“Mifgash” is Hebrew for “encounter.” And that’s just what Israeli students were doing in Chicago this fall- encountering Chicago and American culture.

The Mifgash program at Niles North High School in Skokie is the only public school in the country that currently offers an Israeli-U.S. exchange program, now in its fourth year. Back in March, Niles North Hebrew-language students visited Israel.

Then, in October, 15 of their Israeli counterparts visited Chicago. The students traveled from ORT Kramim high school in the town of Karmiel, Israel, near Tel Aviv. They were hosted by the Hebrew-language students at Niles North and members of its Israel Club, co-run by the National Council of Synagogue Youth (NCSY).

The schools are thousands of miles apart, yet share a connection. The Niles Hebrew program is taught by Anna Raiber, while Raiber’s mother, Mila Perlroizen, teaches at Kramim in Israel.

The Chicago visit aimed to show the Israeli students the scope of American Jewish teenage life-home, school, and things teens do for fun around here.

Their first evening in Chicago, the Israeli students helped build a succah in the school’s courtyard. During their visit, they toured the school and attended a full days’ classes, including some of the school’s special offerings, including music, cooking, engineering, debate, and broadcasting. They also attended a pep rally, a football game, and homecoming.

Outside of school, they enjoyed Chicago’s famous amusements and landmarks, from Six Flags to the Skydeck. They also visited JUF headquarters and Hillel at Northwestern University.

“It’s really cool, hosting Yael,” said Niles student Rachel Phillips. Phillips, who stayed at her home in Israel during Niles’ visit in March, has studied Hebrew since grade school at Arie Crown Hebrew Day School.

The Israelis agreed. “I wanted to see how Jewish people around the world live,” said Israeli student Sofia Glytman, as to why she applied for the mifgash . She noted that the American school was much larger than her own and had many more elective and extracurricular options.

He favorite part of her Chicago visit was pumpkin picking. “America is a beautiful country, with such a variety of people,” Glytman said.

Todd Bowen oversees the Niles high school system’s world languages program. While its Hebrew/Israel exchange is the only one of its kind in the U.S., it grew out of similar exchanges done by the schools’ Spanish-, German-, and Chinese-language classes.

Some American students have visited their newfound Israeli friends on their own, during family trips to Israel. “They develop long-term relationships,” said Bowen. “We really want the students to understand the cultural implications of travel.”

Raiber, Niles North’s Hebrew teacher, grew up in Karmiel. She hopes the excitement of the mifgash program inspires more students to take Hebrew. The students’ lives are changed, she said, not just by visiting another country, but by hosting foreign students at their own homes. “They go beyond the classroom, and really use their Hebrew,” she said.

As for the cost, she noted that many students used money from JUF’s Send-a-Kid-to-Israel Program (SKIP) or Gift of Israel programs. “There was no one who was not able to participate due to lack of funds,” she said.

“If I can change my students’ perceptions of Israel,” Raiber smiles, “then I did my job.”