Albany High Schooler Discusses Finding Empowerment in Israel

For Layla Sasson, a 16-year-old student at Albany High School, her roots have always run deep—Jewish and Israeli. But it took a semester at Jewish National Fund-USA’s Alexander Muss High School in Israel (Muss) to remind her just how much those roots mattered.

“Judaism and Israel were always a part of me,” she said. “But after switching to public school, some of that connection faded.”

To make matters worse, Sasson also had several antisemitic encounters with her peers. “One student even washed his money to ‘get the Jewish off of it,’” she recalled. “That’s when I knew I needed a change.”

Enter Muss, Jewish National Fund-USA’s premier college-prep study abroad adventure in Israel for American teens. When Sasson first heard about the program through a friend, she applied mostly looking for a temporary reprieve from Albany High.

What she found, however, was so much more. Muss’s experiential Israel studies curriculum utilizes the land of Israel as a living classroom, linking learning, travel, and leadership so that participants remain connected to the land and people of Israel for life. From snorkeling in Eilat to exploring Tzfat’s mystical alleyways, Sasson saw Israel in a way she never had before.

“I’d been to Tzfat before, but never like this, learning in-depth about the spirituality behind the place,” she said. “It helped me step out of my comfort zone and made me feel like we explored all the wonders of Israel.”

Sasson also cited some of the more sobering moments of the semester as the most memorable, particularly seeing concentration camps in Poland and a visit to the site of the Nova Music Festival Massacre. “Learning about the Holocaust in person was very different from hearing stories in school. And visiting Nova was surreal, especially since we could hear bombs in the distance.”

Yet, even amid conflict, Sasson was impressed by Israel’s resilience and ability to find joy in the midst of tragedy. In particular, she recalls the day she and her classmates danced with Israelis outside Beilenson Hospital in honor of the hostages coming home. “When the hostages returned, it was like a party,” she said. “That’s how Israelis celebrate life. It felt special.”

And thanks to Muss’s Impact Fellowship, an initiative for high school sophomores and juniors that provides merit-based financial aid while empowering teens to become ambassadors for Muss, Israel, and the Jewish People, Sasson is now sharing her story with everyone who will listen. “I’m looking forward to speaking more about my experience and encouraging other kids from Albany to travel to Israel with Jewish National Fund-USA,” she said.

Now back in Albany, Layla feels better equipped to face the antisemitism in her school. “Muss didn’t change the world around me, but it changed how I respond to it,” she explained. “I feel more grounded in who I am.”

For Sasson, Muss was more than a trip. It was a homecoming that helped inspire her lifelong Zionist identity, build resiliency, and prepare for the future.

Financial aid is available to students. To learn more about Alexander Muss High School in Israel’s semester and summer programs, visit amhsi.org or email discover@amhsi.org.