Yaniv Tayar says that his 12 months as an emissary with the Central Jewish community have changed his thinking in all sorts of ways.

"I'm a totally different person than I was when I came," he declared, talking last Thursday, Sept. 6, at federation offices in Scotch Plains.

Being the first shaliah —or Israeli emissary —to the Jewish Federation of Central New Jersey has sharpened both his awareness of how much Diaspora communities give to Israel, and how much Israelis can give to Americans in terms of ideas and innovation and culture.

"I used to think Israel could do without the Diaspora's help, but I've discovered how much other Jews do for us," he said. He has seen that generosity up close, from individuals and through the working of Partnership 2000, the alliance that pairs the Central federation and a number of others in New Jersey and Delaware with the Israeli communities of Arad and Tamar.

"These people give without a thought of getting anything back, but Israelis should give back, and they can —not just to give back, but because we have so much to offer to Americans," he said. "In the army, they teach us that we are there to help the Jews of the world, and we are."

Spending all these months talking about all things Israeli has also made him acutely aware of just how talented and innovative his countrymen are. "Everyone should have a year away," Tayar said.

It was an emotional day to try to untangle the ball of sometimes conflicting feelings. First, he and his successor as shaliah, Miri Hasson, were finishing the album of collaged images from a year of Israel-focused festivities, lessons, and community get-togethers. Then there was a farewell brunch with his boss and mentor for the year —federation executive vice president Stanley Stone —his colleagues, and friends from the various agencies and organizations he has worked with.

His parents, who came to share a last American sightseeing trip with him and meet his American "family," were there too. There were brief speeches and long hugs.

Tayar was more focused on handing the baton on to Hasson than on talking about himself. She had worked late into the previous night with him on those collages, with just as much enthusiasm and tirelessness as he demanded of himself. "I feel very good about this," he said. "She is terrific. I think she has even more energy than I have."

Part of him, he said, is craving to end the homesickness that began as soon as he arrived last year, and to get back to the warm impetuousness of Israeli society. The other part has come to value the more self-conscious but often more efficient American way, with its preplanning and concern with details.

"Maybe, there can be a balance?" he suggested with an Israeli shrug.

And, heart sore as he is about leaving, he said he believes that a new person can achieve more now than he could if he were staying on.

His English has become much more fluent in the past year, but he struggled to express this feeling: As the first person in the job organized by Jewish Agency for Israel and funded by the Herb Seidel 21st Century Fund, he had to carve a path. He barged in with offers of workshops and lessons and celebrations. He persuaded synagogue leaders, educators, and other youth workers to let him establish activities they had gotten along without before he came.

He did his best to stay absolutely apolitical and be diplomatic at all times, but perhaps, he acknowledged, some feathers were ruffled. Maybe a new person could have a fresh start, building on what has been achieved.

On a personal level, there was challenge, too. Coming from a close-knit family and a big circle of friends, he found living alone in an apartment of his own very quiet. "I got used to it almost too quickly," he said. When he gets home, he plans to get a place of his own pretty soon.

When he did want company, it was always available. He said his host families, the Joyandehs, the Itzakis, and the Bertigers, had been incredibly warm and supportive.

"They became like my family, immediately. Every day, if I felt like having company, I could just call them," he said. "They were really amazing."

While he has met many Israelis in New Jersey and has come to understand better than he did at first their various reasons for being here, for him there is no debate. He is impatient to get back to work in his own country.

"Israel is doing very well, but it is also still in the process of being established. I want to be part of that," he said. "I also want to be part of what Israel can give the world."