Since the fall of communism in Eastern and Central Europe, the JDC-Ronald S. Lauder International Jewish Summer Camp at Szarvas, Hungary, has been central to Jewish renewal in renascent Jewish communities across the region. With its unique combination of typical camp activities and highly creativeinformal Jewish educational programming, Szarvas has connected more than 23,000 Jewish children from over 20 countries with their Jewish heritage and their Jewish peers. By inspiring youngsters to affiliate with their local Jewishcommunities, and by training effective youth counselors who are capable offilling Jewish leadership roles, Szarvas occupies a key position in Jewishrenewal across Eastern and Central Europe.

Since 1990, the JDC-Ronald S. Lauder International Jewish Summer Camp at Szarvas, Hungary, has provided thousands of Jewish children and youth with a two-week immersion in Jewish life, connecting them with Jewish knowledge, Jewish experiences and their Jewish peers from around the world. Follow-up on Szarvas alumni clearly shows that the Szarvas experience was not onlyenjoyable, but also critical in developing their Jewish identity and inspiringthem to become involved in Jewish communal life. A majority of Szarvas participants come to camp with little knowledge ofJewish life. These participants are welcomed into a warm and caring Jewishcommunity that is a portal to the broader Jewish world. For many, the campis the first step on a journey of Jewish self-discovery and commitment.

In addition to fostering Jewish identity, Szarvas serves as an incubator forJewish leadership. The camp’s current leaders are former Szarvas campers who rose through the ranks from camper to counsellor to unit head. Through games and educational programs, campers learn to work as a group, navigate cultural barriers and organize and run camp activities. When camp ends, campers bring these skills back to their home communities, using them in their work as youth leaders and program directors. For Hungarian participants, Szarvas also serves as an institute of Jewish knowledge and leadership. Many of the Jewish organiza-tions in Hungary today are run by Szarvas graduates.

Campers who attended Szarvas in the 1990s are now starting families of their own, instilling in their children the Jewish values they learned at Szarvas. In addition, Szarvas now hosts an annual family camp which brings together some 80 families to experience Jewish life in an open and welcoming environment. Started by a former camper, the family camp – which aims to deepen the Jew-ish knowledge and ensure the Jewish continuity of participants – is very popular amongst the Hungarian Jewish community.

With campers hailing from over 20 countries, Szarvas offers a unique interna-tional experience. Hailing from countries including Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Serbia, Croatia, Macedonia, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Moldova, Russia, Czech Republic, Slovakia, India, Albania, Turkey, Israel, and the US, campers are accompanied by specially-trained madrichim (youth counselors) from their home countries. In addition to the various country delegations, Szarvas hosts a special International Delegation consisting of teenagers between the ages of 15-18 from around the world. The International Delegation’s official language of communication is English, offering participants a unique opportunity to learn about one another’s culture and forge lasting international friendships.

Every summer, over 1,100 Jewish youngsters between the ages of 8 and 18 gather together at Szarvas. At Szarvas, the typical summer-camp activities of swimming, sports, drama and arts and crafts are enhanced by informal Jewish educational programming which takes campers on a journey of self-discovery as they learn about their culture and heritage. Every summer, a different Jewish theme is chosen to anchor camp activities. The theme is expressed through games, performances, music, art and camp-wide “mega-events”, which encourage campers to explore Jewish values and concepts and provide an enticing taste of Jewish life. As they share meals, activities and a joyful Shabbat, young Jews from around the world form friend-ships with their Jewish peers that they will treasure throughout the year - and begin to understand the singular feeling of being part of a Jewish community.

The experience of 16-year-old Besart – the only teenager in Albania’s tiny 30-member Jewish community– illustrates the enduring impact of Szarvas friendships. Before he attended Szarvas, Besart didn’t have a single Jewish friend. Now he has a whole community - and many wonderful memories ofhis two weeks at camp.

A 2009 study on the impact of Szarvas, commissioned by JDC’s International Center for Community Development (JDC-ICCD) at Oxford University, revealed that in addition to providing a positive Jewish experience,Szarvas was critical in developing campers’ Jewish identity and increasing their involve-ment in Jewish communal life. Among the study’s findings:

• The majority of Szarvas campers have very positive attitudes about their experiences at Szarvas, a strong commitment to Judaism and a very positive attitude toward Israel. More than half of the respondents are active or planning to become active in one or more Jewish organization.

• Parents are motivated to send their children to the camp because Szarvas furnishes a positive and tolerant atmosphere for learning about Judaism, making Jewish friends and enhancing Jewish identity. Parents who previ-ously had little Jewish knowledge say that the camp changed their own outlook toward being Jewish, as well as their children’s.

Hundreds of Jewish children and parents across Eastern and Central Europe are enthusiastic about Szarvas. But with the region still reeling from the global economic crisis, families of potential Szarvas campers are struggling to make ends meet and are unable to cover the full camp tuition. Even after widespread cost-cutting measures enacted by JDC in 2010, camp tui-tion comes to over $1,000 per child - still far beyond the reach of most campers’ families. JDC thus seeks assistance from caring donors like you in providing scholarships to Szarvas: basic scholarships of $750 for campers whose families can pay a $250 participant fee, and full scholarships for those whose families cannot afford even that symbolic sum.

For more information, please contact us: Sasha Friedman, Szarvas Camp Director: sasha@jdc.hu Zoya Shvartzman, Director of Strategic Partnerships: zoyas@jdc.org.il Jutka Lübeck, Szarvas Camp Coordinator: jutka@jdc.hu Website: www.szarvascamp.eu

Since 1914, the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) has given global expression to the principle that all Jews are responsible for one another. Working today in over 70 countries, JDC acts on behalf of North America’sJewish communities and others worldwide to rescue Jews in danger,provide relief to those in distress, revitalize overseas Jewish communitiesand help Israel overcome the social challenges of its most vulnerable citizens.JDC also provides non-sectarian emergency relief and long-term developmentassistance worldwide.More information can be found at www.jdc.org.