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A parent sending her children back to TheZone for another summer:

“Last year my son had Yoel L. as a counselor and that would be WONDERFUL if 1 of my 2 boys can have him again this year!! We were in contact with him all year round and I love this boy. He was a counselor, a dad, a friend and really made a difference in my son’s life.”

Preparations are well underway for Shavuot at TheZone. Zone boys in 7th grade and older are invited to attend, Friday May 25th- Tuesday May 29th.
Apply at www.thezone.com or call 1.877.SHALOM.1.

When I started thinking about my life, I thought I was just ordinary, just like everyone else. I went to school, lived in a home, went to Shul on holidays and had friends. But I wasn’t like everyone else: I was different. I was Jewish and my mother took me out of school on Jewish holidays. My friends were able to do activities on days that I couldn’t because I was attending Hebrew school, I justfelt like I was missing out because I was the only Jewish child in my public school. Now I am being given the chance to make my average life into something incredibly full of meaning and purpose. Now that I have begun this journey, the only place for me to move is onward and upward, to Israel. Learning in Israel will be the helping and guiding hand I need to keep my life the way I want it to be for the rest of my days, and I want to seize this opportunity more than anything.
Israel is full of diversity and knowledge, but there is also a different atmosphere than there is here in America. Israelis are a big family held together by old traditions and ancient history of the land itself. Spending a year in Israel will expose me to different ways of living and help broaden the possibilities of my future. This is an opportunity to pick up and travel around the world, to learn and explore. I want to take advantage of my time to the best of its potential and make the most of what I am being offered. My reason for going to Israel is that it will help strengthen my foundation. InYiddishkeit, sometimes I feel that my foundation is not as strong as I need it to be in order to keep my faith strong in the future. Learning Torah and all about Judaism fora school yearcould contribute majorly to help me build a strong connection to Hashem for the rest of my life.
Yiddishkeit is now a big part of who I am, although, it was not always. I had to construct it over the last seven years. My younger brother began Yeshiva in what the school called “Primer” and the double curriculum sparked my interest. I began talking with a few of the girls my own age in the mornings when I would go with my mom to drop my brother off. I began to learn some basics about Judaism I was not hearing about in Hebrew school. I decided, along with the support of my mother, to start learning in the Yeshiva. I began classes in sixth grade and had the most amazing, helpful, and patient teachers steering me in the right direction.They helped mecatch up on the seven years I had missed with my classmates, I felt that they had an advantage over me; my will and desire to learn overcame any predisposition that was trying to hold me back. Although my class was ahead and more adapted to the school, I was welcomed warmly and quickly became part of the group as a whole.
As I started learning Torah for the first time, I felt as if I was soaking up all the information like a sponge. I brought home as many ideas, concepts, and understandings as I could because I was so proud that I had something to share and contribute to my household. My father, on the other hand, was not as thrilled. He fought in court to have me sent to public school, and to live with him in his nonreligious home, As you could imagine, this was a very difficult time in my life. As I developed regular habits of practicing Orthodox traditions and learning how to live a more observant life, I had to fight unbelievable obstacles. There were constant struggles with my father, who was encouraged to be unreasonably demanding by his new wife. My father’s home is a “mixed” home, yet I feel that there is no possibility for me to live a Jewish life anywhere near him.
My first Shabbos experience was with my brother’s teacher and her family in Lakewood. I came home excitedly raving about how uplifting and inspirational the weekend was, between the food, the laughterand the family closeness. I began to get a taste of what I had been missing up until then. That was the beginning of my visits to families for Shabbos. Among the various cities and homes I went to throughout the years, Torah was shared in different levels and perspectives. I developed close relationships with friends from Teaneck, Monsey, Passaic, Lakewood and West Orange. They each expressed their Torah observance according to their own understanding and their own interpretation of how Hashem wants His children to live their lives.
These varied experiences helped me reach an understanding of how I would like to live my life as a Jew. From my yearnings to grow and my observations of others living a Torah life, I have developed my own identity of how I ultimately want to live my own life. My objective is to gain, and retain, a strong affiliation to Yiddishkeit and maintain the lifestyle I have come to love and respect so much. My ultimate goal is to continue living a religious life, and continue learning Torah, continue developing a deeper understanding of my heritage, as well as continue my family’s legacy in marrying and having children who love the Torah and Hashem as much as I do.