{"id":207686,"date":"2026-07-15T09:59:12","date_gmt":"2026-07-15T09:59:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/207686\/"},"modified":"2026-07-15T09:59:12","modified_gmt":"2026-07-15T09:59:12","slug":"thousands-of-teens-unite-at-rootone-event-to-strengthen-jewish-bonds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/207686\/","title":{"rendered":"Thousands of teens unite at RootOne event to strengthen Jewish bonds"},"content":{"rendered":"

Thousands of teens from the United States, Canada, and Israel convened in central Israel on Sunday for RootOne\u2019s<\/a> Big Tent event, the largest annual Diaspora-Israel solidarity event in the Jewish state.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Big Tent event is an opportunity for teens to feel like they’re connected to something bigger,\u201d explained Nadav Shachmon, the Director of Israel Partnerships at RootOne, a Jewish teen Israel-travel initiative run through The Jewish Education Project.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe say \u2018peoplehood\u2019. We feel \u2018resilience.\u2019 All these big words,\u201d he continued. \u201cBut what does it come down to? It comes down to this feeling that everyone has in their hearts that they’re a part of something. They’re not just wandering Jews around the world. You know it, but to come here, you feel it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shachmon added that the \u201cenergy\u201d and \u201ckoach\u201d (power) the teens experience at the event would be carried back to the US and Canada and serve as a force to dispel feelings of isolation.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey might be the only Jew in class,\u201d he said. \u201cThis experience really makes you feel you’re not alone, you’re part of something bigger, and you have to hold it in your heart. That’s the point.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"IsraeliIsraeli singer Noam Bettan performs at the RootOne Big Tent event in Rishon Lezion. July 12, 2026. (credit: RootOne)First event held since Hamas war<\/p>\n

The RootOne event was the first since the Hamas-led massacres of October 7, 2023<\/a>.<\/p>\n

At the event, nearly 5,000 teens, a group of Americans and Canadians participating in a host of different programs, along with Israelis, thronged at Rishon Lezion\u2019s Live Park to socialize, meet pen pals, and enjoy live music. Some also worked to assemble care packages.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are packing for children of families who are in the IDF<\/a> reserves so those kids can have toys while their parents are away,\u201d Evan, a teen participant in Ramah Israel Seminar, explained.\u00a0<\/p>\n

According to RootOne, which put on the Big Tent event along with The Jewish Agency for Israel, the Diaspora Ministry, and Mosaic United, the event came as \u201cpersonal relationships and mutual understanding\u201d between North American Jewish teens and their Israeli counterparts are \u201cmore important than ever.\u201d<\/p>\n

Many teens who spoke to The Jerusalem Post during the event affirmed their commitment to Israel and asserted that their connections to one another held immense importance. Among those were Aliyah and Jess, who were on a trip with Yallah! Israel.<\/p>\n

\u201c’I\u2019ve seen so many people I know and made so many new friends. It’s so crazy to be in a space with so many Jewish teens at the same time.\u201d Aliyah said.<\/p>\n

Jess noted that, for her, in Israel she had found a place rich in culture with abundant learning opportunities.<\/p>\n

Isaac, who was on a Young Judaea Gesher trip, said that he had Israeli friends in his everyday life, but that \u201cit’s always awesome meeting people when they don’t have to travel 1000 miles plus\u201d in order to visit face-to-face.<\/p>\n

Also on a Young Judaea Gesher program were Sofia, an American teen from Florida, and Ella, an Israeli teen from Holon.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Israelis have genuinely become like my family, and we just met a few days ago,\u201d Sofia said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can say the same,\u201d Ella said, adding that she has loved getting to know her peers from the US. \u201cI\u2019ve learned a lot about Americans, and it\u2019s really fun to meet people who are different from me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was such a privilege being able to co-host such an important, inspiring event,\u201d teen emcee and event co-host Shir Greenberg of Austin, Texas told the Post. \u201cIt made me feel so proud to be Jewish and made me forget about all of the struggles I’ve had to face in the [United] States surrounding my Judaism. I felt so connected.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI was reminded of the true importance of going to Israel and why Israel is so important to the Jewish people,\u201d Greenberg, who was participating in a NCSY summer program, added.<\/p>\n

Herzog: May this event leave you with the courage to fight what really matters<\/p>\n

During the event, a video message from President Isaac Herzog was broadcast from the stage, during which the president bid the teens to take courage and strength in their belonging to the Jewish people.<\/p>\n

\u201cMay [this event] inspire you to find your own place within the story of our people,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd may it leave you with the courage to fight what really matters, even when it is difficult, to fight for our people, for Israel, and for a world of justice, democracy, and peace without antisemitism.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"TeensTeens gather at the RootOne Big Tent event in Rishon Lezion. July 12, 2026. (credit: RootOne)<\/p>\n

Among the musical performances to take place at the event were songs sung by Israeli Musician Daniel Weiss from Kibbutz Be\u2019eri, whose parents were murdered on October 7. Weiss sang Naomi Shemer\u2019s \u201cLu Yehi\u201d and Avicii\u2019s \u201cHey Brother.\u201d<\/p>\n

Noam Bettan<\/a>, who placed second in the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest, also sang, performing his hit song \u201cMichelle\u201d and leading the crowd in several other songs to close out the event.<\/p>\n

Former Gaza hostage Moran Stella Yanai, who was kidnapped on October 7 from the Nova Music Festival, also addressed the crowd.<\/p>\n

\u201cResilience, I don\u2019t think that it\u2019s something that you can teach,\u201d Yanai, who spent 54 days in captivity, said.<\/p>\n

\u201cResilience is something you need to discover at the right time,\u201d she reflected, adding that she was given strength by her faith as well as by the Jewish people, who she described as the \u201cbig lion\u201d that stood behind her.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Thousands of teens from the United States, Canada, and Israel convened in central Israel on Sunday for RootOne\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":207687,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[33],"tags":[949,5143,9921,37,2421,502,3738,33689,43132,35790,1413,51],"class_list":["post-207686","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-israel","tag-canada","tag-diaspora","tag-diaspora-jews","tag-israel","tag-israelis","tag-jews","tag-music","tag-nova-music-festival","tag-rishon-lezion","tag-teenagers","tag-the-october-7-massacre","tag-united-states"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@iran\/116923411115417386","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/207686","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=207686"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/207686\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/207687"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=207686"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=207686"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=207686"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}