Olameinu – Jewish Summer Camp…Baltics Style

C’mon, Let’s go! (dah-vai, dah-vai) давай, давай aka.  יאללה

It sounds like the beginning of a bad joke…a Latvian, a Bulgarian, an Israeli, and two Americans were sitting around eating contraband Nutella in the backwoods of Estonia … but this is Olameinu. Literally “Our World”, Olameinu brings together Jewish youth from the Baltic States (Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia) for a week of informal Jewish education, sandcastle-building contests, talent shows, and Israeli pop music blasting on a constant loop. For many of these kids, Olameinu is a first exposure to Jewish life and tradition.

we LOVE Olameinu

Four flags were raised at the opening ceremonies – Estonian, Latvian, Lithuanian and Israeli. However, despite the fact that the campers and staff are separated by hundreds of miles (and even more kilometers), Jewish youth from these three countries have created a tight-knit and lasting community through Olameinu – one where they can openly express and explore Judaism. I was so thrilled to be able to volunteer at Olameinu with Esther Burson, the JDC Jewish Service Corps Fellow in Tallinn, Estonia. Read about her experiences at camp here.

Revisiting Purim

It was all turned around (vi-na-ha-fo-chu) ונהפוכו

One Monday, I walked into a secular school in Jerusalem and was greeted by hundreds of pajama-clad students singing karaoke in the hallway. The next Tuesday, I entered a religious school in Bat Yam to find a group of twenty students breaking out into an impromptu line-dance flash mob. On Wednesday, I chaperoned a field trip to a design college near Tel Aviv, where fourth-graders worked with design students to create elaborate masks.

On that same Monday, we discussed the tragic murder of five members of an Israeli family living in the northern settlement of Itamar. On that same Tuesday, sixth-graders covered in costume makeup donned neon safety vests and led the school in bomb drills. We observed five minutes of silence to signify the five years that Hamas has held Israeli soldier, Gilad Shalit, in captivity.

This is the reality of Purim in Israel…everything is turned upside-down.

Two students at the Harel School enjoy some delicious falafel.

Hot Off the Press from Bat Yam, Israel

The talented journalists in the English Newspaper Club

Click here to read our first newspaper!

Newspaper (ee-tone) עיתון

“What can you find in every newspaper?” I asked the group. It was our first meeting of the English Newspaper Club.

“Sudoku…comics…pictures…games!” This was a newspaper through the eyes of a fourth grader.

“Are there ever articles in a newspaper?” I asked.

“O yeah. Those too…” they replied.

“What if I told you that in one month, we would have our first newspaper finished, complete with pictures, games and comics? And, you guys are going to write all of the articles…in ENGLISH!” This is how it all began.

Have you hiccuped lately?

Hiccup (shi-huk) שיהוק

It was just another Tuesday morning in Harel School. I was sitting quietly in the teachers’ room, drinking my third cup of coffee (caffiene: the perfect antidote to commute fatigue) and absorbing the conversations going on around me.

Nahum was acting out in math, is everything okay at home?…Did you hear there is a sale at the party hall? Anybody getting married?…My students are so invested in our garden, but now our class always smells like their green onions…Ladies, I am selling this beautiful jewelry made by a poor woman in my community. Please buy, it is a mitzvah (commandment/good deed)…

Some Thoughts on Empowerment and Egg Yolks

Inside the workshop at Susan’s House

Empowerment (ha-atz-ah-mah) העצמה

“You are going to a student’s home once a week to tutor him in English. The family does not have a table, so you sit on the floor and work on a stool or small stand. The television is blasting in the background and it is not the most comfortable or productive learning environment. Later that week, your friend calls and says he is getting rid of an old table. He asks if you want to donate it to your student. Do you give the old table to the child’s family?”

Of course you do! The family clearly needs a table, you have a table…there is an easy solution to this problem. Right? Then, I started second guessing myself…

Witness Theater – To Tell in Order to Live

To Tell in Order to Live - לספר כדי לחיות courtesy of JDC-Eshel

תיאטרון עדות (te-at-rone a-dute) Witness Theater

“It is inappropriate to say ‘enjoy the show’, but I hope you find it moving and inspirational.” We were left with these words as the last of seven notable leaders left the stage after giving their introductions. To say the least, we had no idea what to expect. Erin, Laura, Orly and I all work in different units inside JDC-Israel. Between the four of us, we work with disabled adults, refugees and asylum-seekers, teenage volunteers and at-risk youth. However, there is not a JSC Fellow working in each department at JDC-Israel, so our supervisors try to include us in JDC programming beyond the scope of our individual assignments. This is how we found ourselves at a theatrical performance sponsored by JDC-Eshel, the Association for the Planning and Development of Services for the Aged in Israel.

According to JDC-Eshel’s statistics, there are an estimated 256,000 Holocaust survivors living in Israel today aged 65 and over, approximately one-third of whom live in poverty. JDC-Eshel pilots innovative programming aimed to help the survivors on both the emotional and physical levels. Witness Theater empowers survivors to share their stories with a younger generation, often the ages of their teenage grandchildren. The group of elderly survivors and high-school students spend months together, with acting coaches and psychologists, working through their memories and writing scenes that allow them to share their stories with an audience.

Art Camp in Israel

“Once you are on stage, there is no such thing as making mistakes!” Erez, the acting coach and artistic director slapped the wooden floor with his palm, “It is all art. Everything on stage is a masterpiece.”

בני נוער בסיכון (bnei noar b’sikun) At-risk youth
While most Israeli teenagers were soaking up their coveted free time during Chanuka break, a group of 18 talented teens from the Jerusalem and Northern regions of Israel gathered at Alon Hatavor Field School (near Kfar Tavor) to discover their own creative processes and grow through their respective art forms. They spent time hiking through the foothills of Har Tavor, drawing the sunset in oil pastels, and meeting other teens from neighborhoods and kibbutzim around Israel. What makes these teens different from other Israeli youth? On the surface level, they have dropped out of the traditional Israeli school system. They do not attend school from 8am to 2pm daily, they may be behind in their studies, they may not have the same math or science skills as their peers enrolled in public schools.

This same group of 18 teens are succeeding in their alternative education; they work in small groups or one-on-one with an educator. They are receiving a high-school education in a way that best suits them. More than that, these teens are skilled. Selected from a large applicant-pool, this group of visual and performing artists proved that they have motivation and raw talent. Working through the artistic process together, without distractions, they were able to inspire each other and create an empowered group of young Israeli artists.