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“Like a friend in the house”
This is how Diana Muller of Weston talks about Shira Epstein, the Young Emissary from Afula who is living with the Mullers until December. She has only been part of the Mullers' family since late August, and Diana already describes the experience as “having a friend in the house.” And once Diana and husband David start talking n gushing, really n about why they became a host family this year, they can't stop. Shira is one of 15 teens from the Afula-Gilboa region of northern Israel who arrived this summer to serve for a year in communities throughout Connecticut, Rhode Island, and western Massachusetts n the 13 Jewish federation communities that make up the Southern New England Consortium (SNEC). She is one of two emissaries serving in the Westport-Weston-Wilton-Norwalk community. Shira brings Israel into the Jewish organizations and public schools of Weston and Westport, as a way to build living bridges between this community and Afula-Gilboa. She also brings much to the five Mullers. Julia, 11, is starting to pronounce Hebrew in her Temple Israel religious school classes like an Israeli. Daniel, 10, knows the two coolest Israeli slang words -- “sababa” and “achla” (and knows that they're actually Arabic). And Benjamin, 8, is wowed by Shira's skill at card games. (“She's the fastest dealer.”) “I'm learning so much about what it's really like to live there,” Diana says. “I now understand the difference between being a Jew here and being an Israeli.” David says there is an added benefit in hosting Shira. “It's a great experience for our kids,” he says. “It's difficult, even in a community where 20 percent of the population is Jewish, when we're all surrounded by the trappings and marketing of Christmas. We work really hard to make sure our kids have a Jewish life.” The idea to be a host family started germinating last December, when the Mullers traveled to Israel with Temple Israel of Westport. It was Julia who first saw the informational flyer posted in the religious school. “Even though we plan trips far in advance, and we're not a travel-with-a-group kind of family, we signed up within a day,” says Diana. Among the 45 trip participants were the Hoffmans, a former host family. Past Westport emissaries Reut Arato and Itai Ricon met the group for dinner one night on a kibbutz. “We forged a connection with Israel beyond what we thought possible,” Diana says. Upon their return, Diana learned from fellow Temple Israel board member Laura Kaufman, the Westport Young Emissary program coordinator, that host families were needed. The Muller kids started naming Israeli charities they had learned about on the trip and wanted to support. The seed planted on the Israel trip had taken root, and the Mullers were all too happy to host a young emissary. The connection with Shira was instant, Diana says. The family is impressed with the young woman's poise, maturity, and self-confidence, and the courage and adventurous spirit required to spend a year working in a new community 5,000 miles away from home. The Mullers are already considering another trip to Israel. “We're trying to figure out which of the kids' bar mitzvahs we'll go back for,” Diana says. A new set of families will host the emissaries from January until the end of their stay in June. “We'd host Shira all year if we could,” says Diana. And, says David, “based on our experience with Shira over the last month, we absolutely would host again.” |
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