Top 10 Reasons to Host a Shinshin

Thinking about opening your home to a Shinshin? Here are 10 very good reasons to say YES!

1. You get a teenager—but not your teenager.

Enjoy the company of a lovely, mature, interesting young person, with all the fun of having a teenager around and (mostly) none of the teenage drama!

2. Bring Israel into your home.

Get to know Israel through the eyes, stories, experiences and perspectives of a young Israeli. It’s meaningful for you—and pretty special for your kids, too.

3. More Hebrew!

A little more Ivrit around the dinner table never hurts. You might even pick up a few new words along the way.

4. Be someone’s home away from home.

For a young Israeli living far from home for the first time, having a welcoming family can make an enormous difference. You’re giving them more than a place to sleep – you’re giving them a family.

5. You’re not doing it alone.

A whole community of people is behind you. There are people who care about the Shinshin, the host families and the program—and who are there to support you when you need it.

6. Strengthen Heschel’s connection to Israel.

By opening your home, you’re helping make the Shinshin program possible and strengthening Heschel’s Israel education and connections in a very real way.

7. Finally… a use for that spare bedroom!
You know the one. The room that has been waiting patiently for a purpose. This is a pretty great one.

8. Become part of something bigger.
Join a Toronto Jewish community initiative that truly depends on families like yours to make it happen.

9. Get invited to the good stuff.
Host-family thank-you dinners, farewell celebrations, October 7 memorials, Yom HaZikaron ceremonies and other community events – you’ll have plenty of opportunities to connect, celebrate and mark important moments together.

10. Make family in Israel. When your Shinshin heads home, the relationship doesn’t have to end. You may just find that you now have a family in Israel who will welcome you into their home the way you welcomed them into yours.

So… what are you waiting for?

Open your home. Open your heart. Host a Shinshin!

We are still looking for a family who lives close to the school to host one of this year’s shinshinim from end of January – June. If this could be you, please contact Dvora Goodman at [email protected].

Can’t do it this year? Talk to Dvora about being a host next year.