Twenty Israeli teens from Rishon LeTzion, part of the Diller Teen Fellows, visited the local Jewish community before Passover. After a whirlwind tour visiting local Jewish agencies as well as nearby attractions, they spent some time unwinding at Hedden Park in Randolph. Yaacov Friedberg, Israel youth emissary for UJC MetroWest, stands in rear at left. Photo by Johanna Ginsberg
April 24, 2008
Israelis hug more than Americans; American practice Judaism more freely and with less rigidity than their Israeli counterparts; non-Jewish Americans think Israelis live in deserts and ride camels; and Americans think Israel is a war zone.
These are just some of the insights a group of 20 Israeli teens gained while here for a week in April, just before Passover.
The teens are part of the Diller Teen Program, a Jewish leadership project supported locally by the United Jewish Communities of MetroWest NJ.
Twenty American 10th and 11th graders from each of six NJ communities are selected for project. They in turn are paired with 20 Israeli teens from each of six Israeli towns.
The goal of the program, operating in seven communities in the United States, is to groom a generation of Jewish leaders. During the year-long program, teens engage in community service projects, Shabbat retreats, and Sunday and evening workshops. For Israelis, there’s a 10-day stay in the United States; for Americans, a three-week seminar in Israel.
While abroad, Americans and Israelis host their respective counterparts.
NJJN caught up with the Israeli teens in Hedden Park in Randolph on a sunny, cool spring day. They were unwinding there before heading to the Livingston Mall for a quick shopping trip.
A common refrain among the Israelis was their surprise at the diversity of religious options in the States.
“You can be Jewish in very many ways. You can be Orthodox, Reform,” said Gal Dafadi, 16.
“In Israel you are either Orthodox or not,” Eden Malul, 17, explained. “It’s so weird here to have all these ways to be a Jew and show you are a Jew and each way is acceptable.”
They were interested to see how American Jews manage to live in two different worlds, jumping between their secular and religious identities.
“They actually have here a ‘J’ life, not as I imagined, but separated. They have their outside community life and their J community life and they always jump between them,” said Yan Laskov. “They can connect the both of them and live a full Jewish life while in a non-Jewish community.”
Oren Attiya was surprised his American counterparts were so connected to Judaism.
“I was surprised to see people live such a full life and all united. It was different from Israel,” he said. “Israel is a huge bubble; this is a little one. They have a JCC and they celebrate holidays; they live a normal Jewish life. I thought they would be totally disconnected.”
Some of the students who attended public schools with their American hosts marked how little the non-Jewish Americans knew about Israel.
Attiya related how a teacher at Columbia High School in Maplewood welcomed him into the class and invited students to ask questions. “One kid raised his hand and asked, ‘How did you get here?’ Because he was sure that we live in the desert and ride camels and he didn’t understand we have planes.”
“Public school kids in class thought Israel is usually in war,” added Dafadi. “They don’t think Israelis have social lives, like we’re going to hang out and have fun with friends.”
Attiya suggested the impression is formed by reading American newspapers.
“I read a New York Times article about Israel and what’s happening there. They didn’t cover anything except the war in Gaza and conflicts in the north,” he said. “That’s why a lot of people think Israel is a war zone and a country that is bombed all the time. You can’t see anything of the real Israel in this article.”
The Israelis were impressed with the level of knowledge of their peers, and amazed at the wealth of the community. After learning that both the JCC and the Solomon Schechter Day School of Essex and Union were both built with private donations and without any government money, Attiya asked, “How is it possible that you have so much money to build these places from donations? In Israel it’s not that common to do this kind of thing.”
The Israeli teens also learned a few things about themselves.
“I learned how much I love Israel,” said Dafadi. She pointed to the tight relationships Israelis form with one another, “What a great bond we have, even people you don’t know. We feel really connected.”
They learned they are more independent than American teens. Teenagers in America, said Maya Hayek, “live in kind of a bubble with their parents. So I think it will be shocking when they leave home for college and when they have an independent life.”
They found they could bond with American families, and at least one Israeli, Hayek, found inspiration in a visit to a senior home, where she met a woman working on behalf of Hurricane Katrina victims.
During the summer, the Americans will reverse the exchange and fly to Israel, where they will stay with the Israelis and tour the Rishon LeZion community.
The MetroWest Diller Teen Fellows program is funded in part by the Helen Diller Family Foundation, a supporting foundation of the San Francisco Bay Area’s Jewish Community Endowment Fund, with partnership funding provided by UJC MetroWest.
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