July 28, 2008 / 25 Tammuz 5768

“Many of the Sderot children I spoke to had never before met an American Jew," recounted Jordan Sherman, who served as a volunteer counselor at a Jewish Agency summer camp for Sderot children in July.  “I think our most important contribution to the camp was that our very presence conveyed the message that even though American Jewry is far away, we care about them and feel for them.”

Sherman was one of 22 young U.S. Jewish volunteers from federations throughout North America who assisted at Jewish Agency summer camps which have already served some 10,000 children aged 6 to 17 living in the besieged western Negev city and the surrounding Gaza perimeter communities.

The Jewish Agency, with funding from the Israel Emergency Campaign (IEC) of the United Jewish Communities and Jewish federations of North America, has been taking the entire population of children who live in the Sderot region out of the range of missile attack for part of the summer. From amusement parks to nature reserves, from water parks to concerts, and from touring the country to enjoying recreation with friends, the kids from Sderot are having a great and safe summer.

Sherman, 22, who has just graduated from the University of Michigan Business School, and hails from Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, was one of a group of volunteers in the Negev sent by the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit to serve as counselors at the summer camps.

In Israel for the third time, he volunteered at a Science Summer Camp for fourth to seventh graders at the Jewish Agency’s Youth Aliyah Nitzana village on the Israel-Egyptian border, in the Negev.

Sherman recalls that for much of the time the anxiety of living under a constant barrage of missiles from Gaza was forgotten by the Sderot children, as they focused on having fun. “But I remember a few times we heard some distant booming,” says Sherman. “It was just the Israeli army training in nearby bases. But suddenly the kids stopped smiling and asked nervously if Kassam rockets were falling.”

Daniel Langus, 22, from Chappaqua in Westchester County, New York, who recently graduated in Economics from the University of Michigan, also volunteered as a counselor at the Nitzana camp. “We helped organize events in the camp which had lots of fascinating activities about solar energy and astronomy,” he says.

“The rest of the time we swam with the kids and played baseball, soccer and other sports with them,” he added. “I think the most chilling thing was the way they accept the situation in Sderot. The only life they have ever known is one in which missiles are falling almost every day.”

Langus had never been to Israel until he came on a Birthright Israel trip in June. He liked the country so much he wanted to return for the summer. “I’ve worked as a counselor in U.S. camps, and so when I heard from the federation about the Jewish Agency volunteer program, I jumped at the chance. Being here has really strengthened my Jewish identity.”

Sherman says that he has always had a very strong Jewish identity. “For me, volunteering to help the kids of Sderot has been an opportunity to give back to the Jewish people, who have given me so much.”

See what's happening daily at the Sderot summer camp blog.

The summer camp project for Sderot area youth is funded by the Israel Emergency Campaign (IEC) of the United Jewish Communities and Jewish Federations across North America, the communities of Keren Hayesod, UIA – Canada, the UJA Federation of Greater Toronto, Federation/CJA of Montreal, the Jewish United Fund/Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago, the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit,  the Greater Miami Jewish Federation, the Jewish Community Federation of Cleveland, the UJA-Federation of New York, the ASSOCIATED: Jewish Community Federation of Baltimore, and Israeli donors.