Three British students, Hattie Bolchover, Yael Miller, and Nillie Langermann, studying at Ohr Torah Stones Midreshet Lindenbaum in Jerusalem, alongside American Kyra Weisberger, won the Nitzavim Fellowships Jewish Campus Life Initiative in Israel.

The article proposes the idea of a "Prep Year in Israel" program for American Jewish high school graduates, similar to the gap year programs in Israel for Orthodox and rabbinical students.

The tragic suicide of South African teen Adam Seef during an Israel tour program has highlighted the mental health struggles faced by gap year participants, particularly related to identity and sexuality.

One year before the Hebron massacre where Baruch Goldstein killed 29 Muslim worshippers, the author had a casual encounter with him during a weekend visit to Hebron.