world at large from a physical, historical, cultural and spiritual perspective. Learn more about BBYO at http://www.bbyo.org.
Authentic Israel is a leading provider of Jewish teen travel programs in Israel and around the world. In addition to working with Jewish youth from North America and Europe, Authentic Israel also provides educational touring programs for Israeli middle school and high school teens. Authentic Israel's operations in Israel are conveniently headquartered in central Israel. Each of Authentic Israel's guides are licensed professionals who are simply fantastic at connecting and sharing the Israel experience with the world. Learn more about Authentic Israel at http://www.authenticisrael.com.
Meet Our Family
Before we have the honor to welcome you to the program, we thought that you may want to learn a little more about our professional staff in North America and in Israel. Enjoy!
PROGRAM STAFF
Lane Schlessel, Director of BBYO Passport
Lane A. Schlessel, MSW has been with BBYO for 24 years and associated with the organization as a member, advisor, board member and professional for nearly 32 years. He received his undergraduate degree in social work from the Ohio State University and a Master's in Social work from St. Louis University. Lane Directed the Israel programs in the late 90's seeing the program grow from 200 participants in 1999 to 700 in 2000. Lane also directed the BBYO CLTC in the US, Canada and Eastern Europe and during the past several years has been working with the field service department in assisting regions to strategically prepare for the future.
Matt Grossman, BBYO Executive Director
Matt grew up in Cheshire, a small town in central Connecticut. It was there, as a member of a Jewish high school youth group, that Matt solidified his commitment to working with Jewish youth and to the future of the Jewish people. After completing an undergraduate degree in Human Services and Judaic Studies at The George Washington University and a Master's degree in Higher Education Administration, Matt began his career at Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life. Matt has played a critical role in re-energizing BBYO as an organization, and through Passport to Israel, Matt has brought a special commitment to ensuring that the Israel experience is a vital part of the BBYO experience. Matt currently lives in Washington, DC where he works at BBYO's international headquarters.
Roi Porat, Operations Director (Israel)
Born and raised in the Rishon L'Tzion area of Israel, Roi served as in the Israel Defense Force's special forces for seven years and completed his service as an officer. Roi started his professional career as a guide for Authentic Israel and subsequently moved to the operational side. He received a degree from Tel Aviv University in business administration, and he still lives in Rishon L'Tzion with his wife and newborn child.
Alisha Hess Haber, Program Manager (North America)
Born and raised in New York City, Alisha is a graduate of Cornell University. She has spent several months volunteering on a kibbutz, and a year living and learning in Jerusalem. She has also previously helped organize tours to Israel from the Missions Department of the United Jewish Communities. Alisha is responsible for coordinating registration for Passport programs and is available to help walk applicants through every step of pre-trip preparation.
Ian Dirnfeld, Operations Manager (Israel)
Born and raised in Canada, Ian grew up in a contemporary Jewish home where Zionism and Judaism were inextricably linked. Ian fulfilled his dream and made aliyah to Israel in 2000. Since then, Ian has since been working in the field of tourism & customer relations, first for El Al, and now at Authentic Israel since 2006. Recently married, Ian lives in Tel Aviv with his wife and their newborn child.
Ika Chipman, Guides & Educational Coordinator (Israel)
Born and raised in Jerusalem, Ika has been working in the field of informal education for the last nine years. Starting out as a tour guide, Ika has guided groups of local Israeli youth, recent immigrants, and groups from around the world. More recently, Ika joined the Authentic Israel office staff where he is responsible for managing guides and itinerary development. Ika currently lives in the village of Lapid with his wife and three children.
Matan Safran, Special Projects (Israel)
Matan grew up in Karmei Yossef and served in special forces in the IDF. He has worked at Authentic Israel since 2004 and is currently working part-time while studying full-time at the Inter-Disciplinary Center in Herziliya where he also resides. In his free time, Matan also works as a freelance photographer specializing in aerial photography.
TRIP GUIDES/EDUCATORS
Every BBYO Passport program in Israel and most programs in Europe are staffed by licensed Israeli guide-educators. Our professional staff bring years of experience in the field of informal education, and they add an energetic and engaging spirit to the overall experience. Below is a partial list of guide-educators who staff BBYO Passport trips.
Nataly Zeevi, Trip Guide (Israel)
Born in Tel Aviv, Nataly began her love for nature at Sde Boker high school in the Negev Desert. Nataly served in the IDF as a tour guide and since then has been alternatively guiding trips in Israel and traveling the world -- crossing the Himalayas from India to Tibet, riding horses throughout Mongolia, trekking in China, etc. These days she is still guiding and also studying cheese making with dreams of making her own dairy goat farm.
Amir Klar, Trip Guide (Israel)
Born and raised in the center of Israel, Amir has served in the IDF radio station (Galatz). After travels and work in over 30 countries, He graduated with a degree in education, Arabic and regional studies and worked as a guide in the SPNI (Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel). An aficionado of languages and travels, Amir combines these two with his dedication to education, working for the last 6 years as a tour guide, and recently as a K12 Arabic teacher. Amir currently lives in kibbutz Lotem in the Lower Galilee in northern Israel.
Efrat Sharoni, Trip Guide (Israel)
Efrat was born in Haifa and raised on Moshav Sde Ilan in the Lower Galilee. Her flair for theatrics was given the chance to blossom when she served as an officer in IDF’s Performing Arts Troup. She earned her B.A. from Ben Gurion University in Beer Sheva in Biology and Ecology and is currently studying towards her M.A. in Judaic Science and Land of Israel Studies at the Schechter Institute. A tour guide for the last 8 years, Efrat currently lives in Ramat Gan outside of Tel Aviv.
Avner Sofer, Trip Guide (Israel)
Avner grew up in Haifa and served in the IDF for six years as an intelligence officer (and continues to serve in the reserves). His central interests are hiking, geology the history of Israel, and the story of the Jewish people. Avner began his career working as a ranger for the Nature Reserve Authority in the Mount Carmel region for ten years. In 1988, Avner began work as a tour guide in Israel and has since expanded to guiding in countries such as Kenya, Tanzania, Jordan, Uzbekistan and others. He currently lives in a small village in the Galilee called Alon HaGalil.
Yaacov Shabbat, Trip Guide (Israel)
Yaacov was born and raised in Jerusalem. In addition to being a tour guide in Israel for fifteen years, Yaacov has a personal passion for photography, which he studied at Hadassah College in Israel. After spending four years living abroad in Montreal, Canada, Yaacov and his family returned to Israel and now lives with his wife and their two children in the town of Maale Adumim, right outside of Jerusalem.
Janina (Nina) Grunhaus, Trip Guide (Israel)
Janina (Nina) was born in San Jose, Costa Rica and made Aliyah in 1989. Since moving to Israel she has completed a degree in General History from Hebrew University in Jerusalem. Nina loves to travel, and she decided to share her love of travel and of Israel with others as a guide. She has been a tour guide for the last ten years and currently lives in Haifa by the Mediterranean Sea.
Yoni Ben-Tzedef, Trip Guide (Israel)
Yoni is a life-long Jerusalemite. He did his army service first in the Armored Corps, where he was a tank commander, and he finished his military working in the Army Spokesman’s office. An avid lover in adventure sports, Yoni has been guiding for 9 years. He recently completed his B.A. at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in Archaeology and Bible Studies, and is currently beginning an M.A. combining the two in Biblical Archaeology. When he is not guiding or adventure sporting, Yoni is a avid reader of anything he can get his hands on.
Nurit Hertz, Trip Guide (Israel)
Nurit was born and raised on Kibbutz Yavneh on the outskirts of Tel Aviv. She spent her IDF service as an official tour guide and soon after moved to Sde Boker in the Negev Desert. Nurit has also traveled the word, trekking throughout the Indian Himalaya, the Tibetan plateau as well as China and Mongolia. Nurit now works primarily as a trip guide, living in Jerusalem and studying body-mind therapy, a kind of physical psychotherapy.
Yinon Kahalani, Trip Guide (Israel)
Yinon grew up on Moshav Sde Ilan in the Galilee and currently resides in the village of Zichron Yaacov in the Carmel Mountains. Yinon has been guiding trips for seven years after leaving a career as a private investigator. A guitarist and a natural traveler, Yinon's favorite place for vacations is the Far East. He studied psychology in the Tel Aviv University and utilized his knowledge in various ways that served national security and the IDF.
Sara Zeltzer, Trip Guide (Israel)
One of the most charismatic guides in Israel, Sara is a true red-head, loves being outdoors, and has a tendency to fall in love with her groups. She studies biology in the Tel Aviv University on the side.
