Sherie Rappoport said her recent trip to Israel was the best experience she has ever had.

The education freshman traveled with a group of 28 MSU students from the Hillel Jewish Student Center on the Birthright Israel Trip, a program that takes Jewish college students who have never been to Israel on a 10-day trip through the country.

Rappoport said she had learned the history of Israel and Jerusalem through Hebrew school. Her friends had also talked about trips they took, and Rappoport said she longed to see the country for herself

“It was somewhere I always wanted to go,” she said. “It was absolutely amazing.

“The trip surpassed every one of my high expectations.”

Community relations sophomore Deena Loeffler had been to Israel two other times before with family, but chose to take advantage of the opportunity to go with her peers.

“I loved the other trips I have taken,” Loeffler said. “It was just a lot of fun and everyone bonded so well.”

Loeffler said she was also able to meet up with cousins living in Israel who she had never met before.

Bryan Abramson, program director for Hillel, said it was the second time he has traveled to Israel as a staff member on the trip. Hillel is a national sponsor of the free trip.

Abramson said there were originally supposed to be 60 MSU students taking the trip, but due to the current situations of violence in Israel, many students chose to back out.

“Although we hoped to have more students traveling with us, the trip went very well,” Abramson said. “This is a once-in- a-lifetime experience and many knew it was something they could not pass up.”

Human resource management senior Matt Vogel said he understands the concerns of the students who chose not to go on the trip and admitted there were a few times during the trip where he felt he was in some sort of danger.

“I would get nervous when we would drive through cities,” Vogel said. “The fact that we had an armed security guard with us at all times made the possible danger very real.”

But Vogel did not let that keep him from enjoying the trip.

“Ultimately I decided the benefits would outweigh the possible costs,” Vogel said. “A free 10 day tour through Israel that was a life-changing experience was something I knew I couldn’t pass up.”