From a young age, growing up in Victoria BC in Canada, Tamar became active in Habonim Dror, a Socialist-Zionist Jewish youth movement, falling deeply in love with it.
“I grew up with a strong connection to Israel – my dad is Israeli while my mom is Canadian – and Habonim Dror only strengthened it,” recalled Tamar. “I went to their overnight camp Camp Miriam in the summers, after high school, I did a Habonim Dror gap year program in Israel called Workshop, and then when I attended McGill University, I remained an active member of the movement.”
In her early 20s, Tamar was the director of Camp Miriam and loved the experience of getting to interact with and impact young Jews, so in 2010, she decided to go to Israel and be a counselor for Habonim Dror’s Workshop program.
She stayed in Israel for 12 years, joining Dror Israel’s Kibbutz Eshbal in the north as a member and educator, and continuing to work for Habonim Dror, coordinating Israel programs for many years before transitioning to coordinating activities for Habonim Dror’s sister movement in Israel. She also led educational trips to Poland and facilitated workshops on the Holocaust. But then COVID hit and made her realize that she wasn’t quite done with Habonim Dror and she wanted to come back and be a Jewish Agency Shlichah (Israeli emissary) in North America.
Jewish Agency Shlichim bring Israel to life for the local community, acting as living bridges to the Jewish state, promoting lasting connections to Israel fostered by personal relationships. Since August 2021, Tamar has been based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, with her partner and daughter, serving as The Jewish Agency’s Youth Movement Shlichah for Habonim Dror North America, working with the movement’s national youth leadership and program directors.
Having been on all sides of the equation when it comes to Habonim Dror, Tamar is well-equipped to run seminars, do trainings for camp leadership and organize year-round programming, all of which she does with unwavering enthusiasm.
“It’s really rewarding to be able to empower the next generation of Habonim Dror leaders to talk about Israel and build those relationships. As an emissary, I want to encourage people to be curious and really look at their connections to Israel,” shared Tamar. “The gap between Israelis and North Americans is big and complicated so having an Israeli on the ground in the U.S. who can answer questions and share their perspective is really important as it will help deepen world Jewry’s relationships to Israel.”
“I think that Shlichim can create connections to Israel in a very powerful way but it’s also important for Israelis to get to know Jewish communities around the world,” Tamar added. “So Shlichim really act as living bridges in both directions.”
