From the Western Wall to riding a camel, from slathering mud on himself at the Dead Sea to biting into a falafel sandwich, New England Patriots wide receiver Julian Edelman is the star of a new video highlighting Israel as a great travel destination. The NFL Super Bowl champion is seen at every typical tourist attraction around the country in the three minute video.
“This was an amazing, memorable, once-in-a-lifetime experience for me, made possible by CJP and this amazing work they do,” Edelman told The Times of Israel about his summer trip, organized by Combined Jewish Philanthropies. “I was so lucky to be able to share it with an incredible group of people who made this experience even more memorable.”
Edelman was filmed during a 10-day visit in June, in which he also explored his Jewish heritage in Israel. The video clip called Yalla (slang for let’s go) went live on August 24.
Edelman is known to be proud of his Jewish heritage – according to TOI his father is Jewish – and the CJP trip gave him “a deeper understanding of the Jewish homeland,” according to the CJP website.
“Exploring my heritage is something I started in the past few years and seeing Israel for the first time, really getting a sense of its history and culture – I now truly understand why it’s so special,” he said of his first visit to Israel.
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