Six Israeli Counselors Volunteer in St. Louis Summer Camp

The five counselors selected for the program have varied backgrounds. While all have experience working with youth, some are student council members, while others are community volunteers, the daughter of Latvian immigrants, or religiously observant. This gave a special, multi-faceted character to the delegation, and emphasized to the St. Louis Jewish community the broad, high-quality cultural diversity of our area. The delegation included fromYokneam counselors Sigal Galili and Esther Kaplan, along with chaperone Sharvid Dahari, and from Megiddo counselors Yael Hakim, Alona Gatya and Yehuda Lahav.

The counselors left for St. Louis at the beginning of July and spent about a month in the community. During their entire stay they were hosted by families in the Jewish community who welcomed them happily and with a great deal of love. Each of the counselors was hosted by three of the community's families during his or her stay. This enabled the young counselors to learn about the way of life in the U.S., about the various denominations of Judaism in American Jewry, and about the importance of developing close contacts with the partnership communities.

The Israeli counselors joined the American counseling staffs in the summer camps and worked with groups of children ranging in age from 4-12. It should be noted that due to the fact that the Israeli school year is over later than the American year, the counselors joined the camp approximately a month after the camp season began. Congratulations are due to our counselors, since despite this hurdle, they fit in quickly with the camp activities and developed close relationships with the campers and the American counseling staff.

On the last Shabbat of the delegation's stay in St. Louis, Sharvid Dahari, the group's chaperone, was the guest of honor at a gathering held at one of the city's synagogues, attended by 120 people from the community. The large turnout was very moving, as it emphasized the St. Louis community's close connection with Israel in general, and with the Yokneam-Megiddo area in particular. At the gathering, Sharvid spoke with the community members about a number of subjects, including his family and educational background, his army service in an elite unit, the humanitarian dilemmas created by the need to eradicate terror yet not harm the civilian population, and of course about the Yokneam-Megiddo area. The meeting was very successful and generated very positive feedback within the community. The counselors proudly noted that one of the songs sung first thing in the morning in the summer camps is "Hatikva"-the Israeli national anthem. In our hearts there is no doubt that with this kind of unity, there is indeed hope!

Thank you, thank you, and thank you again... To Lori and Jeff Lasdie, and to all the host families.