I visited Budapest and Berlin this week to see the work UJA-Federation supports in those communities to strengthen Jewish life. In a summer that has put the differences between global Jewry into sharp relief, I found much to be excited about and a glimpse into a more hopeful future.
The incredible highlight of the trip was my visit to Camp Szarvas. Located in Hungary, two hours outside of Budapest, Camp Szarvas is a slice of global Jewish community the likes of which I’d never seen before. (You can see some photos here.)
Run by the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC), one of our largest overseas partners, the camp brings together 1,600 Jewish children each summer, ages 6 to 19, representing 22 countries, and every denomination and affiliation from Orthodox, Conservative, and Reform to “just Jewish.” Over the course of the summer, groups of about 400 campers and counselors meet for powerful 12-day sessions.
Because each camp session is less than two weeks long, the kids take a deep dive from day one, learning about Judaism and each other, exploring their differences and commonalities. For the older campers and counselors, the overarching question is: “What does Jewish identity mean to you?” Even while swimming in the pool and playing in the fields, the conversations are intense and revealing. And in many cases, life changing.
I spoke to a 12th grader from a modern Orthodox day school on Long Island (there are about 25 Americans per session), who’s been immersed in Jewish life since birth, but only among people who shared his background. At Szarvas, he was taking part in conversations with counterparts from Israel, Europe, and even New York that were completely outside his past personal experiences. An 11th grader from a Reform congregation in Cleveland told me about another type of “conversation” she’d been having with a girl from Hungary. Neither spoke a word of the other’s language, yet, they’ve somehow managed to become fast friends.
Imagine how these experiences will enrich not only their own lives, but their future interactions with others, and their appreciation of and engagement with the broader Jewish community. Then multiply that by 1,600.
Just as importantly, Szarvas is an incubator for Jewish leadership in Central and Eastern Europe. Campers frequently become counselors, then unit leaders, and finally community activists. In fact, many of the Jewish leaders I met in Budapest and Berlin were proud Szarvas alums.
Camp Szarvas opened in 1990, a year after the fall of the Berlin Wall, as an antidote for a “lost generation” that had little to no opportunity to experience Jewish life. While Hungary didn’t experience the complete repression of the former Soviet Union, it was still a Soviet bloc country, and Jewish identity was hardly embraced.
Many former campers remember being told by their parents that they would be going away to a Jewish summer camp, and, in almost the same breath, “By the way, you’re Jewish.” One woman told me she didn’t know what a Star of David was, or that it had anything to do with her identity, until a parent’s funeral.
Even as Jewish life in Central and Eastern Europe is growing, thanks to Camp Szarvas and many other investments in grassroots community building, there’s still much to do. But we’re making real progress. That much was clear at Szarvas’s boisterous and overflowing dining hall, where kids from countries like Bulgaria, Hungary, Ukraine, Russia, Macedonia, and Serbia were jumping on the tables and singing Hebrew and Israeli songs — the same songs my youngest daughter is now singing at her Jewish camp in Canada.
Enthusiastic and proudly Jewish, these kids are the future leaders of their respective communities. They’re also a microcosm of a global Jewish community that can and must find a way to transcend difference — and become a people able and willing to sing out of the same songbook.
Shabbat shalom