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Dear Andy,
There’s nothing quite like the magic of Jewish summer camp.
From soulful Shabbat services and raucous singalongs to long evenings spent chatting with new friends, it’s a place where Jewish teenagers can become the best version of themselves.
Each summer provides the opportunity to cultivate a proud Jewish identity in a supportive community, and for many young people outside of Israel, camp may also be the only time they live in a place with a Jewish majority, where even the weekly calendar is Jewish — with Shabbat at its peak.
At Szarvas, the JDC-Lauder international summer camp, this is certainly true. More than 1,400 young Jews from over 25 countries travel to the Hungarian countryside annually — including from places like North Macedonia, which has fewer Jews in total than its delegation will encounter at any given camp meal.
In my five years as JDC’s CEO, I’ve always treasured this program — a crown jewel of our leadership development efforts in Europe and beyond. But now, as communities in every corner of the Jewish world face a startling spike in antisemitism, the camp frankly means more. It is an undeniable oasis of optimism, resilience, and belonging in a very challenging regional and global context.
I want you to meet Gal Peled, a 17-year-old Israeli-Polish camper now living in The Hague, where he’s the only Jewish student among 3,000 teenagers at his Dutch public high school. For Gal, it’s only at Szarvas that he can be his fullest self, accessing the kind of Jewish joy that is vital in these troubling times.
“I'm not scared of my Jewish identity, I'm not scared to show it, but my favorite part about camp is just feeling so free,” Gal told us. “There aren’t so many places in the world where we can really express ourselves, but Szarvas is one of them. It lights me up.”
This summer, my travels will take me to Israel, Georgia, Poland, and Ukraine, and in each location, I’m meeting superlative young people like Gal — emerging leaders who inspire in me a profound hope for our collective Jewish future.
It reminds me of the classic idea from the Talmud that encourages us to read not “banayikh” (children) but “bonayikh” (builders). A new generation, our tradition teaches, will be the architects of our people’s next chapter, and we must be their biggest champions.
How are we setting them up for success? What are we doing to ensure a Jewish world where our builders — exceptional young people like Gal — feel free and affirmed in their Jewish identities, given the tools to grow and develop and dream?
At JDC, I am proud of our global efforts to sustain camps like Szarvas and to foster Jewish continuity and creativity at JCCs, volunteer centers, and other vital pathways to leadership development. You can learn more about that here.
You are our partners in this sacred work. Together with young people all around the world, we will craft the strong and vibrant Jewish future we can all be proud of.
Warmly,
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