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Stacy Gastwirth
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CARL WALDMAN
Special to the Jewish News
erusalem, the Old City, and
Masada ... that was what
Jason Trager and Stacy
Gastwirth learned about in
their childhood Hebrew school
lessons. A few weeks ago, it all
became real.
Just an hour before the clock
turned to Jan. 1, 2000, on the bal-
cony of the Hyatt Regency of the
Dead Sea, 24-year-old Trager of
Flint nervously pulled out the dia-
mond ring he had carried from East
Lansing to propose to his girlfriend,
20-year-old Stacy Gastwirth of West
Bloomfield. Looking back, Trager
says, "I never expected to have the
opportunity to share such a special
moment in such a special place."
With much to celebrate on this
second day of their trip, the two
Michigan State University students
were thriving on being in love in
Israel at that stunning moment. The
new millennium was just moments
away, there was a big party in the
hotel ballroom hosted for the uni-
versity students they were traveling
with, and a fireworks display was
awaiting them at the beach.
2/4
2000
54
Moment
An MSU student picks just the right
moment to pop the question.
Ortonville. Finding
"The engagement
out about the free
added a level of
Birthright Israel pro-
excitement to the
gram through a
trip," says Bryan
friend, they applied
Abramson, pro-
over the Internet.
gram director for
After interviews
MSU Hillel. "Not
with
their MSU
only were we all
Hillel
directors,
taking part in the
Trager
and
experience together,
Gastwirth
landed
we were taking
two of the 40 spots
part in their
Jason and Stacy cemented their
available to MSU
engagement."
relationship in Israel.
students.
The couple's
The Birthright
parents, Cheryl
Israel
trip was
and Craig
designed
for
Jewish
college
students who
Gastwirth, and Dr. Allen Trager and
have
never
been
to
Israel.
"It
was more
Lea Trager, received New Year's
than I ever expected," says Gastwirth.
phone calls about the engagement.
"The only portion we had to pay
For now, plans are for a May 2001
ourselves," says Trager, "was the
wedding at Adat Shalom Synagogue.
flight to New York, and a $250
Birthright Israel brought Trager, a
deposit, which was returned when
second-year osteopathic medicine
we
got home. The trip included air
student, and Gastwirth, a senior in
travel
to Israel and 10 days of pro-
telecommunications, to Israel. Trager
gramming on the ground."
and Gastwirth met two summers ago
For the newly engaged couple,
while working at Camp Maas in
highlights included floating in the
Dead Sea, touring Tel Aviv, and tak-
ing a jeep ride through the hilly
Golan Heights.
Especially unforgettable was get-
ting their hands wet in the soils of
the Jewish National Fund forest,
where they physically planted a tree
to commemorate their engagement.
But meeting new friends and getting
away from the stresses of school
helped the two learn even more about
themselves and Israel.
"Knowing that Jerusalem was just
minutes away was almost surreal,"
says Gastwirth. "I was in a Shabbat
service the morning after we got
engaged, in a room with all glass
walls; on one side was desert for as
far as I could see, and on the other
side was the Dead Sea."
Now back in East Lansing, the
two are finding that being engaged
is really no different than before. In
addition to studies, Trager works in
the medical school computer lab and
Gastwirth is the producer and on
the student board of directors of the
MSU radio station.
Next year, Trager will do his med-
ical externship at Genysis Hospital in
Grand Blanc, while Gastwirth will
look for a broadcasting job in Flint. ❑