Am Yisrael Chai

We're back from camp, with a whole 24 hours to unpack, do laundry, catch up on email (and our blog), re-pack, and catch our flight to Israel! Before I get to the summary of camp, let's give it up for my Florida Gators, who won the National Championship at the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl. As promised, I listened to the whole game (4 to 8 am SPB time), making me Gator Fan #1. Now for camp...

The second camp we staffed -- organized by EVA, which focuses on the Jewish creative arts like singing and dancing (as well as services for the elderly) -- was not just fun and enjoyable, but also meaningful. Alyson and I were able to carve out roles that went beyond English teaching or American ambassadors, and became something more like "Jewish tradition coordinators." In our English classes, we facilitated lots of Jewish experiential learning. As you know by now, I teach Jewish tradition through modern music. At EVA camp, we did five lessons: we looked at the spiritually-rich music of Matisyahu; the political debate over the future of Israel, as reflected in Israeli hip-hop music; the Jewish view of tzedakah through some American rap music; the Jewish view of happiness; and women's roles in Judaism. In my free time, we enjoyed getting to know the kids through hanging out, playing chess and Russian-style checkers, and walking outside along the coast (this picture was taken at noon, just to give you a sense of how much sunlight we are getting these days!).

Alyson pushed the organization to innovate and take risks. For example, she had all four age groups make challah (over 60 loaves!) that we enjoyed together at the festive Shabbat meal. Each plate of challah was covered by handmade challah covers, created by the youngest two groups. The children also made Shabbat-inspired art projects and Shabbat candlesticks. Coordinating the logistics was no small feat (especially when she had to do most of it in Russian!), but the end result was worth all of the effort. It was something special to see these kids truly enjoying being Jewish and expressing their Judaism through the creative arts. If we can inspire them with a love and excitement now, then maybe as they get older they will be motivated to explore and learn more.

From the very beginning, this camp was unique, since it invited the entire family; there were many parents and babushkas (grandmothers) and even a few dedushkas (grandfathers) in attendance. We were able to bring fun American camp activities, like human knots, scavenger hunts, and campfires that enhanced the fun of camp. We sang at every opportunity, teaching American tunes to popular Jewish songs, to the point where we are totally sick of "Shabbat Shalom, hey!" We also enjoyed hearing the kids lead their own songs; in fact, to hear this community sing "Am Yisrael Chai"--the song was popularized as part of the movement to liberate Soviet Jewry and refuseniks--was truly inspirational.

If you ever look at one of our photo albums, this is the one. It was really something special for us to see organic expressions of yiddishkeit in a community that has faced such massive obstacles. One of the fathers approached us at the end of the camp to say that there are three ways for a Russian Jew to lead a Jewish life: assimilate, move to Israel, or stay put and try to create a vibrant Jewish life here. Clearly, this group is taking the third option and maximizing it, not just for themselves, but for their children and their parents.