Lakewood Ranch student has historic passion

Country Club East's Tayla Rosenthal, a 16-year-old junior at Lakewood Ranch High School, has been fascinated by Israel.

A member of Sarasosta's Temple Emanu-El since she was in the fourth grade, Rosenthal became the leader of the temple's youth group two years ago. In that leadership capacity, she wanted to learn more about Israel's culture.

So Rosenthal eventually pursued and was accepted into a study abroad program during the spring, 2018 semester at Heller High, just outside Jerusalem. She could earn high school credits while also learning Israel's history.

“I was sitting in Israel and just thinking about all the stuff I'm learning and hearing," Rosenthal said. "Like what’s really going on in Israel. I wanted to bring all of that back to Sarasota and Bradenton. It was the perfect opportunity to be able to share the knowledge."

Not only did she share the knowledge, but she also worked to learn more. Rosenthal received a high school internship from a Los Angeles nonprofit, StandWithUs, which has a mission of “fighting hate and anti-semitism while protecting, educating and inspiring the next generation of pro-Israel voices on campuses and beyond."

Her Southeast regional coordinator for StandWithUs, Rayna Exelbierd, said Rosenthal is organized and passionate.

"She comes to our meetings with lists of things she wants to get done,” Exelbierd said. “She is the only intern I have who wants to plan 20 different events to educate people about Israel.”

One of Rosenthal's priorities was bringing Israel Defense Forces soldiers to speak in Sarasota at Temple Emanu-El.

“I wanted people (in the area) to have some type of connection to Israel," she said. 

StandWithUs already had 12 IDF soldiers touring the United States, so Rosenthal requested two of soldiers, Lyra and Barak  — who don’t use their last names out of concern for the safety of their families — visit Temple Emanu-El Oct. 26.

The temple was packed and Rosenthal beamed as Lyra and Barak talked about their experiences with IDF.

“After having these kinds of conversations, it makes people have respect for different perspectives, or at least to have some type of understanding," Rosenthal said.

It wasn't surprising Rosenthal managed to successfully organize the event. At Lakewood Ranch High, she is president of the Junior Advisory Committee, president of the Students Against Destructive Decisions and president of the Temple Youth Group.