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.