For These Shinshinim, Atlanta Still Feels Like Home

July 3, 2026

When Omer Marder, 2022-2023 Shinshinit, returned to Atlanta this summer, she wasn’t coming back to a city she once visited.

She was coming home.

Each year, Israeli young adults spend a year immersed in Jewish Atlanta, serving in camps, schools and community organizations while sharing their experiences and perspectives. What often begins as a one-year program grows into lifelong relationships that strengthen the bond between Atlanta and Israel.

Three years after serving as a Shinshinit in Jewish Atlanta, Omer is back working at Camp Barney Medintz and staying connected with the same host family who welcomed her during her year of service. Across town, fellow 2022-2023 Shinshinim alumna Naama has returned to work at In the City Camps while also living with her host family from her original stay.

What makes their stories remarkable? There was never an expectation to return.

Years after completing their Shinshinim service in Atlanta, both young women independently chose to return, drawn back by the relationships, community and sense of belonging they found here.

Their return is a powerful reminder of what makes Federation’s Schoenbaum Shinshinim program so special.

“Sometimes the magic takes place after the program,” said Debbie Sasson, Manager of the Schoenbaum Shinshinim program. “An extended family was built.”

For Omer’s host family, the Feldsteins, that family bond never faded.

“Omer has been a part of our family here in Atlanta since 2023,” Jeff Feldstein said. “To this day, we refer to Omer as our other Israeli daughter. Her family is our family, and our family is hers.”

Omer flew to her Atlanta family the day after her military service ended, and after camp this summer she will return and immediately enter the reserves. “When I chose to come [back], I chose to fill my cup with what gives me meaning and with memories that will echo many years after camp,” Omer said, “creating experiences on the other side of the world, but which I’ve called home for over three years now, the Atlanta Jewish Community”.

Naama said she knew she wanted to return almost as soon as she left Atlanta.

“From the minute I left the city, I knew I wanted to go back,” she said. “I am so happy and grateful to be here, working with amazing people from the Atlanta community.”

Reuniting with her former host families has been one of the highlights of the summer.

“Through my IDF service, I kept dreaming of the moment I’d be reunited with them, and it was better than I imagined,” she said.

Stories like Omer’s and Naama’s demonstrate the lasting impact of Federation’s investment in the Shinshinim program. Long after their official year of service ends, the relationships continue, creating meaningful people-to-people connections that deepen Atlanta’s relationship with Israel.

This August, Federation will welcome a new cohort of Shinshinim, and host families are still needed. For families considering opening their homes, Omer and Naama’s stories offer a glimpse of what is possible: not just hosting an Israeli teen, but gaining a lifelong connection to Israel and the Jewish people.

Interested in becoming a Shinshinim host family? Learn more and apply to be a host family or contact Debbie Sasson at dsasson@jewishatlanta.org.