The IDF Widows & Orphans Organization recently led a three-week delegation of 28 children from across Israel who lost a parent while serving in the country's security forces to North America.
The annual Bar/Bat Mitzvah program allowed the children to spend a weekend with host families in Chicago before traveling to Camp Chi in Wisconsin for a week of activities with American kids.
From there, the group continued to New York City, where they visited Times Square and saw The Lion King on Broadway, before heading to New Jersey.
The trip was designed to provide the children with a powerful and meaningful experience, said Daniel Elbaum, executive director of the IDF Widows & Orphans Organization.
With the United States home to the world's largest Jewish population outside Israel, the trip gave the children an opportunity to meet people from diverse backgrounds and levels of religious observance.
For many of the children, the trip was also their first visit to the United States, and their first experience of international travel independently.
Fostering a strong Jewish identity, pride in Israel, and solidarity with its people are among the most important ways to help American Jews confront antisemitism, Elbaum said.
The trip was not designed as an initiative to combat antisemitism, but it was an opportunity for the children to experience the country's largest Jewish population outside Israel.
Among this year's participants was 11½-year-old Tal Goldstein-Almog, who was taken hostage to Gaza with his mother and two siblings on Oct. 7 and held for 51 days.
Tal's father, Nadav, and sister Yam, an IDF soldier, were murdered during the attack. Tal shared his experience with the other children on the trip.
The trip was Tal's first extended journey without his family. He learned about the program from a friend from the kibbutz who also participated.
Tal said that since Oct. 7, the connections in his life have helped him maintain a sense of normalcy.
Shadan Knefiss, a member of Israel's Druze community, joined the delegation to help translate for participants whose first language is Arabic. She also became an orphan at the age of three.
Shadan's father, a Border Police officer, was killed in a car accident during his first shift in northern Israel. This program has helped her in many ways throughout her life.
Noor, 13, was one of three participants whom Shadan helped during the trip. His father, Yosef Saleh, served in the IDF before joining the Israel Police, where he was killed in the line of duty in 2013.
Noor told Fox News Digital that it was his first trip to the United States and encouraged other children like him to go on trips, meet new kids, and make new friends.
