С 16 по 21 февраля 2010 года в Москве состоялся съезд лидеров движения НеЦеР в СНГ. Это была очень важная и знаковая встреча. Впечатлениями о съезде делятся координатор движения НеЦеР в СНГ Маргарита Фруман, а также раввин Рон Клоц (США), который является директором летнего реформистского лагеря и специально прибыл в Москву, чтобы принять участие в разработке программы и проведении съезда.

 

February 16-18 supervisor training; 18-21, seminar for all participants; for the first time, the seminar took place at a Reform venue, the Moscow Center for Progressive Judaism.

A total of 43 people took part in the seminar. Staff included: Rabbi Ron Klotz, Max Klaben, Rita Fruman, Ekaterina Solodokaya (Office Director), Ekaterina Angelova (Netzer coordinator, Russia), Faina Zmitrochenko (Netzer coordinator, Belarus), Aleksey Haydar (Netzer coordinator, Ukraine), Rabbi Alex Lyskovoy, Rabbi Leonid Bimbat. The fact that 3 rabbis were present added a very important spiritual component and enabled madrichim to ask many questions.

 

 

Jewish identity and active leadership were the main topics of the seminar. Seminar was composed of lectures, workshops, training sessions. Jewish identity was incorporated into all sessions. Questions such as: what it is to be a young Reform Jew today, how active Jewish identity of our generation impacts the younger generation in the FSU and our parents were among the many questions or issues brought up.

Madrichim took part in lectures, discussions and workshops with a goal to raise the issue of liberal, reform and open Judaism in FSU countries and to together decide how one can educate young people and their parents about Judaism, good deeds, justice and tolerance and enable them to be proud Jews. Many discussions took place around Israel as the Jewish state and as supervisors, it was important for us to spread the message that Israel needs support from Jews in Diaspora, in our case the FSU, to reach the younger generation as well.

During the seminar there were also Limmud sessions; each supervisor was responsible for preparing a topic relevant to our seminar and Reform Judaism:

 

·             An active Jewish identity – We spoke about Jewish identity of young people in the FSU. We reached the conclusion that our Jewish identity is established by events we experience throughout our life such as: involvement in Jewish communal life, participation in Jewish educational seminars and camps, the Jewish friendship circle built through camps and clubs, etc. From here the questions we asked after Limmud were: how can we as active members in the Reform movement in the FSU continue our Jewish journey, why does our stance regarding Judaism need to be a dynamic one, and what can we actually in practice do to change the world and make it a better place for all Jews?

 

·             Uniqueness of the Reform Movement – participants learned through a variety of articles about the movement; some of them positive and others less so. The goal was to understand what makes the Reform movement special, what the goal of the movement is, a variety of streams exist in Judaism, why is there a need? One of the conclusions reached during Limmud was that today we have the unique privilege to choose our affiliation, and it is our duty as young people to impart knowledge, as well as the right to freedom of choice to the next generation.

 

·             Creative methods of work with campers: what should we be striving for? – This came about as a result of Ron's lecture at the seminar. This was led by two madrichot, Alla Mahas and Nastia Fomina who prepared an art activity in which using various informal education art techniques showed participants how to teach youth about for example a Jewish holiday, in our case Purim, through a combination of learning about the main persons in the Megilla and then implementing this knowledge in art.

 

·             Israel: history of the last 60+ years – this was a Limmud filled with a lot of historical information. How the modern state was built and by whom, the borders from the War of Independence-today, how Israeli society lives today, etc. One of the objectives of the Limmud was to put events into chronological perspective and learn how to teach the topic in an informal environment to different ages.

 

·             Modern Jewish literature – this Limmud was composed of reading different short stories that fall into the category of modern Jewish literature and included Jewish authors from all over the world. 

 

"The topics and methodologies chosen for the Limmud sessions were very interesting. Each topic was introduced at a deeper level and our knowledge was put into a more orderly context." Daria Subodka, madricha, Minsk, Belarus

The Reform camp program in the USA and FSU were discussed at length. Ron and Max brought a lot of very interesting material (written, video, pictures, etc.) giving us a very broad picture of how the GUCI camp operates. They led a creative Shacharit service on the basis of prayers they use in their camps, they brought different texts that campers of different ages wrote about GUCI and video clips with different tunes they use in their services. It was amazing to see how the words of these Jewish children in the USA are so similar to those children in our camps. It was very moving to hear a familiar tune that we were able to sing along with. FSU madrichim also brought materials, explaining how our camps operate, how we build a program, etc.

To our surprise, we discovered that despite the differences (length of camp – 4 weeks as opposed to one, having a permanent venue as opposed to not), our topics, goals, values that we wish to impart both in the FSU and USA are very similar. This was the reason that the ties between us and our American counterparts were immediately natural and very strong, as we spoke the same [religious, spiritual] language.

For the first time, at this seminar, we touched on a very sensitive issue, our policy regarding smoking at camps, in terms of both campers and madrichim. Every region held a discussion led by their coordinator. It was not an easy discussion, as there were diverse opinions such as: we are not their parents and if parents allow them to smoke, who are we to say otherwise, and, we are Jewish educators and it is our duty to provide a good and healthy example to the younger generation. At the end of the discussion, each region presented their recommendations. The 3 regional coordinators and I took these recommendations as a basis for change and we created new rules about smoking for each region. We hope to implement these rules already during the 2010 summer camp season. I am aware that these changes will not occur overnight, but I think it is very important to start from somewhere, to make this a very clear objective and to emphasize the importance of it. I believe that in a few years we will change smoking policy in our camps. As leaders, it is one of the more important issues we need to address and change.

Both in feedback sessions of supervisors and participants were very positive. Educational, religious, spiritual and practical goals were met and all participants left more knowledge and with a great experience.  

On behalf of all participants in this seminar, I would like to thank Anne Molloy and Henry Posner for making this seminar possible and giving us the opportunity to meet such amazing professionals like Ron and Max. We hope that the GUCI-FSU twinning relationship is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

This seminar was a big success and madrichim are very motivated. It would be most disappointing if all the knowledge, experience and tools acquired at this seminar could not be implemented in Netzer camps this summer.

See pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/ritafruman/MoscowLeadeshipSeminar1821022010?feat=directlink

Max Klaben, Goldman Union Camp’s Assistant Director and I just returned from a nine day trip to Moscow. Last summer I discovered, from one of our counselors, Ida Posner, that there are Reform Jewish summer camps in the Former Soviet Union. After discussions with Ida’s parents, Henry Posner and Anne Molloy, who are very involved in the World Union for Progressive Judaism and support this youth movement in the FSU, we connected with the director of their youth programs, Rita Furman and were invited to join their yearly staff seminar in Moscow. The Posner/Molloy family made it possible for Max and me to make the trip.

We went prepared to present our ideas regarding staff training, creative programming techniques, the structure of the staff of our camps, and more. We learned that our counterparts in the FSU are already experts in informal education and creative teaching techniques. I do believe that we were able to share important concepts of staff training, counselor development and supervision. Max’s job was to document the trip on video and through photos so we could present our experiences to our staff and campers this summer. 

There were so many interesting aspects to this trip that it would be difficult to speak to all of them. The most important however was that we found a group of fifty young, enthusiastic, and devoted Reform Jewish leaders pioneering informal Jewish education in a part of the world that, until about twenty years ago, restricted religious activity. That is how young our movement is in Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus. These young adults are hungry for Jewish knowledge and thirst for Jewish community. They are dedicated to the campers that attend their ten summer camps and strive to pack as much Jewish learning as possible into those seven and ten day camp programs. As of yet, they have no physical camp sites. Their camps are held in hotels and older resorts outside the cities in their respective countries. Despite the challenges, these forty-five counselors, their three country directors, and the youth movement director are all graduates of their camps; meaning they were campers that had moved up the ranks. They are building their camping tradition and have obviously had a major impact on the children who attend. 

One of the highlights of the seminar was a morning service Max and I led. Max had prepared well for this. Before we left, Max chose seven readings written by a variety of our campers last summer. The readings represented several different service themes and different age groups. We had the readings translated into Russian. Max also brought video clips of worship services in our outdoor chapel with our campers and staff. I led the Shacharit (morning) service with the Reform community’s cantor. We asked for seven volunteers and handed out the parts. After an introduction to worship in our camps, we began. After Borchu and Sh’ema we paused for the first reading. It was amazing for the group to hear a reading from a ten year old camper. We then showed the first video clip of our campers singing the Borchu and Sh’ema. We continued through Mi Chamocha, heard other readings, and saw the second video clip. At the end of the Shacharit service, Max showed our camp singing the closing song of that particular service. It was an up-tempo version of Oseh Shalom. Little did we know that the FSU group was very familiar with the melody. To our surprise and great satisfaction the entire group sang along with our camp community. The service demonstrated how, in so many ways, we are one Jewish community. The experience also demonstrated how worship services can be creative and theme driven, and how campers can participate in creating and leading them. These were new ideas for the FSU group.

I led discussion sessions on counselors building relationships with campers, supporting fellow staff members, working with supervisors, the makeup of the ideal counselor, the structure of URJ camping in North America (complete with a map of the USA and Canada showing the locations of all of our camps). For two days prior to the beginning of the seminar I worked with the three country directors and the youth movement director. We discussed the above topics as well as the Shiur/Sicha method of informal education, and especially concentrated on how we chose themes and develop program outlines and actually create Shiurim. I presented many ideas regarding staff orientation and staff training and included materials we use here at camp in our Machon program. The discussions were long and detailed. We all gained so much from the experience.

By the end of the week I came away from the experience feeling that, although language was a huge challenge (I was able to speak Hebrew to many of the participants, which was wonderful), there was a common lingo. It was the language of Jewish camping. A counselor is a counselor, in English, Russian, and Hebrew. Our campers need the same things from staff in Moscow as they do in Zionsville. Our supervisors meet the same challenges working with counselors as do the supervisors in Ukraine and Belarus. And above all, our expression of Judaism binds us in a worldwide community.

In the final feedback session of the seminar I told the group that I saw them as the future of Reform Judaism in the Former Soviet Union. I went on to say that our future is in good hands.