Avi Rubel
My experience on Encounter had a profound impact on how I think about my role as a leader in the American Jewish community. The experience gave me new insights into Israel’s challenges on a grassroots, people to people level. Most importantly, Encounter provided me with a network of some of the best and brightest in our community with whom I feel empowered to grapple with some of the greatest challenges facing our community.
Avi Rubel participated in Encounter’s November 2017 Intensive Leadership Seminar. Of his motivation to participate, Avi says: “I wanted to participate on Encounter for two reasons. First of all, as a leader in the Jewish community, I am often asked how I feel about various aspects of “the conflict,” and to be a responsible leader I think it’s important to get as much exposure, on the ground, to various narratives and perspectives so that I can responsibly respond. Second of all, my work with Honeymoon Israel involves bringing hundreds of people to Israel every year. I wanted to participate on Encounter to help me formulate how I can best structure an Israel trip that effectively captures Israel’s complexities.”
Avi Rubel is the Co-CEO of Honeymoon Israel. Before co-founding Honeymoon Israel, Avi served as the founding North American Director of Masa Israel Journey for seven years, bringing more than 10,000 North Americans to Israel annually.
Avi lived in Israel for several years and is a dual citizen. He also spent more than a decade working on Jewish community development in the former Soviet Union with Hillel and the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee. After college, Avi served as a United States Peace Corps volunteer for two years in rural Kyrgyzstan. Avi earned a BA from Binghamton University and a Masters in Public Policy from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government.