By Madeleine Lowe , other
Studies have long shown that Jewish summer camp plays a huge role in helping kids develop their Jewish identities. For those without a strong Jewish community around them at home, being immersed in a community filled with other Jews, Jewish values, and Jewish practices for several weeks can provide important opportunities to help them decide how they want to embrace Judaism in their own lives.
For the past four summers, Jewish teens from Hungary have been given the chance to experience all of these benefits of Jewish summer camp in America. As many as 10 Hungarian 16- and 17-year-olds have volunteered at camps each year, including Camp Solomon Schecter in Olympia, B’nai Brith Camp in Oregon, and Stroum Jewish Community Center day camps on Mercer Island.
The teens who volunteer at the JCC as counselors stay with five different host families throughout the summer and take advantage of all Seattle has to offer — attending Mariners games, visiting Snoqualmie Falls and the opera, touring Microsoft and Boeing, and even taking an occasional trip with their host families.
But this summer will likely be the program’s last. According to Lenny Kashner, its organizer, host families are crucial to the program’s existence — and hard to come by. Not many families are willing to put up a teen for two weeks and help transport them to and from the JCC each day, Kashner said.
“I would be very surprised if I find any success in finding families,” he said about the possibility of continuing the program in 2012. “I’m 99 percent sure that this is the last summer.”
Kashner, Shainie Schuffler, the program’s treasurer, and Edit Pragai, the program’s Budapest coordinator, have worked to keep it organized and well-funded through small private donations from Jewish families in the area. But it’s the housing that has become the roadblock.
Even so, Kashner’s passion for the program remains as strong as it was when he decided to start it. In 2005, the retired Seattle Public Schools teacher traveled to Budapest to help an English teacher in two Jewish schools. When interviewing the students, Kashner “was struck by their affection for America.” He decided he wanted to afford these teens the opportunity “to come to America not as immigrants,” he said, “but to…experience the Jewish communities here.”
The teens participating must be dedicated to the program — they are required to complete an extensive application for admission only after inquiring by email.
Because the program has no official website, teens can only discover the program by word of mouth or, more recently, through Facebook.
For these teens, the benefits of the program extend beyond a visit to the U.S.
“I wanted to know about the Jewish life here,” said Hermina Dés, a participant volunteering at the JCC.
“It’s really good to see that not everybody is shy [about their religion]. They are not going to hide what they really are,” said Eszter Zewde, another participant volunteering at the JCC.
“Some kids go back with a strengthened Jewish identity and want to learn more,” Kashner added. “Some of them go back to Hungary speaking English better than their English teachers.”
The program also allows many of the participants to make their first Jewish friends in addition to giving them the opportunity to see and experience American culture. Often that experience with American culture sparks a stronger interest in many of their own Hungarian roots, Kashner said.
Various estimates show between 50,000 and 100,000 Jews living in Hungary. A strong community there has yet to fully develop. New opportunities for Jews are springing up, however, and after this program, many kids retain the relationships they have made throughout their time in America to help build their own Jewish community.
Speaking with rabbis, celebrating Shabbat, and being immersed in other Jewish activities allow the program’s participants to think more deeply about Judaism than they might have before.
“It’s harder to be religious in Hungary [than it is in America],” said Zewde.