San Diego Friends of the Tisch Zoological Gardens in Jerusalem

The San Diego Friends of the Tisch Zoological Gardens in Jerusalem have been sponsoring an exchange program with Israeli youngsters for years. The program offers Israeli teens an opportunity to enjoy a cultural experience in San Diego and to take back the valuable lessons they learned.

Recently, the organization held its annual luncheon at the San Diego Zoo’s Treetops Room, where Israeli participants and their host families in San Diego shared an afternoon of fun.

Gikad Ben Moshay (one of the Israelis involved in the program) was delighted to participate. “The San Diego Zoo is much bigger, and when I go home, I take back a lot of knowledge,” he enthused. Itai Rabi is only 16, but he’s been involved with the Jerusalem Zoo since he was a little boy, “because my grandfather worked there.”

As usual, there were many locals on hand to enjoy the luncheon.

Rachel Grosvenor was there, as was Lannette, Todd, Melissa and Allese Bloom, Teedy Appelbaum, Jeffrey Lipinsky, Ana Lombrozzo, Mark Moss, Eric Adler and Alberto Aroeste (a student at Torrey Pines High School).