The "Art-Midrasha " - Art Study Center Summer Camp in
Kyiv (Kiev), Ukraine
Ages: 11-13

The first session of the Jewish Agency summer camp in Kyiv this year was called the “Art-Midrasha”, an educational center aimed at developing Jewish arts and culture. The campers took part in the following areas: photography, motion pictures, theatre, music, movement, design, literature, and society.

Evening seminar on society

Campers at work on art projects

While each area had its own topic of the day, the general themes of the camp were around the Shtetl, the Holocaust and modern Israel. On the fourth day of camp, all the campers participated in an exciting simulation game called the Shtetl Game where they divided into nine former shtetls of the Ukraine, towns and villages which still exist today. The counselors told the campers the history of each shtetl and gave each shtetl a problem that needed to be solved. In the Bratslav Shtetl, for instance, there was a growing need to build a Jewish elementary school and the campers had to find the best way and means to do this. At the end of the game, the campers presented their solutions to the local shtetl leadership for approval.

Daniel Galetskiy

"Meet Daniel Galetskiy, a 12 years old from Kyiv. This was his first Jewish camp and he felt very comfortable at the camp. Daniel said, "I have met many good friends and I liked the fact that I got to choose the workshops and sessions that interest me most. Although I've never came to Jewish Agency activities in the past, I now want to participate in our local youth club and meet the new friends that I've made at camp and my counselors, too."

Pavel Urvan

"I'm Pavel Urvan and I am 11 years old. I live in Uzhgorod which is a city with a population of 100,000 located in Western Ukraine.  This was my second summer at camp. My favorite activity at camp was the workshop called Milim which liteally means words in English. In this workshop, we read different stories and poems by Jewish authors. This is very interesting for me and I do my best not to miss any of our meetings. My dreams are to become a counselor and visit Israel someday."

July 20 – 29