by abigail bimman
canadian jewish news
odessa, ukraine | No matter where you are in the world, summer camp has a universal purpose: for children to learn about themselves in fun and challenging ways, while making new friends and participating in activities.
But for 10,000 children and 2,000 college students who live in the former Soviet Union, camp is also about building a Jewish identity.
The Jewish Agency for Israel has been operating summer camps in the former Soviet Union for the past 16 years. The 70 camps that the Jewish Agency runs focus not only on building identity but also on serving as a base for Jewish involvement during the rest of the year.
There are four camps in Ukraine. The camp in Odessa, a city of 1 million with a rich Jewish heritage and history, is dubbed “Artist’s City,” and is an eight-day overnight program for children age 6 to 9. Over the summer, the camp runs three sessions and serves about 300 campers.
“The camp is a very big contribution to building identity,” said Natasha Voskovoinik, who has been the camp’s director for three summers.
“Not only [are we] letting these kids know that because they have Jewish roots, they are part of a global identity, but we are also building their identity for something in themselves here and now.”
The camp operates out of a run-down college dorm-style building. Every common area and the children’s dorms were filled with bright artwork, from sailboats with painted silk sails to decorated Hebrew letters.
“If we just hang around on the street, we will hang around and do nothing — here we learn,” said Vova, an 8-year-old camper from Odessa. “We learn about Shabbat, and I love Shabbat.”
He added that after his experience at camp, he would call himself Jewish before identifying as Ukrainian.
Voskovoinik said that 40 percent of the 300 campers had never been to a Jewish Agency camp, and half of those have had no other Jewish exposure.
Chabad also runs summer camps in the former Soviet Union, but Voskovoinik says that the two organizations are not in competition with each other. Many children go to both camps, and the groups try not to schedule them at the same time.
Agency camps serve both the secular and Orthodox communities, and camp food is kosher.
The camps are also free for families. In co-operation with a number of sponsors, the agency spends about $10 million a year on the camps.
Another agency camp lies an hour outside of Kharkov, a city with a population of almost 2 million. Recently the weeklong camp, for teens age 13 to 17, revolved around the theme “Israel is Real.”
The week was loosely based around life in Israel, with programs such as army training and a mock Yad Vashem tour.
“The camp is a very strong starting point — [campers] know it’s the beginning of a process,” said Jan Friedman, who runs the camp with her husband, Guy. She noted that the agency holds events for campers all year at its Kharkov office.
“Those who are here for the first time, they can be surprised at what they find, for good or for bad,” said Sasha Blitshtein, a counselor from Kharkov. “Being Jewish can be something they don’t understand or accept, or something that makes them different.”
Both campers and counselors agreed that being Jewish is a positive difference.
“I don’t show my Jewishness publicly, but if someone asks me to fill out a form, I’m proud to do it,” said Ella Karnitskaya, a 17-year-old Kharkov teen who recites the Sh’ma every day and lights Shabbat candles with her mother.
“Other kids get piercings. This is my way of being different.”
CopyrightJ, the Jewish news weekly of Northern California