Please join us this spring as we make history on the first ever Arizona Delegation to the March of the Living! We will join nearly 15,000 high school-age teens and adults from around the world as we spend a week of intense learning and touring throughout Poland -- including marching in silence on Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Memorial Day) from Auschwitz to Birkenau. We will then take our emotions and fly to Israel where we will proclaim – Am Yisrael Chai  – The Jewish People live!

Signing Up for the Arizona Delegation

This is a communal experience open to all high school teens – current 9th grade through current 12th grade. Adults are also welcomed to participate alongside the teens.

The program is being coordinated by BBYO Passport and the March of the Living International. In addition to submitting this registration form, there will be a formal interview for each candidate who wishes to participate. We will also have three Sunday learning sessions (late afternoons, dates to be given out later) where we will study together, bond together and prepare for a life transforming community experience together.

NOTE: Non-Arizona teens may participate in the March of the Living as part of BBYO's National Teen Delegation and will have the chance to interact with Arizona teens at our accommodations and during BBYO delegation-wide programming.

Itinerary Overview

The March of the Living encompasses two weeks of travel in Poland and Israel with fellow Jewish teens from across North America and around the world. Learn More: Program Itinerary

Week #1: Poland
Travel to Poland to honor the Jewish community of the past and connect with Poland's Jewish community of today. To mark Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day), teens from over 60 countries take part in an emotional two-mile march between the concentration camps of Auschwitz and Birkenau.

Week #2: Israel
Fly from Poland to Israel to join millions of Israelis in celebrating Yom Ha'Atzmaut - Israel's 64th Independence Day festivities. Travel to Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, and the Dead Sea. Walk in the footsteps of 3000 years of Jewish history and experience the modern day miracle of Israel's creation with all your senses.

Confronting The Destruction in Poland

We begin our journey in Poland learning about the rich history of the Jewish People in Europe prior to the Holocaust. Explore the old Jewish Quarter of Krakow, the restored Nozyck Synagogue in Warsaw, and the famous Yeshiva of Lublin where Jewish life in Galicia thrived dating back to medieval times.

With this deeper appreciation of our proud past, we confront the destruction of the Holocaust bearing witness at the concentration camps and the death camps of Treblinka, Majdanek, and ultimately, Auschwitz-Birkenau. Along the way, we will stop at the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising memorial, Mila 18, and Oscar Schindler's factory. The BBYO delegation is accompanied by a survivor in Poland, which creates a link between generations and fosters a personal connection to our history.

The March of the Living experience in Poland culminates with Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Rememberance Day), with a three kilometer march from Auschwitz to Birkenau, the largest extermination camp complex built by the Nazis during World War II. Retrace the steps of the “March of Death,” the actual route which countless numbers of our People walked on their way to the gas chambers at Birkenau. However, our march will be a “March of the Living” concluding with the singing of Hatikvah which reaffirms “Am Yisrael Chai – The Jewish People Live.”

Our emotional journey in Poland concludes in Warsaw where our focus shifts to the resurgence of Jewish life in Warsaw today -- with newly re-dedicated synagogues, schools, organizations and youth groups. Stand hand-in-hand with the modern day Jewish community which continues to keep the flame of our People alive in Poland.

Celebrating Renewal in Israel

Departing Poland, we fly overnight to Israel where we land in the vibrant, sun-soaked Jewish State. Our travels in Israel begin in Tel Aviv where we will eat a celebratory welcome breakfast on the beach, retrace the founding of modern Israel in 1948 and experience the contemporary heart of Israeli culture.

From Tel Aviv, we travel to Jerusalem. Here, we experience the ancient and the modern together. Our Jerusalem journey starts in the Jewish Quarter at the Western Wall – our most cherished link to the past. Relive the glory of ancient Jerusalem history; recount its 2000 year-old destruction; celebrate the reunification in 1967; and imagine a Jerusalem of the future.

On Yom Hazikaron (Israel's Memorial Day), we join together with all of Israel to mourn fallen soldiers and victims of terror. The following day is Yom Ha'Atzmaut (Israel's Independence Day), and all of the March of the Living delegations from around the world reunite in Jerusalem for a second march followed by an international celebration event that evening. Having witnessed the darkness of the Holocaust firsthand, these life-affirming experiences in Israel are especially moving and meaningful.

Our journeying in Israel concludes with the unforgettable experience of hiking up to Masada at sunrise followed by floating on the waters of the Dead Sea, the lowest point on earth.

Although our time in Israel is short, it will certainly lay a significant foundation that will encourage you to seek further Jewish experiences for the rest of your life.

The goal of the "March of the Living" is to educate Jewish teens about the richness of our past, to keep that past alive and to perpetuate our Jewish future. Past participants have maintained their level of Jewish commitment by returning to Israel, seeking a Jewish lifestyle in college, acting to protect human rights, and developing a sense of leadership and responsibility for the Jewish World around us.

Program Package

• Round-trip flights from NYC
• Accommodations (hotels and guest houses)
• All meals (kosher)
• Activities & entrance fees
• Deluxe motorcoach
• Dynamic staff team
• Security escort & monitoring (Israel)
• Medical insurance (excludes pre-existing conditions)

Trip Links

• Program Itinerary
• Pre-Trip Prep 2011
• AP Test Deferral Letter
• Registration Instructions
• Why Israel, Why Now?
• Safety & Security
• Register Now for March of the Living

Program Cost: $4,850

The cost of the program is $4,850/teen. The program includes international flights from New York, accommodations, all meals, activities, programming, and medical insurance (exclusive of pre-existing conditions). Participants are responsible for their flights to JFK Airport as well as gratuities and any spending money in Israel.

How to Register

Teens wishing to join the Arizona Delegation are encouraged to register online or via a paper application form. A separate application for adults is also available (read below for details).

Registration for the March of the Living is slightly different than other BBYO Passport summer experiences in terms of process and deadlines. Please take a moment and review the full March of the Living registration instructions for additional terms and details. There are also only a limited number of spaces available for the 2012 March of the Living program, so we encourage you to register early.

Eligibility & Preparation

This program is appropriate for Jewish high school students from across Arizona who exhibit maturity, leadership potential, and the ability to communicate their experiences with others. Each participant must obtain permission to miss two weeks of school.

Questions about the March of the Living?

• For general information about the Arizona Delegation to March of the Living and any scholarship questions, contact Rabbi Micah Caplan at rabbi@congregationorchadash.org or 1-480-342-8858.
  
• For registration, payment and travel logistics questions, contact BBYO Passport at 1-800-698-1002 or info@passport2theworld.org.

Obtaining Permission to Miss School
Worried about getting time off from school to attend the March? We will help! Please consider submitting this letter of explanation and program overview document. Need additional assistance? Contact Sherrie Stalarow, the Program Director.

The Arizona Delegation is also open to local adults who wish to share in the experience alongside our teen mission. The cost of the program for adults is $5,350 per person based on double room hotel occupancy ($6,150 based on single room hotel occupancy). Adult participants do not need to be the parent of a teen on the March. Adults wishing to register for the program should submit the Arizona Delegation - Adult Application.