YBY is a transformative experience. Prior to sending our first daughter on the Yad b’ Yad summer program, I did my due diligence and called other families whose high schoolers had traveled to Israel through this program. The responses all echoed each other. “It’s the gift that keeps on giving- you’ll see” and nothing has proven to be truer. What these parents meant to convey was that the summer trip is only the beginning. In addition to providing our daughter (and then our next daughter in the following years) with a fulfilling and fun experience during the 5 weeks of summer programming, a whole new world and community awaited them upon their return.  With frequent shabbatons and ongoing events, they discovered a new community of friends and counselors , all of whom were committed to the value of inclusion and sensitivity towards others.  Besides training and educating the teens to the needs of differently abled participants, our daughters and their friends came to internalize the message of inclusion. A quick example is the ‘Save a chair for Bracha’  rule – which is shorthand for the expectation that in any circle of chairs where participants gather, one must always “Save a chair for Bracha” or for whomever would like to join the conversation. In these kind of everyday practices ,  YBY/Yachad successfully creates a unique community  where kindness and inclusivity is valued and celebrated and becomes the gold standard . Impressively, the leadership and the staff manage to extend these values of inclusion towards all of the participants, modeling that in a YBY world, to be “cool” is to be caring and kind. I can’t think of a better message.