In every picture, Melissa Kahn is smiling — whether covered with mud at the Dead Sea, riding a donkey up Mount Canaan or hiking from the Mediterranean to Lake Kineret. Kahn, 16, a junior at Harvard-Westlake School, mused recently about the eight weeks shes pent in Israel last summer on the Bureau of Jewish Education\’s Los Angeles Ulpan program.
The Federation had received only four cancellations — a total of seven people who decided not to go because of the twin blasts — according to Evy Lutin, mission co-chair. More than 350 people are signed up for the 10-day mission, which celebrates the kickoff of Israel\’s 50th-anniversary year. About 500 people are expected to make the trip.
A mission to Israel that\’s billed as the largest ever in the history of the Los Angeles Jewish community is scheduled to take place between Nov. 1 and 10 of this year. About 500 Southern Californians are expected to participate in the Golden Anniversary Community Mission, which is being coordinated by the Jewish Federation Council in commemoration of the Jewish state\’s first 50 years.
