How do you create effective Jewish engagemnt? We spoke with Jeff Seidel about his innovative programs and organization.

Among the thousands of college students who flock to Israel each year for study or travel, many are looking for a reason to be Jewish. But it isn’t easy to tap into Israel’s vast world of Jewish learning. It isn’t easy for a student from New York or Philadelphia to look beyond the stones of the Western Wall and sense their history.

Jeff Seidel and the Jewish Student Information Centers fill that need.

The Old City Center opened in 1986, functioning as a resource center for the student traveler as a guiding hand and a place offering heightened Jewish consciousness.

The second Student Information Center opened in 1992 near the Hebrew University campus offering its students an array of services such as laundry service, e-mail, Shabbat meals, lectures, wide screen Television and much more.

The third Information Center opened in 1994 near the Tel-Aviv University campus. Yearly, the Jewish Student Information Centers are visited by some 20,000 students and travelers. On Friday night you are now able to attend Shabbat Home Hospitality whether you are at the Western Wall, Tel Aviv University, Hebrew University, or anywhere around the world.