Baltic Summer Camps Preparing Jewish Youths for Life in Israel
Published on: 24.7.2023
By: Ester Heinzmann, ICEJ-Germany

Over one million Russian-speaking Jews have immigrated to Israel since the Iron Curtain fell in 1989, but there are hundreds of thousands of Jews still left in the former Soviet republics. This summer, as the war keeps raging in nearby Ukraine, several hundred Jewish youths are preparing for their own move to Israel by attending Aliyah summer camps being held in the Baltic states with the help of the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem.

The series of summer camps are being run by the Jewish Agency For Israel with support from the ICEJ. One Aliyah camp opened in late June in Latvia with 101 Jewish participants from ages 7 to 17. Among them were 30 young Ukrainian Jews dislocated by the war, with the rest coming from the Baltic states.

Another summer camp just concluded in Vilnius, Lithuania, with 141 Jewish youths taking part, including 133 Ukrainian Jews.

A third camp will be held back in Latvia in August, while two more Aliyah youth camps are scheduled in major Russian-speaking cities elsewhere. In total, over 1,000 Jewish children and teens are expected to take part in these summer camps.

In the Aliyah youth camps, the youngsters are not only learning more about Israel as their future home, they also are reconnecting to their Jewish faith, which was officially supressed during Soviet times.

The camps provide special Aliyah preparation seminars where trained staff and volunteers encourage and advise on the various aspects of immigrating to Israel.

There is also a lot of fun for the Jewish children and teenagers, including swimming, volleyball and foam parties. The youths also learn Israeli folk dances as Middle Eastern music echoes through the surrounding forests. This all produces lots of smiles and laughter. In addition, the children take part in traditional Shabbat observances on Friday evenings, like candle lighting and kiddush.

At the recent Aliyah camp in the Latvian seaside resort of Saulkrasti, the Jewish youngsters stayed in an idyllic vacation complex, and everyone quickly made new friends. Located at the edge of an impressive nature reserve, the camp offered a variety of programs. Amid the hot summer weather, a dip in the Baltic Sea was most refreshing.

The camp counsellors shared insights about Israel, the innovative Start-Up Nation and a haven of refuge for the Jewish people. As the Russia-Ukraine war drags on not so far away, the youngsters had time and ample reason to reflect on what a move to Israel will mean for them.

The young campers also learn about special Aliyah youth programs run by JAFI which offer them the opportunity to complete their high school education in Israel and/or study at top universities in the country. JAFI’s investment in these SELA and NAALE programs has borne great fruit, as more than 30,000 Jewish teenagers have graduated from these programs over the past 30 years. Most then choose to remain in Israel for good, with their parents and siblings soon following.

Currently, there are 700 Jewish youths expected to enter the SELA program and another 700 in NAALE over the coming year. Many make the decision to join at these Aliyah summer camps, proving how valuable they can be.

At the same time, the Christian Embassy also is sponsoring Aliyah flights from the Baltic states and the numbers along this route are strong at 178 Jewish newcomers so far this year. This includes not only Jews from Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, but also Russian and Ukrainian Jews using this route to reach Israel.

Overall, more than 86,000 Jewish immigrants from the former Soviet republics have arrived in Israel since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, and the ICEJ is there sponsoring Aliyah flights along these other routes as well.

These can often seem like mere statistical numbers, but every one of them has decided to take a big step in their lives and each one brings their own unique potential to the nation of Israel. Indeed, God has not lost sight of a single one: “Then they shall know that I am the Lord their God, who sent them into captivity among the nations, but also brought them back to their land, and left none of them captive any longer.” (Ezekiel 39:28) So, please help support these summer youth camps and all our other Aliyah efforts to bring Jewish families home to Israel.

*Photo credits: The Jewish Agency for Israel

波羅的海夏令營為猶太青年在以色列的生活做好準備
發佈於：2023年7月24日
作者：Ester Heinzmann，ICEJ-德國

自 1989 年鐵幕落下以來，已有超過一百萬講俄語的猶太人移民到以色列，但仍有數十萬猶太人留在前蘇聯加盟共和國。 今年夏天，隨著烏克蘭附近的戰爭繼續肆虐，數百名猶太青年正準備搬到以色列，參加在耶路撒冷國際基督徒大使館的幫助下在波羅的海國家舉辦的阿利亞夏令營。

該系列夏令營由以色列猶太機構在 ICEJ 的支持下舉辦。拉脫維亞的一個阿利亞營地於6月底開放，有 101 名 7 歲至 17 歲的猶太人參加。其中有30人因戰爭而流離失所的年輕烏克蘭猶太人，其餘來自波羅的海國家。

另一個夏令營剛剛在立陶宛維爾紐斯結束，共有141名猶太青年參加，其中包括133名烏克蘭猶太人。

第三個營地將於八月在拉脫維亞舉行，另外兩個阿利亞青年營計劃在其他主要俄語城市舉辦。預計總共有1,000多名猶太兒童和青少年將參加這些夏令營。

在阿利亞青年營，年輕人不僅更多地了解以色列作為他們未來的家園，而且還重新建立了在蘇聯時期被官方壓制的猶太信仰。

難民營提供特別的回歸準備研討會，訓練有素的工作人員和志願者就移民以色列的各個方面提供鼓勵和建議。

猶太兒童和青少年也有很多樂趣，包括游泳、排球和泡沫派對。 當中東音樂在周圍的森林中迴響時，年輕人還學習以色列民間舞蹈。 這一切都會帶來很多微笑和笑聲。 此外，孩子們還會在周五晚上參加傳統的安息日慶祝活動，例如點燃蠟燭和開燈。

最近，在拉脫維亞海濱度假勝地索爾克拉斯蒂的阿利亞營地，猶太年輕人住在一個田園詩般的渡假勝地，每個人很快就結識了新朋友。該營地位於令人印象深刻的自然保護區邊緣，提供各種活動。 炎熱的夏季，在波羅的海暢遊最為清爽。

營地輔導員分享了對以色列、創新型初創國家和猶太人避難所的見解。 隨著俄羅斯與烏克蘭的戰爭持續不遠，年輕人有時間和充分的理由思考搬到以色列對他們意味著什麼。

年輕的營員還了解 JAFI 運營的特殊 Aliyah 青年計劃，該計劃為他們提供了在以色列完成高中教育和/或在該國頂尖大學學習的機會。 JAFI 對 SELA 和 NAALE 項目的投資取得了巨大成果，過去 30 年來已有 30,000 多名猶太青少年從這些項目畢業。 然後，大多數人選擇永遠留在以色列，他們的父母和兄弟姐妹也很快就會跟隨。

目前，預計明年將有 700 名猶太青年加入 SELA 計劃，另有 700 名猶太青年加入 NAALE。 許多人決定參加這些 Aliyah 夏令營，這證明了他們的價值。

與此同時，ICEJ還贊助從波羅的海國家出發的 Aliyah 航班，今年迄今為止，這條航線上有 178 名猶太新移民。這不僅包括來自拉脫維亞、立陶宛和愛沙尼亞的猶太人，還包括通過這條路線到達以色列的俄羅斯和烏克蘭猶太人。

總體而言，自 2022 年 2 月俄羅斯入侵烏克蘭以來，已有超過 86,000 名來自前蘇聯加盟共和國的猶太移民抵達以色列，ICEJ 也贊助了這些其他航線上的 Aliyah 航班。

這些通常看起來只是統計數字，但他們每個人都決定在自己的生活中邁出一大步，每個人都為以色列國帶來了自己獨特的潛力。 確實，神沒有放過任何一個人：「我使他們被擄到列國，後又聚集他們回到本地，不再留一人在那裏，那時他們就知道我是耶和華─他們的神。」（以西結書39:28）因此，請幫助支持這些青年夏令營以及我們為讓猶太家庭重返以色列而開展的所有其他回歸活動。

*照片來源：以色列猶太機構