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Inspired Teen Holds Off College For Israel

Each week Patch highlights a kid or group in the Deerfield community who's doing something interesting and exciting. Meet this week's pick, Max Ledersneider.

Name: Max Ledersnaider

Age: 18

School: Deerfield High School/ University of Michigan

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Max Ledersnaider, a recent graduate of Deerfield High School, has fallen in love with Israel. At 18, Ledersnaider has already seen more of Israel than some Israelis; he's climbed Masada, he's floated in the Dead Sea, he's visited the Western Wall, the Dome of the Rock, and so many other places that people from all over the world flock to see.

Ledersnaider's most impactful experience in Israel, however, had nothing to do with landmarks or vacation spots. It's the people of Israel that truly captivated him. 

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"In 2010 I went to Israel over the summer with a youth group and part of the trip included a four day camping trip with Israelis our age," Ledersnaider said. Close to half of the Israelis spoke English at a conversational level and Ledernsaider soon found himself translating for Americans and Israelis on a regular basis.

"I remember this experience because it was the time when I realized how much people from the USA had in common with Israelis. There were so many parallels between their lives and ours and I couldn’t help but wonder what it would be like if I had grown up in Israel."

Ledersnaider plans to make up for lost time by straying from the standard college-bound path that so many high school graduates take. This September he will once again travel to Israel, but this time he'll stay put until May.

Ledersnaider will live in Israel for nine months as part of Workshop, a gap year program run by worldwide Labor-Zionist youth movement Habonim. Workshop gives about 40 high school graduates from both America and Canada the opportunity to live as regular Israelis do. 

Workshop is a dream come true for Ledersnaider. "This program will allow me to spend time in a new country learning about the language, history, and culture as well as bond with a group of people who share the same values as I do," he said.

Ledersnaider will spend half of his time living on a kibbutz, a collective community founded on socialist and Zionist ideals (Kibbutzim are an important part of Israel's economic foundation; for example, In 2010 kibbutzim accounted for 9% and 40% of Israel's industrial and agricultural output, respectively.)

The other half of the trip places kids in a city-based co-op house as they volunteer for various activities within their communities. Ledersnaider and his peers will take Hebrew lessons, learn about the country's history, and tour extensively. 

Ledersnaider's family has been a part of the Workshop program for almost as long as the state of Israel has been established; his grandmother, mother, aunt, sister and cousin all having participated, Ledersnaider is proud to be a part of the third generation's journey to Israel. "My grandmother was part of the early years of the programs when Israel was first being established," he said.

"I will be participating in the 61st Workshop and even though the program has changed much over time I feel honored to be part of a program and a movement that is so deeply tied to my own family history," which is why he's decided to push back his start date at the University of Michigan.   

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