From Midwest to Tel Yehudah: Tamar Lerner
Going to TY for the first time was extremely scary. I was one of probably 20 midwesties in a camp full of almost 500 people. It was hard at first. TY had new traditions, new types of people, a new atmosphere. While it took a while to get used to, I am now pleased to say that Tel Yehudah is my home. I have made some of my favorite memories and dearest friends in my two short summers spent there. After my Yachad year, I thought no other summer could top it. I had a chug (a portion of your eidah that you spent most of your time with) filled with crazy Miami boys and the sweetest Northeast and Texas girls. I consider most of them still some of my closest friends today. However I proved myself wrong by enjoying my next summer more. Hadracha was the most life changing summer of my life, and I truly feel like a new person coming out of it. I have never felt such a strong sense of community with so many different people in such a short amount of time. Yachad was great to get really close with select people, while everyone bonded with everyone in Hadracha. There are people I met this summer whom I would never have thought I could get along with who I consider family. And that’s the best part about TY: meeting and bonding with new people and experiencing their camp life. Tel Yehudah has changed my life in the most incredible way possible; in a way only Young Judaea can.