Passport to Israel / 8th Grade Israel Trip

One of the highlights of the Community Day School experience is the 8^th grade trip to Israel.  Believe it or not, that day will be here sooner than you can imagine.  We strongly encourage all of our 8^th graders to take the trip regardless of financial ability.  In order to ease the burden for families, we partner with the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh (Federation) and the Agency for Jewish Learning (AJL) to actively promote the Passport to Israel program.

Here’s how it works:

·         Open a Passport to Israel account at PNC Bank and return the attached forms to Amy Karp at AJL – THIS IS YOUR MONEY!  If your child does not take a group sponsored trip to Israel by the time (s)he turns 21 or completes college, simply withdraw the funds from the account.

·         Contribute $200 per year for a minimum of four (4) years.

·         Receive $100 match per year from the Sholom Comay Family Endowment Fund of the Federation for a trip to Israel.

It is as simple as it sounds.  If you start saving when your child becomes eligible in 1^st grade (you cannot enroll in the program until your child starts 1^st grade in the fall), you will have $2,400 available for your child’s trip to Israel.  Nowhere else can you earn a return of 50% on your money.  The cost of the trip to our 8^th grade class of 2010 was $2,350 per child.  Those who took advantage of the Passport to Israel program had enough money to pay for the trip.  The cost of the 2011 trip is anticipated to be about $2,800.

Each year, the cost of plane tickets, food and accommodations increases.  Although $2,400 may be enough to cover most of the cost of the trip (after a generous Federation subsidy) in today’s dollars, we want to ensure that all of our students are able to take part in the trip.  Therefore, financial assistance will be available to the extent that future costs exceed $2,400.  However, this financial assistance will only be available if you have done your part by participating in the Passport to Israel program.  Only those students who are enrolled in the Passport to Israel program and meet the annual contribution requirements are eligible for financial assistance that may be available for the trip to Israel. 

Below you will find links to important forms:

Enrollment Form
Account Release Form
Payment Request Form

If you have any questions, please contact:

Kevin Bouchard, kbouchard@comday.org or (412)521-1100

Tzippy Mazer, tmazer@comday.org or (412)521-1100