Indy Teens. Jewish Summers.

Of all the programs JFGI funds, some of the most gratifying are the summer experiences provided to local kids and teens going to Jewish camps and Israel, and summer 2017 was no exception. Jaren Katz, Michaela Geller- Montague, Jenna Kerschner and Kennedy Haynes shared the highlights of their Jewish summers with JFGI.

Jaren Katz participated in BBYO’s Trek Israel PLUS program, which consisted of multiple hikes across Israel and an elective week called Gadna, which was spent with IDF soldiers on an army base. “Before I went on this trip, I really wanted to find my Jewish identity and find what I liked about being Jewish and the different cultures and experiences and traditions that go along with it,” he said. And by all accounts, the mission was a success. Jaren loved dancing to songs that he “used to just recite at temple” and recalls giddily jumping into the Sea of Galilee after a days-long hike. “When we saw the water, we all started running. We still had our clothes on, and just jumped into the sea.”

Jaren’s Gadna experience instilled a whole new level of respect in him for the soldiers. “At the start of the Gadna week I first thought that being a part of the IDF was solely going to be following the orders of my commanders and an immense test of my physical strength,” he said. “But even though the IDF was a huge physical test, I learned that being a soldier requires you not just to be a trained warrior, but also to have an impenetrable mental mindset and sensible morale as a human being.”

Michaela Geller-Montague also spent her summer with BBYO, first at the Chapter Leadership Training Conference (CLTC) at Beber Camp in Mukwonago, Wisconsin, which taught the teen attendees skills that they could then take back to their home BBYO chapters, and then on BBYO’s Passport program with the International Leadership Seminar in Israel, which focused on maintaining civility in conversations even when the participants hold opposing views. “We talked a lot about listening to people with opinions that are very different from ours. We listened to a few people talk who had very different views from the majority of the group, and we would have really intense discussions — not about how our views differed from theirs, but how we could overcome that and still listen to them and still have a discussion with them that was productive rather than argumentative.”

Jenna Kerschner’s Israel experience capped off years of learning about the country while attending overnight camp at GUCI. “I’ve been going to camp for I think seven years, so I’ve grown up with these kids that live all over the Midwest. This was our summer in between being a camper and being staff at camp, so this was our year to go to Israel. I’m usually in first session of camp, but there was a group of kids from second session who also joined us, so we got to meet a whole bunch of new kids that we were going to start working camp with. It was really cool to meet all those new people in the Holy Land that we’d all learned about, and now we were actually there together.”

GUCI is a unique place for Jenna, and not just because it’s not on a lake. “When I tell [friends at other camps] that I go to GUCI, they’re like, ‘Oh, what lake is it on?’ and I’m always like, ‘Oh, we don’t have a lake,’ and they’re always like, ‘Oh, why do you go to that camp then?’ but this summer we talked a lot about how the people there make it so special. ... It’s just that ‘home’ atmosphere that makes everybody fall in love with it.”

Kennedy Haynes went to Israel with a job to do: She was part of the USA delegation to the 20th Maccabiah, or Maccabi Games. Her softball team won gold, but a medal wasn’t the only thing Kennedy took away from Israel. “It was the experience of a lifetime where I made some wonderful friends, had a fantastic Jewish experience and made incomparable memories. Even growing up in Carmel, I didn’t know many Jewish people. This was a bonding opportunity, not just because of our sport, but because we share a common culture. I would encourage anyone who is an athlete to keep in mind the opportunity to play in the 21st Maccabi Games in 2021.”

If you’re interested in learning more about Jewish summer camp and Israel scholarships or grants, visit jewishindianapolis.org/ scholarships-internships.