- a personal account

Last year there was a notice in the newspaper which read: "Youth mission to summer camp in the USA". I didn't know any details and I hadn't heard much about the program, but I knew it was the thing I most wanted to do in the summer. I arrived at the interview, which I think went very poorly, but I still progressed to the next stage - a kind of workshop. And then, in the middle of a class at university, I received a telephone call from Nave Yogev (People to People coordinator at Partnership 2000 Beit Shemesh - Mateh Yehuda - Washington - South Africa of the Jewish Agency) telling I was actually going to the States in the summer. You could hear my shrieks of delight right across the whole campus. A minute later my friend Avital also shrieked with joy and then we heard from another classmate that he had also passed. It was amazing! There were around 70 candidates from the whole of Mateh Yehuda, of whom 6 were accepted. In short, my point (and there is one) here is that I now understand why the selection process was so thorough - it's not easy being an emissary! By the way, that title makes me feel very important.

Capital Camps is an American Jewish camp attended by campers from the third to tenth grades (and some later become counselors and have been there for 15 years) and is like a second home for all the campers, counselors and staff members. At the camp the laws of kashrut are observed, shabbat is celebrated and Jewish and Zionist values are highlighted. The camp is located at Waynesboro, PA in a beautiful natural setting. In the middle of the camp is a sizeable lake, and there is a swimming pool, dining hall, "Habima", huts and tents, wonderful activity areas, sports courts, challenge sports facilities, you-name-it.

I spent three weeks with Jewish American youth at a summer camp. I lived in tents, almost drowned in a river in West Virginia - you can still see the scars I got from the rocks there - but I met some amazing people. First, whenever they heard I was from Israel I got so much admiration and appreciation, people asked me questions, and sometimes people just looked at me open mouthed. I was always proud of being an Israeli but there I felt happy to be an Israeli. I learned to appreciate that. When I tried to communicate with people in English I wasn't always fluent, but we always understood each other. We discussed current affairs, listened to different opinions, but most of all we just had a good time together, spent time together and made unforgettable bonds.

The most significant thing we did as emissaries was to represent real Israeli youth, we discovered we had very similar areas of interest, heard about their lives there and were often surprised to discover the similarities between us. There were quite a few activities at which we talked about subjects like the Holocaust (for example, the counselors presented a very serious activity about the Partisans), the IDF and compulsory national service, immigrating to Israel or marrying a non-Jew. Our job was to talk about things as Israeli youth, to offer a completely different angle to the discussions and, in fact, to present the thoughts and feelings we brought with us from Israel, from the State of Israel, because after all we grew up with a completely different mentality.

The love Jewish youth for has the State of Israel is indescribable. Some of them are more religiously observant that me and many others here in Israel. The shabbatot at the camp were the most unforgettable experience of all. Everyone wore white and greeted each other with shabbat shalom. Everyone was dressed up, smiling and seemed to be living a utopian existence at the camp where wonderful tranquility reigned and the atmosphere was dreamy. It was the perfect refuge where everyone was equal and everything was beautiful. Although you could say it was an illusion it was a place with no obstacles, where there was a pure intent to create a Garden of Eden, a place that could lead you to believe that all in the world was well.

We prayed together. Each prayer had its own special melody which was accompanied on guitar by Shimon Smith (from Rehovot) who was in charge of the singing, and special movements based on the traditions. The Shabbat meal started in the giant dining hall with all the campers. After we washed our hands we blessed the hallah and, as evening approached, we began dancing to a great mix of Jewish, American and Israeli songs.

There is nothing more relaxing than a lazy breakfast (a free and easy breakfast from 8 a.m. to 9:30 a.m., with people turning up as and when as they wished) followed by prayers with different age groups, each with its own village. The birds merrily chirped around us and we recited shema yisrael, from prayer books that were specially compiled for the camp, with the greatest intent.

I got to know counselors from England, Australia, Israel and the United States, people with life experience, and I listened to their views or just observed their behavior. That changed a lot about the way I think and feel. It was also something of a heritage trip which strengthened my bond to this place even more, to my country, to the Jewish people and the (very special) Israeli mentality, but it also greatly widened my horizons.

I intend to continue taking an active role in Partnership 2000, to help build the enormous bridge with Jewish communities around the world, because that is what is really important - the personal aspect, each person's individual story and this little bond that has been formed between me and about 40 Jews from around the world. That is what really makes a difference, far more than the generous donations we get from the United States. They help, they make people abroad feel better, but what makes our community much stronger and more united is the ability to form this bound outside Israel.
I would like to thank first to Joseph and Rebecca Meyerhoff Awards Committee and The Louis D. and Morton J. Macks Family Foundation, Inc.
Many thanks to Kesher-Cham Organization who make this wonderful project to become real year after year.

Thanks also to Naveh Yogev, the people to people coordinator or, less formally, the person who did everything for us, from the interview stage and up to the present time, who supports us and is always ready to help with any problem or question. I want to thank all the staff of Partnership 2000, headed by Gideon Vennor, Camp USA, head of my mission Adi Segal who protected us over there from the American mentality in the tough times, and was just like a mother to us in America (although she really didn't like us calling her that), and most of all I want to thank my colleagues in the mission (from Mateh Yehuda and Ashkelon), the best mission ever!

Lucia Tropimenko
Grade 10/7
Branco Weiss High School,
Beit Shemesh