By India Pearman
Staff Writer
In an effort to dig up her Israeli roots, freshman Pnina Tolfer attended the annual American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s Policy Conference in Washington DC.
Tofler participated in the three venues including the Marriott Market, the Convention Center and the Verizon Center, at the conference which was held in Washington DC on March 26 and 28. The AIPAC holds its Policy conference annually and focuses on educating attendees about Israeli-American relationships and partnerships through featuring Israeli and American politicians as speakers, according to aipac.org. Tofler aimed to learn more about the nation and culture of Israel and to feel more connected with her Jewish roots, she said.
“It was amazing to see 18,000 people stand up and we all started singing the Israeli National Anthem,” Tofler said. “Everyone was very emotional because everyone was singing together after seeing a presentation of violins from the Holocaust. I was in awe that we filled the whole Verizon Center with people that are supporting Israel, me, and we were all supporting each other.”
Tofler is a part of the Israeli American Council Eitanim which is a program encourages and teaches Jewish high schoolers about skills related to entrepreneurship and leadership. This program introduced her to the event and encouraged her to apply for the scholarship from the Milstein Family Foundation. She sent in an application through a google form to the Milstein Family Foundation and was selected from 5000 applicants around the country. She received a $600 scholarship from the Milstein Family Foundation, which paid for her to attend the the conference, however Tofler paid for her own flights and hotel room.
“I wanted to go to this conference because I feel really connected to myself as a Jewish person in America and I really wanted to connect to my Israeli side,” Tofler said. “It is really amazing because when I try to speak Hebrew something turns on inside of me, and it feels like a part of me that was buried inside of me that I forgot. It makes me feel good to be a part of something bigger than myself.”
Photos: Pnina Tofler at AIPAC Conference in Washington DC.
Tofler attended the conference for three out of its five days to avoid missing too much school, and listened to speakers and panelists, asked questions, and took notes from 8am to 9pm each day. There were over 18,000 attendees ranging from students to policy makers. She attended sessions with speakers who focused on entrepreneurship, Israeli teenagers, the Israeli Start Up Nation, and how American-Israeli partnerships are formed.
“I think this conference gave her an opportunity to see great speakers and understand the issues concerning Israel and the U.S,” Tofler’s mother Lisa Herman Tofler said. “I hope that she becomes more involved in promoting the truth about Israel. This will hopefully lead her to assert herself for other causes as she grows older.”
Watch a video here to get a glimpse of this years AIPAC event in Washington DC.
In the more intimate sessions that were held in either the Marriot Market and the Convention center, Tofler had the opportunity to ask the panelists questions relating to incorporating teenagers into their companies so she could make personal connections with the many conflicts that the Israeli community is facing. Her specific interest in sessions related to entrepreneurial activities is derived from her hope of applying this new information with her experience from the IAC Eitanim program.
“From the event I took away that I can be more comfortable and more outwardly with my Jewish-Israeli identity,” Tofler said.
“I felt very proud to be a part of such a wide variety of people, because it wasn’t just Jews since there were different walks of life that were coming to support Israel and learn more about it,” Tofler said. “I feel like now I can do something about all of the Anti-Semitism and Anti-Semitism that is in our world right now.”
Tofler plans to attend a Hackathon, define Hackathon and where it is this summer, where she will utilize technology to spread awareness about the positive Israeli contributions to the United States’ society, Tofler said. She also plans on increasing Costa’s Jewish Cultural Club’s activism by encouraging them to spread awareness by making a presentation in order to share the truths and and insights about the Democratic and free nation of Israel.
“It was one of the most amazing experiences I have ever had and it boosted my self esteem and it made me feel really proud to be a part of such an amazing culture and nation,” Tofler said. “It is refreshing to see how much you can learn about what is really going on and to see people who are actually telling you the facts.”
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