As Israel marks the official end of the war and the long-awaited return of all living hostages, the Minneapolis Jewish Federation is embarking on its fourth and final Tikvatenu Volunteer and Solidarity mission to Israel and the closing chapter of a journey that began in heartbreak, transformed into action, and will endure through the relationships it created.
Named “Tikvatenu,” meaning “our hope,” it’s a fitting title for a mission born from resilience. The idea for the first trip emerged midair on a Federation-chartered return flight from the March for Israel in Washington, D.C., in November 2023.
“Jim Cohen, our CEO, was making announcements on the plane, and said it was so impressive to see so many people from our community stand up for, stand against antisemitism, stand up for Israel in our nation’s capital and that we as a community were going to go stand up in Israel,” recalled Kara Rosenwald, the Federation’s director of global experiences. “And then he looked at me and said, ‘Get busy.’ The next day, it just happened. Completely organically.”
Rosenwald and Cohen sat down in his St. Louis Park office, sketching out a plan that would pair volunteering with bearing witness, connecting Minneapolis to the heart of Israel’s recovery. By February 2024, only four months after the horrors of Oct. 7, the first Tikvatenu group was on the ground.
At a time when Israel was still reeling, volunteers filled their suitcases with headlamps, thermals, wool socks, and other essentials, hand-delivering supplies directly to IDF soldiers. “They’re doing their duty for their country,” said Rosenwald. “And to understand that there are people living on the other side of the world supporting them, showing up with cards, socks, or just a listening ear, it has meant so, so much.”
Over the course of four missions, 125 Twin Cities Jewish community members have traveled through Tikvatenu, volunteering on farms and kibbutzim in the Gaza Envelope, sorting uniforms at the IDF’s Bakum base, planting trees in Kibbutz Holit, and bearing witness at the sites of devastation, including the Nova music festival massacre site, and a haunting memorial marked by hundreds of burnt-out cars west of Tkuma.
For Lior Stzainer, a participant on Tikvatenu 1, it took only a brief conversation with Rosenwald before he felt an instinctive pull to go. “I don’t know exactly what it was, more of like a feeling I got after talking to her, I have to go to Israel, I have to be on this trip,” he said.
That feeling deepened when he first visited the Nova festival site. “Being at the Nova festival area hit me really hard. There were sounds, really loud mortars, and that was pretty intense,” Stzainer remembered.
He’s returning now, almost two years later, this time with his wife, Taylor, to see how both the land and the people have begun to heal. “I remember all the trees that were planted in honor of each victim. I’ve been thinking about those trees, and how they’ve grown since then and what it’s going to be like going back to Nova,” he said.
Rosenwald described Holit, one of the kibbutzim where Tikvatenu volunteers worked, as a place where trauma meets renewal. After Oct. 7, the community began rebuilding from the ground up: a total of 156 homes, 59 of which are being funded directly through the Federation’s Tikvatenu efforts.
“It’s knowing these stories, these relationships,” she said. “Our connection to Holit is very special. Our connection to Rehovot is also very special. We have room in our lives for many friendships, and this is a good example of that.”
The bonds extend beyond Israel’s borders. Many tripgoers still stay in touch with their Israeli hosts, guides and security team. One security guard, Avi, became a dear friend to the group. “It was nice for everyone to see another side of him, visiting his family’s shop in Jerusalem,” Rosenwald shared. “Now, it’s like a regular stop for our groups.”
Each Tikvatenu trip adapted to Israel’s evolving needs, from planting trees in burned-out soil to finding new ways to help as the country moved from crisis to recovery. “To volunteer in the laundry room at a military base, that may sound small, but it was powerful,” Rosenwald said. “The woman there told us she’d worked 40 years and never had civilian volunteers before. That moment meant everything.”
For Stzainer, the mission is as much about connection as it is about compassion.
“One of the things I loved about T1 was how close I got with the people on the trip,” he said. “There was a 19-year-old and an 80-year-old, and we all bonded. That was really cool for me.”
As Tikvatenu 4 departs, Stzainer said it’s not just another mission, it’s a return to places devastated by Oct. 7, places participants helped rebuild and heal.
“It’s really exciting,” Stzainer said. “When we booked, we didn’t know the timing would line up with the end of the war and the hostages coming home. It feels like hope coming full circle.”
Rosenwald agreed. “It’s been truly such an honor to be in this position for our community,” she said. “There’s been so much participation and heart. Tikvatenu has truly been a community effort, one that reminds us that our hope is not just a word. It’s something we live, together.”