A year and a half ago when SOS International first met with me at Beth Tfiloh to discuss this program, Alan and Glynis talked about strengthening Jewish communities through strengthening Jewish schools. That mission seemed important, even holy, and it clicked so nicely with our school’s mission that it was easy to support. And then I came to the school here with my colleagues and we wondered if just a small group of teachers and just a week of teaching can really do anything to impact an entire community and culture. But then I spent time with the kids and I realized that whether a change is coming for the community, I don’t know, but impact CAN and IS happening on the individual student level. And then the question shifted. Not how do we make the school a more engaging place to learn but how to we make the most profound impact on the teens? How do we reinforce Jewish Identity? How do we make kids proud to be Jewish? And we quickly realized that WE, adults, can only do so much. The real work is best done by peers. And so, while still here on our first trip, we started planning our second trip, with BT teens and we started to really envision a program that could make a difference.
And 15 months later a dozen BT kids came into the school in Hungary to meet with their 24 counterparts from SSG and it couldn’t have been any more wonderful! The kids embraced each other as if they were meeting good friends from camp last summer. They talked and laughed and some of the boys quickly started the type of trash talk common among good friends – each sure that the other is worse NBA 2K (a video game.) Everyone met with everyone and there was no shy awkwardness at all.
An ironically hilarious moment came only a bit later in the day. We were all on a tour bus to start our sightseeing chunk of the day. SOS International hired a professional guide to teach us about the history and the architecture and the Jewish contributions to Budapest. But none of the kids were paying any attention because they all just wanted to hang out with and talk to their new friends. In fact, I noticed several teens pointing out locations and explaining them to their peers along the way, and that was interesting to the teens. But a professional? Pass. And this wasn’t American kids talking to American kids. Everyone was with their new buddies. And with that we were all off to a great start.
Another moment – we were walking to dinner and I said to one of our kids, “Molly, did you meet Emese [pronounced Em ‘Esheh] yet?” Molly said, “Emese? I lover her! She’s my bestie.” These kids had met 4 hours before.
As the day went on much of the explanation of where we were and what we were seeing was done by the Hungarian teens and that was impressive. But to me more impressive what that the kids wanted to take touristy pictures of themselves all together in the beautiful lookout places along the Danube. The goal here is to show that you can be cool and Jewish. Normal and Jewish. Proud and Jewish. And I’m blessed to be part of a scenario where our kids are doing exactly that. Not from a professional; they’ll have none of that. But they’ll learn it from their peers.
