Local News

A fountain of Israeli youth comes to Seward Park

By Dan Aznoff, JTNews Correspondent

      The normally quiet

      halls of Congregation Ezra Bessaroth have been filled with the

      sound of laughter since the arrival of two young women from

      Israel, who hope to provide the congregation with a new

      direction and a much brighter future.

     

      Ofra Koren and

      Shimrit Ashwal landed at SeaTac Airport just in time to catch

      the last few days of the Seattle summer, and with less than

      two weeks to prepare for the High Holidays. The young women

      were recently hired to serve as the full-time youth directors

      at the Seward Park synagogue.

     

      Ofra and Shimrit

      are members of Bnei Akiva, a Zionist Youth Movement committed

      to inspiring and empowering Jewish youth. The Bnei Akiva

      program is an outreach program, roughly an equivalent to the

      Israeli version of the Peace Corps.

     

      "Bnei Akiva has

      been a part of our lives since we were young teens," said

      Shimrit, who speaks a deliberate English that make her accent

      even more charming. "It was more than just an activity

      reserved for Shabbat. Bnei Akiva was as much a part of our

      everyday lives as school and our families."

     

      Rabbi Salomon

      Cohen-Scali explained that the board of directors at Ezra

      Bessaroth committed to the innovative program in an effort to

      strengthen the bond between the younger members of the

      congregation, the Jewish community and the links to its own

      heritage. The rabbi was quick to point out that Bnei Akiva

      expenditure was outside the normal budget parameters of his

      congregation.

     

      "We had 300 people

      show up on very short notice to an auction in August that was

      organized simply to raise enough money to cover the expense of

      having these young ladies join our community," said Rabbi

      Cohen-Scali. "The auction raised over $30,000. The money will

      help cover the cost of an apartment and some of the normal

      living expenses girls will have living thousands of miles away

      from home."

     

      The youth program

      at Ezra Bessaroth is dedicated to the Rev. David J. Behar, who

      served the community two generations ago as a lay member of

      the clergy.

     

      Rabbi Cohen-Scali

      emphasized that his synagogue has strong ties with the primary

      school-aged children in its youth program, but looked for

      outside assistance to keep the teenagers in the fold.

     

      He shared his hopes

      that the new youth leaders would help draw young Jewish people

      from throughout in the Seattle area to activities in Seward

      Park. The rabbi pointed out that events will be priced only a

      slightly higher for young people who are not members of his

      congregation.

     

      "We would like to

      be the center of activity for all the youth. All Jewish youth

      everywhere," said Rabbi Cohen-Scali. "And these girls will

      help make that vision a reality."

     

      Ofra and Shimrit

      began the youth programming during the first week of school in

      September, with introductory sessions with youngsters from

      grades Kindergarten-2; 3-5; 6-8; and a separate

      Counselor-in-Training program for high school-aged students.

     

     

      The youth program

      at EB will have activities scheduled virtually every day.

      Additional all-day sessions will be added to the youth

      calendar to coincide with school holidays and vacations.

     

      "Bnei Akiva has a

      wonderful record of inspiring a love of community, synagogue

      and Judaism among young people," said Ofra. "We will offer

      games to the younger children, and attempt to challenge the

      teens to live the lessons of the Torah."

     

      Ofra, 20, and

      Shimrit, 22, arrived in Seattle with several proven

      pre-packaged programs compiled by the Bnei Akiva office in

      Jerusalem. But the girls agreed that the most successful

      programs are the ones developed in response to specific needs

      in the community.

     

      The new youth

      leaders will initiate their own program in October with a

      Beit Midrash series designed to bring together young

      people and their parents for an open discussion of how Jewish

      tradition works with the busy lives of many Americans. The

      program, known as Horav Mordechai Elon in Israel, will

      be the B’resheit (In the Beginning) for Ofra and

      Shimrit.

     

      The Beit Midrash

      program will encompass teenage members of the congregation

      from the age of B’nai Mitzvah through high school.

     

      "Young people in

      Israel and the United States are very much the same. They are

      very much alike and always challenging," said Shimrit. "We

      will try to share the lessons we learned in eretz

      Israel, by combining study of Torah with an active

      contribution to the Jewish people and to the society where we

      live."

     

      Bnei Akiva of the

      U.S. and Canada empowers Jewish youth of North America with a

      deep commitment to the people and the land of Israel through a

      wide variety of informal educational programs. Members strive

      to bring about the rebirth of the Jewish nation on its land by

      creating leaders who assume responsibility for their

      community, who take initiative and who actualize the ideals of

      Torah.

     

      Shimrit is a

      veteran of the Bnei Akiva program. She spent 18 months

      learning English and working with the young people at a

      congregation in Australia. Ofra credits her extended visits

      with relatives in Chicago and Cleveland for improving her

      knowledge of the English language.

     

      "I lived in

      Cleveland and Chicago. I had read about New York and Los

      Angeles, but all we heard about Seattle was that it rained,"

      said Ofra with a smile. "We thought it was a little village."

     

      EB member Carol

      Behar welcomed the youth leaders to the "village of Seattle"

      with visits to Queen Anne, the Pike Place Market and baseball

      at Safeco Field.

     

      "The girls have

      stepped right in from the very first day," said Behar. "This

      will be a wonderful year for everybody. Maybe they will decide

      to stay a little longer and become a part of our community."

     

      The girls enjoyed

      playing tourist during their first week in Seattle. Ofra

      especially enjoyed the chance to see the Cleveland Indians

      defeat her new hometown team, the Mariners.