Following is the speech written by one of the 232 campers who came to Camp Tamarack as part of the Partnership 2000 delegation. The speech was given at a community reception at the camp. In total, Detroit brought in 332 campers, including Israeli Scouts the first session.

Hi, my name is Haleli Jabotinsky. I am a third generation Israeli and I live in a village called Timrat, which is in the beautiful Jezreel Valley, in Northern Israel. I just graduated ninth grade at a Kibbutz high school in the area. At camp I am in the Specialty Village.

As you all know, the situation in Israel has been very difficult lately, and has not only affected our parents' generation, but also us, the youth. The security difficulties have restricted us with our regular activities and camps, despite the fact that we try to live life as normally as possible. You can't imagine how thrilled we all were when our homeroom teachers told us about the Detroit Federation's camp program. The teaching staff chose candidates for interviews and then we waited very nervously for the final answers. Unfortunately, some of my friends were disappointed; perhaps they'll be here next year. Once we were chosen, we had several meetings to meet each other, including an overnight seminar to prepare us for the experience, and they really helped us bond as a group. I realized that being selected for this was a very rare opportunity and I felt then, and I still do feel, very, very lucky. We were really happy to meet American Jewish teenagers in their territory and experience a camp, unlike anything we know in Israel.

We've only been here for six days; first we experienced Shabbat. I had never thought that Shabbat could be so relaxed and spiritual and not exclusively in the walls of a synagogue.

We have also enjoyed the lake, and I think Camp Tamarack has more water and greenery than all of Israel! It is almost impossible to describe how amazing it is to be living on these grounds, amongst trees, nature and a feeling of security.

And then they took us to Cedar Point. I think that it is bigger than the whole State of Israel! We also discovered that there are places that are more humid and hotter than in Israel, but we had an unbelievable time.

The next day, Monday, camp really began. We were divided into our villages, and finally met our American peers. We are getting to know each other, we're improving our English and perhaps they are improving their Hebrew...;and hopefully one day we'll host them in our homes. We are involved in a great variety of activities such as drama, water sports, land sports, and arts and crafts, and we are amazed at how everything seems to work and fall into place.

Even though it is hard to be away from our families, I know already that this is a summer that none of us will ever forget.

All of us know that this would not have been possible if those of you sitting here did not push for this and support this project; we hope that you will see that it has been incredibly worthwhile. On behalf of the 200-plus campers from the Partnership 2000 Region, we would like to thank the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit, Camp Tamarack, and the Fresh Air Society for this enormous opportunity.

  Av 5762 - August 2002