Sophie Stillman

Sophie Stillman

Most American college graduates choose to start families, launch careers, and settle down into “adulthood.” University of Minnesota-Twin Cities graduate Sophie Stillman chose a unique path with her winter study abroad experience in Jerusalem catapulting her post-graduate life into that of service in the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF).

“I realized that if they felt it was my home, and I felt it was my home, then shouldn’t it be my duty to protect it too?” Stillman told the Jewish Star. “Why was it only their responsibility?”

In January 2016, Stillman studied abroad with the Hebrew University of Jerusalem through the Nachshon Project, a unique fellowship opportunity for American college juniors to immerse themselves in Jewish culture firsthand and explore possible careers, graduate studies, and/or leadership opportunities within the Jewish community. The experience resonated with Stillman so deeply she elected to aliyah to Israel post-graduation to serve in the IDF.

“I learned a vast history of our land and our connection to it, culturally and politically. I learned about the relationship between Israel and North American Jewry and have come to understand that neither can survive without the other,” Stillman described her study abroad experience for the Twin Cities JewFolk.

While studying in Jerusalem, Stillman was profoundly impacted by the death of 19-year-old Israeli Border Police Officer Hadar Coden in a Palestinian attack near the Damascus Gate.

“When I learned of the news that afternoon, the first emotion I felt was guilt. Israel is my home, but I’m sitting safe in Israel getting to travel the country, going to the beach, living a great life, while people my age, like Hadar Cohen, are protecting me and everyone else…I decided to take this guilt and turn it into something productive,” Stillman told the Jewish Star.

“I learned what sacrifice is when I met young adults who came from all corners of the world to protect a country they’ve only lived in a couple of months, but whose people they’ve known for a few centuries,” Stillman’s reflections on Twin Cities JewFolk continued. “I learned what true fear is, but I also learned what it means to take that fear and turn it into bravery. I learned that I believe peace is possible when I witnessed a young Israeli Jew gaze into the eyes of his girlfriend, a Palestinian, and truly understand what love is.”

Written by Erin Parfet

 

Related Articles

More From Prose

Snails and Spinach

When Dona was a young girl she was supposed to cook some spinach for her father because he had…
Snails and Spinach

And They Lived Happily...

Author Richard Paul Evans has written many novels that carry the theme “and they lived happily…
And They Lived Happily...

Getting Annoyed with God

I was working on an important task on the computer that I needed to complete and then the…
Getting Annoyed with God

Safe in Iraq

Arthur Branner personally recounted his call to Iraq to be chaplain of a battalion for one year.
Safe in Iraq

A Zionist Muslim

It's rare to find a Zionist Muslim, rarer yet to see one speak publicly about his support of…
A Zionist Muslim

Forgiveness

Three years ago, a friend said something to me that hurt very deeply. I was speechless. I could…
Forgiveness

Living the Mitzvah

When my wife and I moved to North Carolina from Florida, we gave up a good support system.
Living the Mitzvah

Great Bad Timing

I was rushing to go to work since I started driving later than I would have liked, but I knew I…
Great Bad Timing

When it isn't So Bad

I was trying to work out one day and accidently twisted my ankle.
When it isn't So Bad

Judy Field Carr - Miss Judy

For thirty years, the Jews of Syria knew that in the free world was a mysterious woman, "Miss…
Judy Field Carr - Miss Judy
The Hiding Place

The Hiding Place

In November of 1972 my parents emigrated from Israel to the United States, several months prior…
The Hiding Place

Donna Anthes

Donna Anthes was the director of nursing at Wildwood Lifestyle Center and Hospital in Wildwood,…
Donna Anthes

Bubbe Brocha

One of the greatest women to have ever come into my life as I was growing up was my great…
Bubbe Brocha

New Beginnings

“Why don’t you like me?” questioned Lois’s house guest.
New Beginnings

Except for That

Since I was a child I was always seemed to be the sickest child out of my siblings. I got sick…
Except for That

Publish the Menu module to "offcanvas" position. Here you can publish other modules as well.
Learn More.


donation