I once had a pen pal from Italy, and we talked about the differences in our handwriting, our favorite foods, and Iron Maiden. I was twelve years old. This experience lasted no longer than a few letters. Other than ice cream and a rather cool European heavy metal band, we didn’t have much in common, so you did not need to be Nostrodomus to predict the early demise of our relationship. I don’t think of this pen pal too often, but as I was traveling to Budapest with twelve Beth Tfiloh students, these memories of a relationship that fizzled fast surfaced. Our students were about to embark on the journey of new relationships, and my hope was that the chance to meet their counterparts in Hungary would allow their connections to last longer, much longer, than that of my pen pal and me.
As we gathered in the departures area of Dulles Airport, I could sense the anticipation and nervousness of the Beth Tfiloh students. For some of them, this was their first international trip, but for all of them, this was their first journey to Budapest. And this visit wasn’t about fun and games (even though there was plenty of fun and games in their future), as this group of students were representing their school and country as part of the Morim Project. They would be spending the better part of the week with students from another Jewish Day School in an exotic Eastern European city, students that they never met before who speak a language that is as foreign as foreign languages come. Yes, they had exchanged a few emails with the Sandor Scheiber students, but that was about it. Their nervousness was real.
When we arrived to Sandor Scheiber, our students were bone-tired and more than a little bit hungry from over twelve hours of constant traveling. I was a bit nervous for them. But within moments our students were chatting and laughing with their counterparts. There was an immediate bond, and you almost couldn’t tell which of the students in the room were from BT and which were from SSG. The excitement and joy was palpable. It was quite an amazing moment.
This bond has continued over the entire trip as our students attended classes, played games, toured the city of Budapest, and spent Shabbat together. It’s obvious that our kids have more in common than just some favorite foods or bands; they share a connection to a Jewish heritage. I watched our students as they formed relationships, real honest-to-Hashem relationships with each other. There was no doubt in my mind that even though they could share their favorite foods or dance to their favorite songs, this connection that the students of Beth Tfiloh and the students of Scheiber Sandor shared to their Jewish heritage deepened due to this face-to-face meeting. I’m excited to see how this new relationship develops, and curious to watch it’s effects on their respective communities.
