By Rachel Plafker Esrig, YJ Alum, Participant on the YJ Alumni Volunteer Trip in Israel, January 2024

Like so many connected Diaspora Jews the day after the Hamas attack,  my husband Dave and I were desperate to go to Israel. We began to throw money at every plea for funds, every letter, every WhatsApp message, quickly maxing out our credit cards, reloading and donating again.  But no amount of clicking on internet links seemed sufficient.

Dave and I were among the lucky ones; we devised a tangible way to help.  Responding to multiple calls to bring duffle bags and necessary equipment to Israel, we bought Dave a ticket to Tel Aviv on October 29th, and enabled the transfer of arms, protective gear, medical equipment and more in a manic 36 hour venture.

Even that didn’t feel like enough.

I decided that my 55th birthday gift would be participating in a volunteer program. I was heartened by the response: my supportive boss said to me, “just let me know how much time you need.” I had already taken two weeks off from work. We signed up to spend a week volunteering with JNF.  I looked for and found a second program with Young Judaea, where my Zionist heart resides.

Those of us who have witnessed and eagerly volunteered in these programs struggle  to find the words that describe our experiences “Transformative, depressing, uplifting and gratifying” all seemed apt, but not sufficient. First night, I found myself in a beautiful hotel in the Negev, living among evacuee families. Not the usual sight in a hotel lobby: strollers, pajamas, guns and exhausted parents.

On our first day with JNF we set out for Kibbutz Gvulot, 11 km from Gaza, and thus particularly vulnerable. The kibbutz was so close to the border that victims from neighboring kibbutzim ran there during the attacks.   Donning gardening gloves, we weeded neglected flower beds, laid water pipes for irrigation, and spruced up the school in anticipation of the return of students some three months after their evacuation. Cleaning and polishing toys only brought home how suddenly these homes had been abandoned; they had been untouched for three months.

Each resident that we met was quick to tell us their individual October 7th story. The entire country was, analogously, like the United States on September 12, 2001. Speaking slowly, with precise diction and obvious emotion, we witnessed Israelis in some yet unspecified stage of shock, but needing to share their experience as a step in their eventual healing. We had meals with many friends and acquaintances during our week. They had all lost count of the many shivas they had attended.  And again, each one needed to share in order to process. They needed us to know about their trauma: their murdered or kidnapped relatives, their newfound lack of trust given that they had believed relations with Gazan had rested on something akin to mutual respect and personal interactions.

The other prevailing message was one of gratitude.  By just stepping on Israeli soil, we had already helped.   They could not believe that middle aged, “comfortable” Americans had taken time out of their daily lives and jobs to pick their weeds, irrigate fields, clean their childrens’ toys, but most of all:  to listen.  They felt seen, heard and understood, to the best of our insufficient abilities.  We felt like human sponges, soaking all their sadness.

Perhaps the most harrowing site we visited was the beautiful grove of trees that housed the Nova festival, where hundreds of young people were mercilessly slaughtered or kidnapped. The Jewish National Fund organized the planting of trees; both as a remembrance of young lives and to honor the holiday of  Tu b’shvat, that commemorates the New Year of the Trees. The field encased in a stunning grove of trees has now become hallowed ground, similar to Gettysburg or Ground Zero NYC.  Each young victim of the Oct 7^th massacre – those murdered and those kidnapped –  has a picture on a stand with candles and personal tributes scattered at their base.

I noticed a dark-skinned man with a white beard sobbing as he decorated  a picture of a beautiful young woman with rhinestone stickers.  I asked if he was a relative and he just shook his head no.  Later, as he walked away still crying, a friend and I offered him hugs.  With Indiana-accented English, this new citizen of Israel  explained that he comes there to pay tribute to those he feels do not get as many visitors.  “It’s just evil that was done here,” he said sobbing. “Pure Evil.

At the music festival site, we spoke to the soldiers currently responsible for collecting the bodies of our fallen.  They spoke with reverence of the opportunity to perform the ultimate mitzvah, one that the recipient can never repay. The other site we visited was no less wrenching: the (temporary) graves of the Kibbutz Be’eri slaughter. How can one describe seeing  whole families buried together? In the North, we stood with the parents of a young victim by her graveside and heard stories of her beautiful, positive soul.  We listened, cried and tried to comprehend the incomprehensible.

And we hugged.  Because words were insufficient.

Earlier in the week we had packed care packages – treats, socks, rations – for soldiers. The evening after the visit to the Nova site, we delivered the packages and danced with soldiers in a volunteer-run ‘staging area’ – complete with a band composed of special-needs soldiers. Also in the tent was a lending library, a haircut station, massage opportunities and tables devoted to backgammon.  I was introduced to heavy metal dancing there, that is, dancing a hora while avoiding bumping into a myriad of M16’s slung over every soldier’s shoulder. We danced with such joy and resolve.  “We will dance tonight, tomorrow we will fight.”

In the evenings, after our agricultural and other volunteer activities had ended for the day, we listened to a host of speakers. Professor Noah Ephron, from Bar Ilan, shared a chilling story of a collective of computer experts helping to find and identify victims, including the suggestion to see if migration patterns of birds of prey had changed. We also heard of Professor Ephron’s new concept of Zionism that emanates from our newfound appreciation for each other as victims of recrudescent anti-Semitism and the recognition we cannot survive in this world without each other.  We heard from many survivors, some who performed incredible heroic acts and now just want their lives back, and that the war no one asked for to end.

At the end of the Young Judaea volunteer week, we were asked to summarize our experience in one word.  The prevailing theme was one of gratitude and hope.  We were all reminded of the ability of Jews and Arabs to live together peacefully, as we saw in the halls of Seroka Medical Center in Beersheva and in the Beduoin  town of Rahat.  Israel will prevail, because she has no choice.   To paraphrase, Golda Meir, we Jews have a secret weapon. .. . we have no where else to go.   And we choose Life.

Am Yisrael Chai.

For more participant reflections click here

An interview with Young Judaean and American-Israeli Trauma Therapist, Lisa Fliegel.

What work are you currently doing for Israel?

I just returned from a month-long deployment at the evacuee hotels in Eilat. Following the Oct. 7th incursion and subsequent missile bombardments, 125,000 Israeli’s evacuated their communities and 60,000 of them evacuated to Eilat.

My Year Course buddy Becky Rowe’s son Lev- is in the leadership of Hashomer Hatzair and their Tzedek Centers which I have been involved with. On October 10th they deployed to 10 evacuee sites throughout Israel to set up educational frameworks and youth development programs. As a trauma specialist I have trained their teams in the past and so they asked me to join their team in Eilat.

I was stationed with Kibbutz Nir Oz which lost 185 people and had 74 kidnapped was in the Red Sea Hotel, as well as with Kibbutz Nir Yitzhak at the Ceasar Hotel. I provided secondary traumatic stress support for their teams, trauma training, clinical supervision and direct services to survivors. Now that I am back, I am doing community programs on my trip, providing stress support to Israeli families in the USA, and continuing to support the teams in Israel virtually.

What, if any, values or skills did you acquire in Young Judaea that led you to the work you are doing today?

I made aliyah to Ketura after Year Course and served in Nahal with Garin Nitzotz. I returned to the USA in 1996 for medical reasons but remain actively connected and go to Israel at least once a year.

In addition to the progressive Zionist values that underline my life’s work, the principles and practices of Positive Youth Development and Community Building are central in my work as a community trauma advocate and consultant. The values of social justice and personal accountability inherent to the learning community of YJ are the foundation of how I do my work. Specifically when I deployed to Israel with Hashomer Hatzair I was no stranger to the Youth Movement Blue Shirt, and fit right in to the Kabbalat Shabbat which were central to the healing and renewal of both the Kibbutzim and youth workers there.

What Young Judaea programs did you attend?

Local Club, New England Region Mazkirut, Tel-Yehudah, Year Course…life on Ketura

What’s one way people can get involved or help in your work?

Contribute to the Tzedek Centers and keep in touch to support my future deployments.

Read about Miriam Schler, Young Judaean and Executive Director of the Tel Aviv Sexual Assault Center.

[Warning: this article contains discussion of sexual violence.]

Growing up, Miriam Schler lived and breathed Young Judaea: each summer, all summer long, from Sprout Lake Kesher to Tel Yehudah MH, while active during the school year in Gesher Shalom and serving as AVP of the region. A daughter of Holocaust survivors, Miriam was raised knowing the importance of fighting for justice and against evil. Her experience at camp and in the YJ movement transformed those ideas into something one could and should actively pursue. Ani v’ata neshaneh et ha’olam became her rallying call and shapes her worldview to this day as Executive Director of the Tel Aviv Sexual Assault Crisis Center.

YJ opened Miriam’s eyes to life being less about scholastic achievement and material gain and more about envisioning and creating a better world. Strong madrichot and Golda Meir as the first woman prime minister of Israel got her thinking about gender roles and equality. When she decided to make aliyah, after graduating from the University of Michigan she knew that simply putting down roots in Israel would not be enough. It was cardinal for her to take an active part in tikkun olam, in making Israel, and the world, a better place.

Upon graduating with a law degree from Tel Aviv University, Miriam actively sought to volunteer. At the sexual assault center, she was excited to work on micro and macro levels: on the micro, impacting individual lives by validating experiences and providing medical, psychological, and legal aid; and on the macro, bringing a hushed-up problem to the forefront and effecting social change. In 2004 Miriam became Executive Director of the Center, and she points to skills such as contemplating problems and planning solutions cultivated in Etgar, creating community as experienced in MH, and the inspiring leadership examples of her madrichot and madrichim as lighting her way for the past two decades.

Under Miriam’s stewardship, the Center transformed from a tiny NGO into a powerhouse bringing the subject of sexual violence into the mainstream collective consciousness; facilitating groundbreaking programming for women, as well as for male survivors and survivors across the spectrum of Israeli society; fielding 12,400 hotline crisis interventions; conducting educational outreach; and managing 250 volunteers.

The horrors of October 7^th have shined an unbearable spotlight on sexual violence and brutality. The Center is dealing with a precipitous rise in interventions for October 7^th survivors, witnesses, citizens exposed to graphic evidence, and especially for rape survivors triggered by evidence that continues to emerge. With Israel’s government in disarray, the Center has become an ER for psychological help and is pioneering resilience training for first responders, ZAKA volunteers, and therapists bearing witness to the unbearable. Miriam’s childhood vision of justice and fighting evil has been brought to bear in the most extreme circumstances.

Special circumstances require special measures. The Center’s annual Weekend Fashion Bazaar fundraiser, which raises 20% of the Center’s annual budget could not be held. And in September 2023 the government inexplicably cut 30% of state funding for all of Israel’s rape crisis center’s, and despite the current strain has not reinstated the cut budget. In these heart wrenching times and in honor of the important role Young Judaea played in inspiring Miriam’s life work, we would like to give readers the opportunity to contribute.

In Miriam’s words, may we all share in rebuilding this broken world.

Lean more and visit the Center’s website here

The Center is not only working hard to aid Israeli survivors, but we are also trying to raise consciousness worldwide regarding the deeply disturbing trend to “question the veracity” or even to justify the rapes that were perpetrated that day. Please read/watch and share:

• Op-ed Times of Israel: https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/the-obscene-betrayal-of-israelis-who-survived-and-didnt-survive-rape/
• November 29, 2023 on I24 News: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbxdRLrN3lA
• December 5, 2023 on I24 News: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwPtsEvM1bA
• December 29, 2023 on NBC Nightly News https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6mEjPe6S4Xo&t=85s
• January 7, 2024 on I24 News: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b47hRpm5ul4

Dear Students,

Thank you for showing up. 30,000 proud leading the historic march on Washington for Israel with a total of 300,000 strong.

On October 7^th everything changed for us as a people, for your generation and for mine too. But seeing you standing there in Washington on November 14^th, standing with pride, in unity and resolved to act, brought a ray of light to this ever so dark time in humanity’s history. You shared your thoughts and worries about the present and dreams and hopes for the future. The words you used that day gave us all permission to be afraid, while feeling strong; be confused, while having clarity; feel helpless while feeling empowered; feel shame while feeling pride. In your words, “a plurality of opinion and debate is important, it’s also very Jewish.” And I would add, it is quintessentially Young Judaean.

We are sorry.

What a world, what a world that you’ve inherited

Who ever thought that in our lifetime, “never again” would have been forgotten?

Who ever thought that in our beloved country, the one that welcomed your grandparents with open arms and the American dream,

There would be shouting of death to the Jews, from the river to the sea, an actual living nightmare.

This generation is the woke generation, and yet, for all our wokeness, we will never be one of them.

We will always remain other, but somehow, we are still seen as the oppressor and never as the oppressed.

Now, I am not saying we don’t have to check our immense privilege, and we do, it is on us to take responsibility for what we do.

But history is showing us that not even that privilege will protect us when they come for you.

So, you might ask, what is one to do?

Don’t be ashamed.

Stand proud, Shma Israel, for five thousand years our people have proclaimed their faith

Don’t lose your way.

Stand on principles, Am kadosh, we must earn our blessedness with every spoken word and action taken

Don’t be cynical.

Stand with idealism, B’emunah shlemah, and tap into that inner optimist

Don’t despair.

Stand with hope, Hatikvah, it is our secret Jew power

Don’t stand on the sidelines.

Stand ready to act, Na’ase v’nishma, we are a people of action and not just words

Don’t let them divide us.

Stand with open hearts, Am echad im lev echad, one heartbeat, one people

Don’t do this alone.

Stand together , Ani v’ata, Together, You and I will change the world.

As you return to your schools and campuses, we know we have a lot of work to do. But as it has been Jewish tradition for millennia, we refuse to stop celebrating when we’re together, we refuse to pause any practice of Judaism, and despite all the good and the bad, we will never stop choosing life.

Am Israel Chai.

With deepest admiration,

Adina Hocsman Frydman, CEO of Young Judaea Global

 

 

Written by Young Judaean Talia Bodner, spoken at the March for Israel in Washington DC on November 14, 2023

It’s been 38 days, thats 1 month plus a week
Since our lives turned upside down and the world turned their cheek
I wake up each morning wracked with worry, the world feels bleak
As we fall victim everyday to baseless hatred and constant critique

But we are not defenseless and we are not weak
We have an army that will make this a winning streak
We are modern day Maccabees, strong and unique
And we have each other and the power to speak
To speak up about justice and to fight for what’s right
To give voice to the victims swallowed up in the night

Like you – I am a Jew
And I am a proud one too!
there is so much that we have all been through
And now I am here standing in front of all you
So what are we here to do?
What brought you to this place on today of all days?
What is it that you all have to say?
We’re here because we are tired of being quiet.
We have a voice, and now it’s time that we try it.

You see
This is not only about our tiny home across the sea
And the soldiers who fight each day to keep Israel free
This is about all those who feel hurt, sad, and angry
We have lost too many innocent lives it’s hurting everybody
Both Palestinian and Israeli
We all deserve dignity

This is about Jews around the world, in every community
This is about those who make up the rest of our family tree
This is about my friends at Columbia and the Jewish Theological Seminary
This is about students on campuses where they don’t like what they see
This is about day schools, youth groups, gap years, camps, and our chosen family
This is about you and this is about me
This is about all of us who came from around the country
To cry out in the face of insanity

We are Jews proudly
And we will defend Israel loudly
Let us stand up against inhumanity
Let us fight for a land and home we will never have to flee
We are a nation who does not go down so easily
You and me, we stand in unity
We have agency
We write our own history
Let’s make our own destiny.

Thank you for your work, it means more than you know
Though the work that we do feels ever so slow
Steady we work towards a better tomorrow

Here we stand, proudly at the capitol of our nation
We bring the new generation
We are ready to lead
We stand here today to sow the seeds
For a more perfect future that we know this world needs
Today we raise our voices as loud as our deeds

Today we do not need to be quiet with heads bowed
Today we are allowed
We can raise our voices out loud
We stand in a crowd to express our Jewish pride
We say to the world, we will no longer hide
Let our voices ring out, echoing far and traveling wide
We will not be denied
As we stand alongside
Together our voices amplified
And we will be heard

We sing for Israel, our voices sweet like song birds
And we will be heard

Our love for our homeland transcends more than words
And we will be heard

Hear us now, hear our message word for word
Today we raise our voices loud to the world

And we will be heard
We will be heard

 

By Adina Frydman, CEO of Young Judaea Global

As we turn the page on summer and try to hold on to the final moments of sun,  we feel the shift from pre to post Labor Day (well, at least if you are in the Northeast). For those in the South or West, you are already deeply in the routine of school.

As I head into the office in 94-degree weather, although it still feels like summer, I know that the truth is, my summer is over. For YJ campers each year, the end of summer doesn’t just signify the start of school, it means the end of camp!

This summer, I had the pleasure of touring all seven camps and was reminded again of what is so unique and special about a Young Judaea camp. Let me tell you what I saw.

Unadulterated joy and laughter throughout the day. The playfulness of wearing pajamas all day, making string bracelets, having mud fights, bug juice, cheers and song, and of course the magic of a camp Shabbat. Not to mention the staff are sometimes sillier than the campers (to make it fun for the kids of course…)

I saw kids getting out of their comfort zone to try a new sport, meet a new friend, and challenge their existing perspectives by encountering different opinions.

At camp I witnessed incredible sportsmanship, balanced with healthy competition. While the joke is that we are all winners in Young Judaea, that is actually not true in color war, bikurim, and maccabiah. But most impressive is that the winning teams cheer on everyone else with as much enthusiasm as they cheer for their own win.

Lastly, I saw exemplary role modeling from our tzevet (camp staff). And while this applies to all staff, I am particularly talking about the young seasonal staff who would do anything to make sure that every chanich (camper) has the best experience possible: no camper left behind.

From the early morning wake up rituals to peulot laila tov (good night activities), they are the heroes that make every moment count. And it is only sweeter because they are part of a long chain of Young Judaeans passing on the traditions that their madrichim (counselors) gave to them.

These are just some of the highlights of what I saw at camp this summer. No wonder we are sad to let it go! Perhaps we can hold on to that camp feeling as we go back to our year-round lives.

As we wind up another fabulous season with over 3500 campers, I want to thank…

All the staff who gave their all this summer.

All the parents for trusting us with their kids.

All of YOU for supporting each of our camps and Young Judaea to make these magical summers a success!

See you in the summer of 2024!

Camp Registration is open already with early bird discounts – don’t wait!

Sincerely,

Adina

By Adina Frydman, CEO of Young Judaea Global

I am writing you not because I have the perfect conciliatory words, but rather because I am at a loss for words and feeling, perhaps as you are, a desperate need to be in solidarity with fellow Young Judaeans. As it slowly sinks in that this is really happening in our precious Israel, that tomorrow will be quite different than today, and that this is only the beginning of a new and ruptured Israel, I feel a deep sense of loss.

As an American Jew in particular, albeit one who occupies herself daily with the pursuit of the Zionist dream through the sacred work of our movement, I feel like a witness, a bystander to what has been happening in Israel and the reality that they/we will have to live with heretofore. Perhaps we will wake up tomorrow and reason will prevail? No, that is fantastical thinking and likely not helpful at this point.

29 weeks of sustained protests by our brothers and sisters in Israel as they took part in a living democracy, broadening the patriotic tent, bringing different factions together under one flag. For what? To what end? And what now?

Not living in Israel, it can sometimes feel easier to turn it on or off, to pay attention or to ignore the headline alerts on my phone about Israel. But I know as well as you that the ramifications of this moment will be felt by all of us, those living in Israel and those outside of Israel. There is no limit to how off the rails this can go at this moment, because without limitation and reasonableness, there will be little justice and balance.

We will all need to become Rodef Tzedek and Shalom – pursuers of justice and of peace.

In just another day, we will enter Tisha B’Av, the timing, uncanny. Whether we equate this moment to a 3^rd horban, destruction of the Temple, is still too early to know. But we do know that some of the same forces that are attributed to having caused our earlier historical downfalls, are now at play too. The lack of achdut, Jewish unity and the pervasiveness of sinat chinam, baseless hatred, both are rampant, and we must all take responsibility for that.

I often find it hard to connect to this day, but this year feels different. This year, I am strangely grateful for the timing of this day. Because I feel like I need a day of personal mourning and we need a day of communal mourning. It is tempting to try to find the silver lining and to jump to the comforting words. But we will get there. Soon enough, it will be Shabbat Nachamu and we can turn to the words of the prophets to find our nechemta, our comfort. But not before going through the narrow straits of Tisha B’Av.

Whether it has been your custom to fast or to engage in the mourning practices of the day, I invite you in the 25 hours of Tisha B’Av to find time for personal reflection, to think about the importance of this moment, to feel the brokenness, and to long for a return to our people, a return to Zion, that we may merit it once again.

Hashivenu Adomai elecha v’nashuva chadesh yameinu kekedem.

Recently, YJ alumnus Gershon Baskin, Ph.D. was awarded the “Outstanding Peace Activist” award under the Luxembourg Peace Prize for his continuing efforts for peace in Israel-Palestine. We spoke with Gershon to find out about his current efforts below!

1. What YJ programs are you an alum of?

I joined YJ in 1970 when I was in 9^th grade. I joined the Smithtown Club in Long Island.  It was a new club that year and soon turned into the one of the largest clubs on Long Island despite the relatively small number of Jews in the area. I went to Camp Tel Yehudah for my first time that summer to what was then called regular. In 10^th grade I was elected to the Mazkirut of Long Island – we then adopted the name Gesher Shalom. In the summer of 1972 I went to Machon (Bet) and worked in the kitchen in order to stay in Camp. The following year I was elected Senior programmer on the mazkirut and went to MA in the summer and worked as assistant Dairy Cook.  The following year I was elected to be Mazkir Gesher Shalom. In Dec. 1973 we had national convention in Israel for the opening of Kibbutz Ketura. I worked in the kitchen the whole summer as Dairy cook I went on Year Course – section 2 in 1974-75.

After YC I worked as Dairy cook in alef.  I did my first year of University at Tulane in New Orleans and work with YJ down there.  The following year I moved back to NY to live together with our group from Year Course in a Bayit on the Upper West Side.  I was Senior Program Director for Long Island YJ.  I worked one summer as dairy cook in Sprout Lake – its first summer and my last summer in the States I was a merakez in Camp Judea Michigan (summer 1978). I made aliya in September 1978.

2. Tell us a bit about your career.

You can read it all in my bio:

Gershon is the Israel/Palestine Director of the Holy Land Bond (www.holylandbond.com) and the Middle East Director for International Communities Organization – Middle East (ICO) https://internationalcommunities.org/

He was the person responsible for the secret direct back channel between Israel and the Hamas that successfully negotiated the release of abducted Israeli soldier Gilead Schalit.

From 2012 until 2020  served as Country Manager for Palestine in Gigawatt Global working to develop mid- and large-scale commercial solar energy projects Palestine.

From 1988 – 2011, he was the Israeli Co-Director and founder of the Israel/Palestine Center for Research and Information (IPCRI) – a joint Israeli-Palestinian public policy think- and “do”- tank located in Jerusalem.

During the Premiership of the late Yitzhak Rabin, he served as a special advisor on the Israeli- Palestinian peace process to a secret team of intelligence officers established by Mr. Rabin.

Since February 2005, he has a weekly column in the Jerusalem Post. His weekly column is also published in Arabic in the Palestinian daily newspaper AlQuds and in Hebrew on a news and opinion website D’Yoma.com.

He holds a Ph.D. in International Affairs from University of Greenwich. His dissertation was on Sovereignty and Territory in the Future of Jerusalem, parts of which were published as a book Jerusalem of Peace.

Baskin’s book In Pursuit of Peace in Israel and Palestine was published by Vanderbilt University Press.

3. Yasher Koach on this prestigious award! We would love to know more about your current activities in making peace in Israel.

Other than being a Jerusalem Post columnist since 2005, my weekly columns now appear in Arabic and Hebrew as well.  My work is through a British based Non-governmental Organization called International Communities Organization – ICO -which is accredited by the UN and works in conflict zones with frozen or failed peace processes.  I am running 3 secret back channels between some very important Israelis and Palestinians -preparing today for tomorrow. And through the impact investment fund we created under the name The Holy Land Bond to invest in housing for Palestinians in East Jerusalem, to create possibilities for Jewish Arab integrated housing in Israel’s mixed cities, and to support Jewish Arab joint tech ventures.

4. What if anything about Young Judaea may have led you to where you are today?

YJ taught me that moving to Israel was not a change of address, but a change of essence – our lives have to be meaningful in terms of making Israel a better place.

5. Do you have any advice for YJ teens today on how to get involved in peace activism in Israel?

Contact me.

 

 

 

An interview between Stu Stein and Gabriella Stein

Stu Stein was a chanich at CYJ Sprout Lake and Tel  Yehudah. He has been the Kitchen Manager at Tel Yehudah since the late 80’s.

Gabriella Stein is from Long Island and was a chanicha at CYJ Sprout Lake and Tel  Yehudah. She served as the Long Island/New York City Borgrim Programmer and is the current Chavurah Programmer on National Mazkirut.

Questions for Dad: 

1. What year were you in Young Judaea/what was your participation like?

I started in camp in 1979 as an offie at Sprout Lake.  I then got to TY in 1985 (got my name on the Beit Am wall as a “meemer” as I believe you call them now). I went on Year Course in 1989-90 and I’ve worked on and off again (more on than off) at TY over the past 30 summers.

2. Were you on Maz?

Yes

3. What kept you in young Judaea?

YJ was my home, it was where my friends were it was where I went to have fun.  YJ was a lot different when I was growing up than it is now.  There was less competition from outside interests.  They didn’t really exist.  Instead, we had weekly club meetings and regular conventions and we able to spend more time with each other than the kids today can.

4. Did anyone before you do YJ?

Not in our family.  My mom was in Hadassah and that’s how we learned about it.

5. Why did you choose to send your kids to YJ and not another, bigger Jewish youth org?

That’s easy.  I never really left Young Judaea.  Gabriella was “walking” around TY before she could even walk.

6. How has YJ changed throughout the years and how do you feel about the changes?

YJ has evolved with the times.  The things YJ chooses to focus on has changed with the changes we see in society.  It focuses on the issues that matter to the teens that make up the membership.  That’s always been true about YJ.  What I’ve always loved about YJ and camp, TY, Sprout, Texas, it’s that we reinvent the place each summer.  Each person that comes to camp brings with them their own likes and dislikes and talents and plans and together we all the campers, the staff, the head staff, we all reinvent the place and no summer is ever the same as the summer before or after.  That’s pretty special.

 

Questions for child:

1. What is your experience in Young Judaea (junior camps, maz, etc.)?

My experience in Young Judaea began in 2013 when I started my first summer as a camper. From that summer on, I was hooked. I have been going back every year since. I even joined a few sessions of TY-fi! Last year I was on the LINYC regional mazkirut and this year I am on the National Mazkirut, and I am so grateful to have had both opportunities. Through Young Judaea I met my closest friends, connected myself to my Jewish identity, and strengthened my leadership skills.

2. What connection do you feel to YJ? Is it a strong connection?

To say that I have a strong connection to YJ would be an understatement. YJ is a huge part of my life. I couldn’t imagine myself not being connected to this organization. 

3. YJ has gotten smaller since your dad was in YJ, what made you stay? 

I think the fact that this smaller organization is the one I grew up with has something to do with it. Until I learned what YJ used to be like, this was just the norm for me. The main reason I continued to come back was because, as cheesy as it sounds, it became a home for me. As each summer came, there was never a “hey Gabriella, do you want to go back to camp next summer?” conversation. I stayed for the people, the environment, and because I would have cried for days if I wasn’t able to return (needless to say, the Covid summer was a rough one in the Stein house.)

4. How has YJ changed during your years? 

During my time serving on Maz and being involved in Year Round, I would say YJ has stayed fairly consistent. Most events we had a fair number in attendance. This year is where I am really starting to see things change, maybe it is just the shift in perspective from a younger camper to an older camper and now staff.

5. Do you plan on sending your kids to YJ?

Is that even a question??? Without a doubt yes. If my future husband doesn’t wish to send the kids to camp he will be the one getting sent away. And it wouldn’t be to a summer camp.

6. Favorite YJ memory?

One of my favorite stories and memories from my time in YJ is my firefly story. My friends know this story like the backs of their hands because of how often I reference it. This story takes place in my second or third year at Sprout Lake. Our counselors had arranged for us to “sneak out” one night (it was like 8pm), and they sent us out in shifts. We snuck quickly and quietly to the grass behind the BK (Beit Knesset). I don’t think I had ever felt so sneaky, and I don’t think I will ever feel that sneaky again. Our counselors told us we were there to catch fireflies. So we had fun quietly trying to catch as many of the little creatures as we could. If you have recently been to Sprout, you know that all throughout the day there are Gators driving around camp. At night, that is no exception. So, every few minutes a Gator would roll by and our counselors would quietly yell “GATOR! DOWN!” and all of us would drop to the floor. Now looking back, I don’t know why I didn’t assume all 40 of us were invisible to eye of the Gator’s driver, but that’s camp magic for you! After some firefly-catching-fun we were told to sneak back to the bunks. We crept home and made it back safely (PHEW!) As each of us were getting back into our beds one of the upper staff members charged into our bunk. We were scolded. Humiliated. I swear girls cried. Once we were at our most emotionally vulnerable, after being ripped apart for our mistake by a scary man who was probably at least 2 and half times our size, in walked HB. “Just kidding! We brought Oreos!” Everytime I tell that story it makes me want to smile. I found my home that night.

By Samara Kohn, Tel Yehudah 2021, Gesher 2022, Served on LINYC Maz and National Maz.

It was Friday and I was in Jerusalem with over 120 Jewish American teens. Everyone was dressed up in their nicest Shabbat attire. Girls in dresses, boys in button-down shirts. We had just wrapped up my favorite service of the week, Kabbalat Shabbat and it was finally time for dinner. We all sat down, did the blessing over the bread and wine, and devoured our third piece of schnitzel for that day. In the middle of our meal, the French group that was staying at our hostel sat down for their meal as well.

When my group finished eating, we started Friday night Shira. We were singing and dancing and screaming songs in Hebrew and English at the top of our lungs. The French group, who didn’t speak any English, got up and started screaming the same songs we were singing with the same tunes, but in French. They tried to be louder but could not compare to our group of Americans. Suddenly a boy from Young Judaea starts screaming the American national anthem and everyone joins in. The French then begin to scream their national anthem. When the two groups finished, the room went silent and in unison, both started to sing the Hatikvah. I stood there in awe while chanting my country’s national anthem.

The pride I felt at that moment was indescribable. Being a Jew had never felt that good. Two groups from entirely different continents gathered in our homeland with two key similarities: our pride in Israel and our love and devotion to Judaism. The satisfaction I felt to have the privilege to experience this really made me love being a Jew so much more. On the holiest night of the week, in the holiest city in the world, I began to see Judaism from a different light. Being a Jew isn’t just about gathering for prayer or following the mitzvot, being a Jew is about being a part of a community that you can find all around the world. Whether this community is in France, Israel, or on your college campus, all Jews are connected. Wherever I go I wear my Magen David (Star of David) around my neck. I refuse to wear any other piece of jewelry because when they see that star around my neck, Jews around me know they have a community right next to them.