Benji Lovitt
Camp Young Judaea Texas
and Camp Tel Yehudah alumnus

This essay originally appeared on Foundation for Jewish Camp

In 2006, I left my Jewish communal job in New York and made aliyah. This week, I fly to the US to perform standup comedy shows about Israel for Jewish organizations. Neither of these things would have happened if not for my experiences at Young Judaea summer camps. My Jewish identity, connection to Israel, leadership and communication skills, and so much more are a result of my journey which began as a camper, then a staff member, and continue to this day.

Today, my friends are camp directors, camp parents, and Foundation for Jewish Camp employees, and have done wonders to improve the camping world over the years. I can only imagine how camp has evolved since my first summer in 1984.

Without further ado, here are the top 10 ways camp has changed since the ‘80s:

10 – The chadar ochel now includes a Starbucks.

9 – Camp cheers downloadable via Soundcloud.

8 – “Today is the last day of camp. To capture the current moment, you’ll now write yourself a text message which will be sent to you in 5 minutes.”

7 – Loud, colorful outfits are worn ironically for theme parties, not because they don’t know better.

6 – OUT: Name labels on clothing. IN: Campers connected to lost socks via Bluetooth.

5 – The bunk cleanup wheel now includes the KonMari method for cubby organization.

4 – Archery and ceramics replaced by coding and podcasting.

3 – Tsofim caravan performance includes autotune and smoke machine.

2 – Kids no longer terrified by ghost stories but by having to go three weeks without Instagram.

1 – It’s even better now!

Since making aliyah in 2006, comedian/educator Benji Lovitt has performed for audiences around the world including Jewish Federations, summer camps, JCCs, Birthright Israel, and more. His perspectives on Israeli society have been featured in media outlets such as BBC Radio, USA Today, and the Times of Israel. Benji is a graduate of Camp Young Judaea-Texas and Camp Tel Yehudah.

Rhianna Bongart
Year Course 2018-2019

Joining FZY in 2016, Year Course was a name thrown around a few times over our four-week trip to Israel, but quite frankly, it didn’t mean anything to me. The idea of taking a year out before I went to University was never something I had planned on, nor thought about before, but during my continued involvement in FZY, it became something I considered more and more. Since my first visit to Israel, my love for this amazing place has only grown stronger and stronger. It wasn’t a surprise to anyone to hear about my plans to move to Israel soon after I graduated University. It was always the plan to finish up a-levels, get a degree, then come here, I mean, what other way was there to do it? That was the thing everyone did, school, university, then onto the big wide world. The dreaded conversation starter of ‘Hi Mum and Dad, I don’t want to go to University next year!’ was how my year course journey initially began.

This year has been an absolute rollercoaster. I’m sure I can speak on behalf of most people, if not everyone, to say I didn’t entirely know what I was getting myself into the day I arrived in Israel. How does one actually prepare to go away from the comfort of home for 9 months? It isn’t an amount of time you can easily measure. How on earth did I pack-up my entire life into two suitcases? Personally it was one of the hardest things to do. Why didn’t my Mum let me bring the same shoes in 3 different colours? I’m sure I would have worn them all…at least once anyway! And most importantly, who are these people I’m literally going to be living on top of for the next 9 months?

One thing that was a struggle was keeping updated on everything back home, everyone’s started at University, got a whole new group of friends, more gossip than a text can hold, but when is there time to sit have these conversations with 15 people that I took for granted every day? Thankfully, time difference was on my side, but these aren’t the usually holiday catch up calls where you made one friend by the pool. These are catch ups with 20 new names thrown into every conversation, my best friend still gets confused between who’s Sydney and who’s Shayli, me trying to explain the floor plan of Beit Hillel, and why on earth it sounds like there’s a riot outside, which to be fair, there usually was in my apartment, thank you Tut Front! This mad-house we call Year Course became our reality, became our lives, and honestly, I don’t know how on earth it has gone so fast.

My personal Year Course journey taught me a lot about myself. It taught me that following the generic path that suits most people isn’t necessarily what I wanted to follow, that I wanted something different and there was no reason to do something just to please others.

Spending this year with such a diverse group of people really has taught me a lot of things, one awfully important one being that maybe my standards of cleaning are slightly, ever so slightly, too high. Everyone had something to offer, every single person brought something to the table that made this group of people who we are, and I honestly couldn’t be more thankful for that.

My personal Year Course journey taught me a lot about myself. It taught me that following the generic path that suits most people isn’t necessarily what I wanted to follow, that I wanted something different and there was no reason to do something just to please others. A month into Year Course I started looking around at different options, things I could do and paths I could take, if I did take the step to make aliyah. Every single person had a different opinion, and every single person had valid points about why their programme would suit me best. Constantly replaying in my head was the conversation I had with my Dad before I left London, him saying ‘I worry about sending you if you aren’t going to come home’ and me replying with, ‘What do you mean?! I have a place at University, of course I’m coming back’… oops, sorry Dad! Thankfully, I had the biggest support team here, from conversations with Joel about programmes, and with Amit and Ilana about jobs in the army, and the tzofim who were more excited than I was about the prospect, I made the decision that next year I won’t be attending University and I will be making aliyah.

Following that decision came a few weeks of really hard phone calls, telling my nearest and dearest that I’d be back for a few months and then I’m off to join a foreign army and live in a country a 5 hour flight away, and thank goodness I had people around me to hold my hand, and cry with me, there were a lot of tears. Since then, everything I have done has shown me that I have made the correct decision. It is also so comforting for my parents to know that if anything were to happen here, I have a support system just as big as I do at home, ready to help if I need anything. Think about it, Ilana and I already have friday night dinner plans, Amit will definitely miss taking me to the doctor for my continuous ear problems that I’m sure will continue, and Elior already offered to do my washing if I’m in Jerusalem- I’m completely sorted!

Sometimes differing from the norm is needed, it works for some, it doesn’t work for others. Without Year Course, I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to change my plans, I wouldn’t have a new group of friends, and I certainly wouldn’t have all the memories from this year. So here’s a thank you, to all of you here today, for making my Year Course journey what it has been. I can’t wait to see what amazing things everyone will achieve in the future, and remember, you’ll always have a home in Israel.

Gia Blum
Year Course 2018-2019

Reaching the end of our Year Course is an emotional time for all of us. It’s hard to think about leaving everything we’ve known for the past 9 months. Our homes, friends and routines.

Being at the end makes you think a lot about the beginning. I have a request for my fellow Year Coursers: take a second to think about your first day on Year Course – the first time you met the people that would become your best friends, the first time you slept next to your roommate, your first family dinner. Take a second to remember the person you were on that day, how scared and excited you were for the next 9 months.

All of us found Year Course differently. Some of us grew up knowing we would go because our parents or siblings did, some of us went to Young Judaea camp, and some of us thought we needed some time off after high school. For me, Year Course came in a completely random way.

I grew up in Kentucky. We’re a Jewish family, but it is not a Jewish environment at all. I was the only Jewish kid in my class, and I didn’t know anything about what it meant to be Jewish. I tried. I remember as a 10 year old Googling what it meant to be Jewish, but I never really got it. I started working at my local JCC in 2016, and two years later, my boss, who was also Jewish, invited me to join a March of the Living delegation. “Why not?” I thought – it seemed like one of my last chances to do something really Jewish. By the time I went on the trip, I had already committed to college, but that week I spent in Israel opened my eyes to something I’d never seen before. On the very last day, as I stood at the Kotel, I called my mom and told her I was postponing college and coming to Israel for a year. It didn’t go over well. I couldn’t explain why I made the choice I did, it was impulsive and irrational, but I knew I couldn’t leave behind something that made me so happy.

I’m leaving Year Course a different person than I started in one very specific way: when I arrived in Israel this past September, I wasn’t actually, legally, halachically Jewish. I had found this out while applying to other gap year programs after returning from March of the Living, and had been rejected because my mother is not Jewish. Even though I was raised Jewish, and even though it was a part of who I was, I was rejected from a Jewish gap year program. That rejection led me to Young Judaea Year Course, and to Rabbi Adam Drucker, Year Course’s Director of Jewish Life, who for the nine months of this program helped me study to convert so that a Jewish organization could never again tell me that I’m not Jewish. And so, as of May 19, 2019, under all the laws and rules, just like I always knew I was, I officially converted to Judaism.

I spent a lot of this year wondering what will happen when I leave the bubble of this gap year, but Year Course taught me that wherever you are, whether you’re going to college, or joining the IDF, or taking more time off, you can thrive if you have the right people behind you.

For the past nine months, I thought that finding Israel, finding Year Course, would be the thing that changed my life. I thought I had found what made me happy. There is nothing like living in Israel! We have all made memories for a lifetime. But what I have realized is that the reason this year was the best year of my life, was not only the place – it was the people.  What really changed my life wasn’t moving across the world, it wasn’t living in the Middle East. My roommates changed my life. My (Garin Atid) scout, Adi, changed my life. Meeting Rabbi Adam, that changed my life.

I spent a lot of this year wondering what will happen when I leave the bubble of this gap year, but Year Course taught me that wherever you are, whether you’re going to college, or joining the IDF, or taking more time off, you can thrive if you have the right people behind you. I know that if next year I have people anything like the people I’ve met this year, I’ll be just fine.

During my life-changing moments and study sessions with Rabbi Adam, he taught me something that I will remember forever, that I believe gives me insight into how we move on from this year and still make sure it wasn’t just a set of isolated experiences that has no connection to the rest of our lives.

Rabbi Adam taught me that whenever we finish a chapter or section of Jewish learning, there is a tradition to say the Aramaic phrase Hadran Aluch, which translates to “we will return to you.” Usually when we complete a piece of learning or a significant chapter in our lives ends, we naturally wish to move on and begin to tackle the next challenge or explore the next adventure. What can sometimes happen is that although we may have gained from the learning we undertook and enjoyed it in the moment, our elation at its conclusion causes us to close it off and forget why we loved it while we were in the moment. Hadran Aluch comes to remind us that although one should be proud of their achievement, the course of study only means something if we internalize it, and consciously “return to it” as we continue with our lives.

This lesson is something which we can all reflect on Year Course 2018-19 comes to a close. Although the program is over, the experiences we had, the lessons we have learned, the real people we met,  and the family we made will live on in us far beyond this year.

Special interest month is an incredible time on Year Course, and arguably one of the best experiences of the whole year. After eight months of volunteering and courses, of ulpan Hebrew classes, trips around Israel and the world, workshops, seminars, after learning to save lives with Magen David Adom, practicing army skills on Marva, and making the desert bloom at Kibbutz Ketura, after having fun and gaining 100 new friends, there’s only one thing left to do: enjoy Israel!

For one entire month, Year Coursers get to simply experience everything this incredible country has to offer them, whether it’s meaningful volunteer work, surfing the waves off Tel Aviv, hiking and camping from the Sea of Galilee to the Mediterannean, or exploring the desert near the Dead Sea.

This year we had an amazing addition to Special Interest Month: Rabbi Adam’s Road Trip. Year Coursers are currently spending one whole week with Rabbi Adam Drucker, Director of Jewish Life on Year Course, who hand-picked his favorite spots all around the country and is introducing Year Coursers to some of Israel’s best-kept secrets. We’re only a couple days in and can’t wait to see what the rest of the week has in store.

Rabbi Adam made aliyah from the UK nearly four years ago with his family, and in that time has built a wonderful collection of places to visit in Israel. Each spot gives chanichim (participants) a chance to explore, appreciate and engage with a different aspect of Israel – agriculture, Zionist history, nature, preservation projects, industry, and of course food!

Rabbi Adam’s Road Trip highlights include:

• Strawberry picking in Gedera
• Stalactite caves in the Judaean lowlands
• Chocolate and wine tasting at Tishbi Winery
• Atlit, where Jewish refugees were held by the British before Israel was founded
• Numerous parks and hikes

 

Learn more about Year Course in Israel

 

 

Originally appeared on jewishcamp.org, the website of Foundation for Jewish Camp. 

As we approach Pesach, I have been thinking about one of the names of this holiday – z’man heiruteinu – the time of our liberation. For our teenagers, what does it mean in these modern days to really feel and experience liberation?  From what do our teens need or seek liberation?  Where is Mitzrayim (Egypt) and where is the (possible) Promised Land(s) in their lives?

While, I would certainly not want to compare the lives of our teenagers to the hardships our ancestors endured in Mitzrayim. However, we might want to also think about the idea of Mitzrayim from its Hebrew root which refers to a narrow, confining place. It also refers to straits or distress.   We know that the teenage years are challenging with difficult pressures from school, peers, family and society. Compounding these pressures are the physical, emotional and intellectual changes our teens experience. These pressures and changes can sometimes create feelings of being limited, trapped, shuttered and distressed – in a sense, being in a state of Mitzrayim.

Just as we experience Pesach each year, we know that the process of moving from Mitzrayim to liberation is a perpetual one – we always exist between those conditions and circumstances in our lives that confine and limit us and those forces and experiences which liberate us and allow us to live to our potential.  The challenge is to continually see ourselves as if we went out of Mitzrayim and to do the hard work of actually participating in our own liberation.

Jewish summer camps like Tel Yehudah, an intentional community of Jewish teens, offer important possibilities of liberation for Jewish teens.  There are reasons that so many Jewish teens from all different camps, are counting down the days until camp, and not all of those reasons have to do with being done with homework or the great food at camp.  The following are some of the forces that our teens might feel liberation from this summer:

Liberation from the Market Place:  Our teens are constantly bombarded with messages about what they need to buy, wear, look like, download, etc.  Camp offers a break from the perpetual pressures of an economy and society driven by the need to always have the newest gadget or fashion.  Besides buying a soda or ice cream at the canteen, our teens have an opportunity to put away their wallets, avoid television commercials and exist with the material items they brought with them. It is a time where our teens can be freed from the pressure of feeling that they need something new and can appreciate the community and natural environment in which they live at camp.

Liberation from Technology: In these days of social media and cell phones, I am continually surprised at how little complaining we hear from our campers about missing Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, SnapChat, Instagram, or their cell phones. (We remain blessed with practically no cell phone reception at Tel Yehudah.) According to the Keiser Foundation (2013): Eight to eighteen year olds in the United States spend more than eight and a half hours using recreational media content. While we know our campers miss their friends and family with whom they are used to being instantly connected to through technology, at camp they have the opportunity to un-plug and live within a more natural, real-time community of their peers. Deep and rich conversations take place under apple trees on Shabbat or in bunks late at night.  This liberation from following the news feeds and tweets of hundreds of friends provides the opportunity to form meaningful and long-lasting friendships built on a set of common experiences in a shared community. (Of course when summer ends, these technologies will help keep them in touch until the next summer together.)

Liberation from Jewish Confusion: For most Jewish teens growing up in North America, it is challenging to understand when their “Jewish lives” start and end.  They might feel Jewish when they are in Hebrew School or Day School, or in synagogue or sharing Shabbat dinner at home. But does this sense of being Jewish extend to the basketball court, science class or their community service project?  Often Jewish identity is confined to those times of the day and week when are children and teens are “doing Jewish” but it does not seem to pervade their lives as a whole. Camp offers a break from this split between their Jewish lives and everything else. In a community built on Jewish values and Jewish time, we are living Jewishly at camp whether we are celebrating havdalah on Saturday evening or if we are in the brecha (swimming pool).  Our teens never have to stop what they are doing to go somewhere to be Jewish. It is built into the very fabric of their lives at camp.

Liberation from Family: As a parent of teens, I appreciate that we play a critical role in the healthy development of our children. But as our children grow up, they also need opportunities to step out on their own, build new relationships, make mistakes, and sharpen their judgment, all not under the watchful eyes of parents and family members. This is part of the process of maturing into responsible young adults.   But this is not a Lord of the Flies experience. Our campers are blessed with madrichim (counselors/guides) who are slightly older but are further along in this process of self-actualization and can provide guidance, support, fun and humor as our teens make their way along their individual journeys.  (I am also sure that most parents don’t mind a little liberation from their own children in the summer time as well. We are happy to provide that service.)

Liberation from Themselves: Camp provides an opportunity for our teens to shed some of the personality and characteristics they have developed at home and in school.  They are liberated from certain expectations that others have of them outside of camp and can “try on” new ways of being and acting in the supportive environment of camp. Campers who struggle socially at home often make deep and meaningful friendships at camp. Our teens “try on” new ideas – social, political, Jewish, Zionist, activist, ideological – which might never have felt comfortable outside of camp. Camp provides liberation from feeling trapped and the opportunity to grow and change.

I am looking forward to celebrating Pesach with my own teenagers but I am also thankful that they will have the opportunity to experience the liberation of camp during the summer.  As we sit at our seders and talk about liberation past and present, let’s remember that our teens are desperately in need of it themselves.  Those of us who work with Jewish teens each summer at Tel Yehudah and in other amazing teen programs, are excited for the opportunity to once again create communities and experiences that will give our campers a taste of the Promised Land.

Summer is coming! Learn more about Tel Yehudah and other Young Judaea camps.

Our meaningful and important trip to Poland got off to a great start. Getting the chance to visit some of the places we have learned about all our lives has been very impactful for all the chanichim.

We landed in Warsaw early in the morning and headed to the Museum of Polish Jewish History, where we learned all about the unique history of Jews in Poland. We then headed to several burial grounds, including the Warsaw Jewish Cemetery and the site of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising memorials. One highlight from the day was participating in a ceremony run by Mia Milewich, Talia Pomp, and Sophia Prieto in front of the Rappaport Memorial for the Warsaw Ghetto.

Our second day was a much more emotionally taxing day. After touring the small village of Tykocin, including the town synagogue, we walked through a forest nearby to a clearing where a mass grave lies. Each chanich received a slip of paper with the name of a Jew from Tykocin who is buried there. It was an eye-opening experience. Afterwards, we traveled all the way to the Treblinka death camp, a camp that was completely destroyed and is memorialized with a display of 17,000 stones with the engraved names of villages where Jews who were brought to the camp came from. The chanichim got a chance to find the names of villages they recognized, we lit a candle and said Mourner’s Kaddish and the Hatikva, and it was meaningful for all involved.

In Lublin on our third day, we got to explore some remnants of Jewish life, including a yeshiva and a synagogue that had existed in the Lublin Ghetto. We brought Jewish life back into the yeshiva, singing “המלאך הגואל” and breathing some Jewish spirit back into the room. Afterwards, we went to the Majdanek concentration camp and did a complete tour. We had a short ceremony after our tour run by David Matz, Zoe Winger and Tania Blanga that helped the chanichim contextualize what we had just seen.

Our fourth day led us to Lezajsk, where we learned about Rebbe Elimelech in his tomb, and celebrated his life afterwards at a small “tisch” with two types of kugel and soup. Our moods changed from joyous to thankful as we trekked through an alleyway to a barn where Jews were hidden by a righteous among the nations family. We learned about how gentiles risked their lives to save Jews, and we got to see the inside of the barn where the families were hidden. Our last stop of the day was to a mass grave where children were killed. We shared a meaningful moment as we heard stories of children in the Holocaust.

 

Spring is almost here, but its been a terrific winter for Young Judaea around the country.  New kids, new programs and some very interesting experiments.  You can check out what’s coming up HERE and if you need more information, email yjevents@youngjudaea.org

Check it out!

LINYC Young Judaea

LINYC spent the first couple of weeks of November planning our first social action event that took place on November 18th. The event, while small, wound up being a huge success. We worked with Youth City Farms NYC and Repair the World doing some weeding, picking up garbage, organizing and preparing compost, and learning about poverty in the LINYC area. On December 16th we played our own version of Escape Room: Israel edition at the Midway Jewish Center on Long Island. We learned about how Israel became a state and what hardships the Jews had to face in order to see the country develop to statehood. We took a short break from local events to participate in AWB, the MLK overnight and day of service, and National Convention in Atlanta. Upon our return from National we geared up for our Feminism and Zionism event on March 10th at Rachel Lock’s home in NYC. We had a nuanced conversation about the line between anti-semitism and anti-zionism, bringing in controversies surrounding the women’s march and where we see YJ’s “place” in social justice movements. Looking forward to our next event, April 28th for a post-Pesach “Chopped” where we’ll use leftovers from the holiday to make creative food baskets and discuss Jewish liberation. Registration up soon! We’ll also head to Central Park to take part in the NYC AIDS Walk.

~ Zoe Jurmann – LINYC Pirsum, Woodbury, NY

NJ Young Judaea

New Jersey Young Judaea has been working really hard to bring fun meaningful events to the region.  In October we had “The Last Laugh” event where the region had an insightful discussion about whether or not the Holocaust and other tragic events are acceptable topics for humor.  The group was able to have a meaningful discussion and share their own thoughts, opinions and experiences with holocaust humor. New Jersey also held “The Great Chanukah” event where we learned about Hanukkah traditions through a competition between team latkes and team sufganiyot.  The challenges included sufganiyot decorating, a dredial tournament, a candy menorah competition, and a Chanukah skit challenge. It was close, but in the end the Sufganiyot were the victors. We closed the event with a discussion about the differences between Chanukah and Christmas traditions and their purposes.  New Jersey had high numbers at AWB as well as the Northeast MLK overnight and National Convention in Atlanta. Our latest event on February 20th, Dare to Dream, was a huge success. We discussed this year’s Eurovision theme which will be held in Tel Aviv and learned about dream stories from the Torah such as Jacob’s ladder. Chanichim also got to make and take home their very own dream catchers! Registration is out NOW for our next event, a Trashion Show on March 31st, where we’ll discuss environmentalism, our new national initiative. Go sign up!!  We’re also planning for our first ever Rikud-a-thon where we’ll raise money for this year’s initiative, Women’s Health.

~ Manni Burach NJ Pirsum, Livingston NJ

New England Young Judaea

New England yj had a wonderful time at our Hanukkah event on December 9th.  We made treats, played dreidel, and discussed the story of Hanukkah. Our maz has been having weekly calls where we discuss our future plans and what we hope for our region to become. We have been trying to expand our region beyond just our maz members , and we have been putting out flyers to spread the word about who we are and what events we have! All of us on the maz are looking forward to what 2019 brings us!!!

~ Julia Kamen NE Pirsum, Manchester NH

Empire Young Judaea

At Empire’s Friendsgiving event in November we had a great time learning about different traditions and discussing what gratitude means. In January we participated in MLK Day of volunteering with the other northeast regions. Empire had a fantastic time at our #teensforchangeevent on March 3rd. We spoke with local politicians about issues in education, gun control, and antisemitism. Our next event is an overnight on April 27th where we’ll be talking about how Passover is celebrated all around the world. We hope you can make for a fun and festive night!

~ Julia Cooper Empire Pirsum, Poughkeepsie NY

Atlanta Young Judaea

Since Atlanta kicked off the year at our planning meeting we’ve grown our community and began working with a new advisor, Davida Halev, a CJ alum studying at Emory University. We had the best time at our Chanukah bonfire. The Atlanta va’ad each brought a guest; we taught them songs we sing during shira shketa at camp and made lots of s’mores. In February we had a feast at our shabbat dinner at the Levy home. Special thanks to Alane and Sadie for cooking and hosting! Many of us attended National Convention at Camp Twin Lakes outside Atlanta. It was a joy to “host” convention in the city we love and exciting to see old friends and meet new ones. Thanks again to Alane for being our nurse/photographer for the weekend and to Lauren Berman for making challot for convention even though Matan is off on Year Course! Follow us on our social media accounts to stay updated on all things ATL YJ!

South Florida Young Judaea

After our great kickoff, we then got hungry and held our Master Chef Israel program where we learned about Israel through food with Itamar and the teen leaders. We were so happy to get together for our first annual Rikud Night!  We danced like it was camp!  We are looking forward to Purim and then we’ll have our annual overnight, planned by our teen leaders and BIKURIM the next day.

Pittsburgh Young Judaea

The late fall and winter in Pittsburgh was very different this year as our group participated in many of the programs and activities for families and teens after the shooting at the Tree of Life Synagogue.

For Chanukah, we gathered for fun and games run by the bogrim.  In January, we got together for our annual Ice Skating outing, which was cold, but fun.  And in March, we were so excited to come together with kids from Ohio for our annual Shabbaton. Our theme was Jewish Heroes and you can see by the pictures HERE, that everyone had a great time.  Thanks to the Pittsburgh JCC for their generous grant and Beth El Congregation for hosting.

The Sunday after the Shabbaton, both our basketball teams kicked (ha) off their seasons.  Last year, our High School team was undefeated.  This year, we expect great things from both the Young Judaea High School and the new Middle School teams!

The spring will bring us Jserve, our final picnic and our annual trip to see the Pirates!

Midwest Convention Update

Thank you to all those that came out to Midwest Winter Convention 2018! Inspiration and Motivation, the theme of the convention, was an overwhelming success as the teens learned about the difference between peer pressure and peer leadership, and positive vs. negative motivation.

The convention body learned about what it was like to be in the IDF and heard personal stories from Orel, our LA shlicha, about her experiences in the Israeli navy.We also wrote letters to the different congregations that met at the Tree of Life synagogue and to the first responders. Max Aizenstein, Mira Morris, and Eitan Weinkle, Maz members from Pittsburgh, shared their personal feelings about the shooting and informed the teens about what it meant to them to be proud of their Judaism.

As we welcomed Shabbat into our convention, the teens were split up into their respective schavot (age groups), where they played games and bonded with each other. After a reflective and engaging Shabbat, we joined together for a Shira Shketa and Rikud session followed by a ‘Pajama Jam’ for SNF (Saturday Night Fun). The teens wore their craziest pj’s as they made ice cream snowmen, competed in a dance battle, challenged their friends in a pillow fight, and took pictures to remember the fun night they had. We ended the evening with a relaxing sing-along concert from Maz members Mira Morris and Eitan Weinkle.

Throughout the whole weekend, we asked all the participants to bring all the lose change they could find for the penny war to raise money for the California wildfires. We raised over $300 to contribute to the cause!

The Midwest Mazkirut were overjoyed to hear the positive feedback from our participants and can’t wait to see you at Spring Convention March 21st-24th! Go register now!

~ Sarah Tessler – Midwest Pirsum, Scottsdale, AZ

The National Mazkirut Elect will begin their tenure at the end of summer 2019

Eitan Weinkle: Mazkir – Pittsburgh, PA

Shalom Young Judaea! My name is Eitan Weinkle and I am ecstatic to be serving as your National Mazkir for 2019-2020. I am 16 years old and from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. My experience with Young Judaea started in 2011 when I first attended year-round events and Camp Young Judaea Midwest. I attended CYJ Midwest for six years from 2011 to 2016 and most recently attended Camp Tel Yehudah for two years. This summer I am thrilled to be participating in CYJ Midwest’s new Counselor in Training program. I also have a great passion for year-round Young Judaea. I have served on the va’ad of Pittsburgh Young Judaea bogrim since 2016, and I am currently the Midwest Social Action Programmer.

Outside of Young Judaea I also stay very active in my community. One way I stay active is through music. At my school, I am in the concert choir and started our school’s chamber choir. I also participate in HaZamir, an international Jewish choir, every Sunday at my JCC.

Israel has also played a huge role in my life as a Jew and as a Judaean. I first visited Israel when I was six years old and have been back multiple times since then. I am excited to experience Israel in more depth on Young Judaea’s Year Course.

This coming year my biggest goal is to ensure that our movement has strong roots and is able to sustain recent growth. In order to do so, I plan to re-implement the club mentality with frequent programming in cities to make sure Young Judaea continues to grow.

After High School, I plan to study Political Science. Young Judaea has given me multiple opportunities to advocate for change. For instance in Hadracha at TY this past summer, where I advocated for contemporary immigration issues. I also attended the Schusterman Advocacy Summit with AIPAC where I got to advocate for Israel. These experiences have given me a passion for creating social change which is why I want to pursue a career in policy.

Something that I bring to this Mazkirut is experience and determination. I have been a part of leadership in Young Judaea for many years now, the skills I’ve gained from my experience will help me motivate the mazkirut and turn ideas into action. I keep myself and others on track by setting goals and constantly updating them. I know that this is going to be an incredible year for Young Judaea, and I can’t wait to see where this Mazkirut can take us!

Hannah Slavsky: Administrative Vice President – Plainview, NY

Shalom Young Judaea! My name is Hannah Slavsky, I am 16 years old and I am from Plainview, NY. I am extremely proud to serve as your National Administrative Vice President (AVP) for the 2019-2020 year. I have been a part of Young Judaea and grown up with the movement from a young age. I attended Camp Young Judaea Sprout Lake for 4 summers, Tel Yehudah for 3 summers and participated in CYJ Sprout Lake’s Hadracha Plus Program. I am also currently serving as the Long Island New York City (LINYC) AVP. In my home community, I belong to Midway Jewish Center, where I attend a variety of youth programs and volunteer as a madricha in the religious school.

Israel plays a great role in my life. My connection to Israel leads me to many other opportunities to work with my Jewish community to help Israel in any way possible. This is why I recently started a campaign at my synagogue to help raise money for Israel’s Fire Brigade. This community-wide goal is a way to link my community and the Jewish homeland together. This allows us to work towards a goal that will benefit Israel and help the Israeli Firefighters perform their jobs well.

I have several experiences within Young Judaea that have impacted my life for the better. This past summer, I participated in Camp Tel Yehudah’s leadership program, Hadracha. My favorite part of the entire session was working in the women’s rights tikkun group. We spent our summer learning about the issues throughout the world regarding women’s health and rights in general. Lobbying on Capitol Hill and visiting members of Congress was truly life changing. This trip highlighted the fact that everyone has a voice and has a chance to make a change in the world. Another amazing experience I had was this past December on Young Judaea’s Alternative Winter Break (AWB) in Puerto Rico. This trip made me feel extremely grateful to experience Puerto Rico through a tikkun olam lens. I was thrilled to take part in several different types of community service to help the country rebuild after Hurricane Maria.

My goal this year is to help Young Judaea continue to grow and spread across the country. I plan to do so by working with my regional counterparts to create a resource guide that will consist of several JCCs, synagogues and schools around the country to hold events. This way, each region can have their events in new locations to make each event diverse and unique. Additionally, I hope to run a thought-provoking and well-attended National Convention in February. I also plan to strengthen the outreach va’adot so that more Jewish teens hear about the opportunities in year-round YJ. Lastly, I hope to provide everyone with awesome merchandise so that everyone can proudly represent YJ year-round.

A unique skill I plan to bring to the mazkirut is my passion. I also have the ability to work extremely hard and get the job done! I am very efficient and I will communicate with the rest of the mazkirut to make sure all tasks are being completed accordingly. I look forward to an amazing year of fun and learning with the rest of the National Mazkirut.

Jess Siegal: Bogrim Programmer – Needham, MA

My name is Jess Siegal, I am 16 years old, I am from Needham, MA, and I am SO excited to be serving as National Bogrim Programmer for the 2019-2020 year! I am a second generation Judaean, and Young Judaea has always been a huge aspect of my life and identity. I went to CYJ Texas for 6 summers and Camp Tel Yehudah for 2 summers. In regards to year-round, I led the revival of New England YJ and served as the Mazkira of New England when we formed a regional Mazkirut for the 2018-19 year.

I attended Jewish day school from kindergarten through eighth grade, and now go to public high school. During the school year, Young Judaea is my main connection to my Jewish identity. I try to go to as many YJ events and conventions as I can because I love the clear passion, happiness, and ruach that YJ fosters in its chanichim.

I spent this past summer at TY in the Hadracha program and it was the best summer of my life. Hadracha taught me how to effectively lead others and in doing so, I learned a lot about myself.  I especially enjoyed the trip to DC and lobbying for women’s rights. Taking the time to research an issue I am passionate about and using my knowledge to speak my mind encouraged me to be more confident in my ideas and opinions. The trip was an amazing chance for me to use my voice to make a difference.

So far, I have been to Israel twice: once for a cousin’s bar mitzvah and once with my eighth grade class. On both of those trips, I felt a deep connection to the country and fell in love with its illustrious history and culture. I plan to continue to explore Israel this upcoming summer on Machon and on Year Course 2020-2021!

Education is incredibly important to me, and I believe that it is a critical aspect of YJ, as well as Judaism as a whole. The position of BP focuses on teen programming, and I aim to act as a support system for all regional programmers to ensure the strongest results from teen leaders across the nation. I will use my experience in New England to establish workshops and resources for other teens in similar positions, but shift the focus to writing and leading programs and thought-provoking discussions. Finally, I plan to refocus Israel education and write effective programs about the country I have come to know and love.

Other than Year Course, I am not entirely sure of what I want to pursue after high school. As of now, I want to minor in Political Science but my major is still up in the air. I hope to bring my positive energy and organizational skills to Maz, and I am so excited to see what this year brings!

Nikki Lerner: Ofarim/Tzofim Programmer – Larchmont, NY

Shalom Young Judaea! My name is Nikki Lerner, I’m from Westchester, New York, and I am thrilled to say that I will be serving as National Ofarim-Tsofim programmer for the 2019-2020 year! I went to Camp Sprout Lake for five years and three years at Tel Yehudah, including Hadracha plus at Sprout. Besides camp, my YJ experience has also consisted of my two terms as Empire’s Ofarim Tsofim programmer beginning in 2017.

Since I’m a very community-oriented person, Young Judaea has always played a crucial role in my life. Because of how much I had learned about Israel through YJ, I had always had a connection to Israel. It wasn’t until the first time I visited in 2018 that I finally got to experience this beautiful spiritual place for myself.  

After graduating high school, I plan on attending Year Course 2020-21. After Year Course, I want to study Art History in college as I think art has played such a crucial role in society. I had the privilege of visiting the Jewish Museum in Manhattan and looking at modern art from Jewish artists of different backgrounds. The recurring theme in the exhibition was about the Jewish experience today, and I believe that this is why art is important; we can share our experience as Jews and learn from others.

Being National OTP is an incredibly big deal for me and I plan to honor this important position through all the goals I have for this coming year. First, I plan on working with junior camps on improving our outreach methods since it has been a problem for many regional OTPs in the past to get kids to come to events. I also want to do more events in partnership with junior camps in different regions so that kids can be in a familiar setting and ease into year-round YJ. My last goal is to keep in touch with my counterparts and make sure regional OT programming is running smoothly.  I believe getting OTs involved should be our priority as they will be the ones to continue the YJ legacy after we’re gone.

Sara Saidel: Social Action Programmer – Overland Park, KS

Shalom Young Judaea!

My name is Sara Saidel. I am 16 years old, I live in Overland Park, Kansas, and I am incredibly excited to serve as the National Social Action Programmer!  Young Judaea has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. As a third generation Young Judaean, being part of YJ was in my blood, and going to a YJ camp was a given. I am so thankful it was. I started attending Camp Young Judaea Sprout Lake in 2010 for six summers, went to Tel-Yehudah for five sessions, and spent my last summer back at Sprout Lake in the Hadracha Plus leadership program.

While unfortunately I have never had the experience of being a on regional mazkirut because of where I live, that is not to say Young Judaea hasn’t impacted me, and continues to impact me every day. All five of Young Judaea’s pillars are near and dear to my heart, but ever since I started attending Sprout at age 7, the pillar that stuck with me the most is tikun olam. To me this means standing up for my beliefs in the form of activism. This movement has been part of so much progressive action throughout history and has not ceased to spread this message for the 110 years YJ has been active. One way YJ spread this message to me was through tikkun groups during the Hadracha program at Tel-Yehudah. This program allowed me and my group to do in-depth research about a global issue of our choosing (I chose the human-trafficking crisis) then go to D.C. and advocate for it with big-time organizations and politicians. This experience made me realize that I want to dedicate my life to social action and tikkun olam.

Young Judaea has given me a truly unique relationship with Israel. I have been there once when I was younger, and have lots of family there, but I often struggle with understanding where I stand on many of the issues surrounding the land. Young Judaea has helped me feel connected to the beautiful country as a Jew and as a Zionist, and taught me to love the diverse culture unique to it. However, YJ has also always encouraged me to learn as much as I can, and to form my own opinions about Israel. I continue to try to educate myself on Israel every day by keeping up with Israeli news!

After high school I plan on studying International Relations so I can dedicate my career to helping those who are suffering from injustice all around the world. I would also like to learn more, and focus on the global human-trafficking crisis.

I have many goals next year. My biggest goal is to bridge tikkun groups to year-round programming. I would also like to give social action a much larger visibility on YJ social media, and incorporate our new national initiative, Environmentalism, by having a recycling program implemented at all events, and dedicate national social action days to environment-themed programs! (These are programs when all regions complete the same social action program on the same day.) I will bring experience I have from my community in program planning, communication, and teamwork to the National Maz, as well of my enthusiasm, positivity, and passion!

Gabby Rub: Pirsum – Scarsdale, NY

Shalom Young Judaea! My name is Gabby Rub and I am 16 years old from Westchester, NY and I am honored to be your National Pirsum 2019-2020. For as long as I can remember, Young Judaea has been a part of my life. From the first time I entered the YJ bubble at Fall Camp back in 2011, I knew that I wanted to be apart of this amazing organization. And so I began to become more involved in the place I now consider my home. I was a camper at Sprout Lake for 4 years, Tel Yehudah for 3 and also participated in the Hadracha Plus program at Sprout. I also held the position of Pirsum and Social Action Programmer on Empire YJ. Having attended countless YJ events and conventions, I’ve been able to see the movement grow and succeed.

My love for Israel has always been part of my identity, but my connection has been strengthened by YJ. My father is Israeli, and moved to America when he was a child. My mom went to the University of Jerusalem, where she was able to study what she loved in a place that she loved. In YJ, I was able to find my connection to the beautiful homeland of the Jewish People, and hope to strengthen it even more if I am able to attend Year Course 2020/2021. In college, I am not quite sure what I want to study but I’m considering psychology or business. These areas of study help me see the world in a different way than just mathematical equations and scientific forums, and I am able to think in a deeper way – a skill that can help me in all aspects of leadership.

This year on Maz I plan to focus on enhancing the level of professionalism on YJ’s social media platforms. Whether this be creating a YJ Jingle or having set days where each region knows on what platform they should post, these tips can be used to make our postings as successful as possible. Additionally, our newsletter Kol Hatnua is something I will ensure is working as successfully as possible. Since Kol Hatnua is written by YJ for YJ, we exemplify this motto by highlighting what YJ means to us. Each issue could feature a different region that highlights their events of the year and facts. We can also have different columns, like a “Kef” Column where Judeans can post their wacky ideas/words/images. I hope to increase awareness and readership of Kol Hatnua to ensure the story of YJ is told across the world.

For years, I have been anxiously anticipating going on Young Judaea Year Course and taking on an amazing new adventure. Now that I am finally here, it has been more than I could have imagined. From meeting new friends from all around the world, to having fascinating discussions with my peers, to weekend trips around the country, and even just days relaxing on the beach, these past three months have been amazing. Already, this experience has been transformative and one I know will have an impact on the rest of my life.

Year course brings together a group of people from different backgrounds and gives them the opportunity to learn from each other and their greater community. By providing each participant with classes, volunteer placements, chances to visit different groups from across the country, and free time to explore on their own, it opens up each person’s mind to new points of view and opinions. Not only this, but people from different countries, including scouts from Israel and an FZY delegation from England, are all living in one building and sharing their different cultures. One of the most remarkable things about Year Course is that it is a place where people are both learning to grow up and are learning from the new people and places around them. This mix of education means it is not an unusual sight to find people discussing their views on different important topics at the kitchen table at midnight while their grilled cheese is cooking.

So far, my most significant experience has been my volunteer placement at UNITAF, a daycare for children of refugees who do not have Israeli status. Being exposed to a new community of people who are working to survive in a country that they did not originate from has had a large impact on my Israel experience. Being surrounded by teachers who are passionately working to help kids and families has taught me so much about giving back to both your own community, and others in need. Everything I have done thus far has shown me different sides of Israeli culture, something I could not have experienced on any other program, and I am so excited to see what the next six months will have in store.

DANIEL VAYNSHTEYN – CHARLOTTE, NC

As someone who has been a part of Young Judaea for a long time, voting had always been something I looked forward to. From learning about the importance of the State of Israel from Camp Judaea as a kid to my experience in DC on the Hadracha Program at Camp Tel Yehudah, I had been raised to comprehend the power one vote can have in an election. It was Young Judaea that inspired me to become politically active: taking part in AIPAC summits and lobbying my representatives in favor of Israel and even volunteering for a local congressional candidate’s campaign.

Before I went out to vote, I spent a long time researching candidates and their positions, including watching local debates and comparing them to my stances. I live in the Ninth Congressional District of North Carolina, a highly contested district which was considered up for grabs by polls and political pundits. Through the leadership experience and knowledge, I had received from attending YJ summer camps, I established where I stood on the candidates and the constitutional amendments up for referendum. I reached out to other young people who were first-time voters and friends and acquaintances of my parents, letting them know the importance to vote as well as explaining to them who I was voting for and why.

On Saturday, November 3rd, I went and I voted early. Though the process was simple and quick, I walked out feeling like I had made an impact on the future of our country. Days later on election day, I watched the results come in from the news, and I followed my district’s congressional races closely. Knowing that one of those ballots counted was mine gave me a sense of empowerment. It was through Young Judaea that I became interested and educated on the issues facing our country and the Jewish state. YJ also gave me the opportunity to live in a pluralistic environment where I could hear many different opinions and ideas.

CHARLIE DOVER – AUSTIN, TEXAS

This year, as I turned 18 in August, was the first time I was eligible to vote in the Texas 2018 midterms. Living in Austin, a very liberal city, voting craze was rampant. Everyone at my school was urging any person eligible to vote. The younger students were handing out voting guides so that we would know who we would want to vote for. On the second-to-last day of early voting, my music teacher took me and several students to a nearby voting station during lunch. I was in and out within 30 minutes. My friends on the other hand, took about 10 minutes longer, as they were more thorough. My music teacher texted our teacher to ask if it was okay that we were gonna be late. Our teacher responded, “Of course, we need more people going to the polls”.

Even though I am disappointed that Beto O’Rourke lost the election, I am hopeful for the future of our state and country. According to The Medium, the early voting rate among 18-29 year-olds in Texas increased by nearly five times compared to 2014 midterms. This high level of young voter engagement excites me and my friends about the 2020 elections!