The Jewish Agency promised Avital that one of its representatives would bring the bags to young people in the FSU. The summer camp counsellors, in turn, promised that the items would be used at their camps, after which they would be given to interested individual campers to use on their Jewish journey.

When asked about the beginnings of their own journeys closer to their Jewish Peoplehood, the counsellors had moving stories to tell. When asked about the beginnings of their own journeys closer to their Jewish Peoplehood, the counsellors had moving stories to tell. Paulina, 24, grew up with her mother and grandmother. Her identity was confused with name-changes, strange facts, and places on the map that related to her grandmother’s family.

One day, her mother told her that she had Jewish heritage, adding: “To be Jewish is to bear anti-Semitism, so you do not want it.” It was only after feeling the cultural and spiritual void in life in Kiev, Ukraine, did her mother turn to The Jewish Agency with a request to enrich her daughter’s life. For her 13th birthday present, her mother sent her to a Jewish Agency summer camp. There, Paulina found young, inspired people who enjoyed working with children like her. Since discovering her Jewish roots, she has now joined their ranks as an educator. Paulina heads the Unit of Informal Jewish Education for The Jewish Agency in Kiev. She feels strongly connected to the Jewish world and to Israel, and has plans to make Aliyah after her studies.

Anastasia, 19, lives in Kiev, Ukraine. Through The Jewish Agency programs there, she heard about Taglit-Birthright. She says, “I never felt that I am a Jew.” The first time she felt connected to the Jewish world was last summer, on her Taglit-Birthright trip. She is honoured to be a counsellor at one of this year’s Jewish Agency camps – “Not to tell anyone that they must be Jewish, but to tell them that they can be Jewish.” She wants the children to know they have the opportunity to choose who they are because her own opportunity came so late in her life. “It is interesting for me to explore this world, and I now understand that this world is my world.”

Many counsellors spoke about how tough their studies are at universities in the FSU and how tight their schedules are. Their timetables are more relaxed only during the summer months – and they choose to spend this time investing in their Jewish journey by passing on what they have learned to others attending the Jewish Agency camps in the FSU, while strengthening their own connection to their Jewish heritage.

Avital’s older sister, Galit, is currently in Israel studying at Midreshet Lindenbaum, a Masa Israel Journey program, and she joined The Jewish Agency in giving Avital’s bags to the FSU counsellors. She said, “The experience was unbelievable! One hears so much about other Jewish communities around the world and one thinks: How different can it be, really? Surely our Judaism is all based on the same Torah, the same culture, the same laws? But it was so eye-opening for me to meet a counsellor who told me he is the only religious Jew in his city. Living in Israel could be so much easier for him, but if he leaves, there will be no one wearing a kippah or observing traditional Judaism in his hometown. We in the USA grow up with so many privileges we take for granted. Imagine what it’s like to be the only Jew. These counsellors take it upon themselves to make sure the next generations continue. This is a lesson also for Avital.”

Avital, just Bat Mitzvah, has reached out to other Jews of her own generation halfway across the world. The camp counsellors said that the items she donated would be used as starting points to open up discussions about Judaism in the lives of the campers.

They said it would be powerful for the children to feel that no matter where they are, they can partake in acts that other Jews around the world are observing at the same time, and this will make them feel part of the Jewish family.

Photo credit: Perry Bindelglass