Creative Arts Competition for Israel Travel Scholarships

About the competition: Submit an art piece or essay for a chance to win money towards a USY summer Israel program. Read on to learn about this year’s theme, as well as the guidelines and rules for making a submission. Direct any questions to Rabbi Ilan Schwartz at ischwartz@uscj.org.

Theme: 

Israel has been a source of Jewish heroism and inspiration since Jews began to return there in the 1880’s, and even more so since the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948. Israelis have been heroes in science, medicine, the military, technology, and so many other fields. In your essay, give your definition of heroism, and then specifically Israeli/Jewish heroism. What are the qualities that are unique to Israeli heroes that inspire you, and how were they used by a hero that you admire the most? How have the contributions of your hero impacted your life and the lives of Israelis?

For artists, your art should depict the characteristics or values of Israel’s heroes and the impact that your chosen hero has made. 

• Examples: Eli Cohen, Avigdor Kahalani, Rachel the Poetess

Writing section:

• Essay writing competition
• Based on same theme as art section
• 500$ money towards a USY summer Israel program
• Voting team made up of of the IA VP, the Israel IGB, Summer Programs IGB, and Benjy Behrman
• Each voter will select a top 3 awarding 3, 2, or 1 point(s) with the piece accumulating the most votes winning
• Money goes to winner to use to go on USY/USCJ Israel experiences
• Best essay wins according to quality of work and how much the piece follows the theme according to the judges with there being only one winner
• Contestants are given 3 months to submit work (April-June 1st)

Art section:

• Any kind of art piece can be submitted to this section
• Based on same theme as writing
• Can be any kind of art piece painting, photos, videos, sculpture
• Same voting team and system is used
• 1000$ money towards a USY summer Israel program
• The best piece will win according to the judges based on quality and how much the piece follows the theme
• The same amount of time is given as the writing section
• You must submit an explanation of the meaning of the art piece

General rules:

• No plagiarism
• Collaboration is allowed but only one person may submit it as their own and collect the prize money
• Any content submitted can be used by USY and USY but USY and USCJ will not take ownership of the work
• Current 8th – 12th grade
• Entries are due June 1st
• Individuals are only allowed to submit in one section
• Please submit to ia@usy.org