Shutaf is a family. I’ve seen it in action each and every day that I come into
my internship. My name is Jenny Kaufman and I have been interning at Shutaf for the past four weeks or so. I came to Israel on a program called Onward Israel, which partnered with the overnight camp that I am a counselor at in America. In order to supplement our summer as camp counselors in America, my camp delegation decided to send eleven college aged students to Israel to pursue internships and allow us to live in Israel in hopes that we can bring a piece of Israel back to camp
with us. One of my favorite days interning was when I had the opportunity to go
and hang out with all the kids in Shutaf at youth group. Although I speak basically
no Hebrew, the language of smiles, high fives, and simple gestures made it easy
for me to communicate with all the kids at Shutaf. The friendly, all-encompassing
environment made it easy for even I, a foreigner, to feel included and welcomed in
their Shutaf family.
When I was at Shutaf’s youth group, I had the chance to play with live
animals that had been brought into youth group for everyone to pet and hold. One
of the animals that came was a little baby turtle that had to be the fastest turtle
that I had ever seen. When he was placed on the ground he could outrun any of the
rabbits there. After about a half an hour of playing with the animals that little turtle
went missing. Nobody seemed to know where he had gone. Maybe your average
group of people wouldn’t notice if a tiny little turtle about fifty millimeters long
went missing, but this was no average group of people, it was Shutaf, and Shutaf
took notice. Everyone stopped what they were doing to search the room from top
to bottom until the turtle was finally found hanging out underneath a hat on the far
side of the room.
As I conclude my time here in Israel, I know that there is one clear lesson
that I will bring back to America with me from my experience interning at Shutaf:
inclusion. Whether it means including a little baby turtle, children with a variety of
different needs, or a foreigner like myself, Shutaf does it all. Shutaf has given me a
greater appreciation and understanding for what inclusion really means and how
much it can impact everyone. I will be headed off to overnight camp in a few short
days where I know that this value of inclusion will become even more significant
in my life. This summer it will be my personal goal as a counselor to make each
and every camper at camp feel welcome and included and a part of my own camp’s
family.
By Jenny Kaufman
June 2014