Enligsh Language and World Jewry

Published on September 12, 2011 by Judah Khaykin

For three weeks early this summer, I led a delegation from JCRC to help run the second annual English language immersion camp in Dnepropetrovsk Ukraine. I was joined by seven Jewish college students from the Boston area and by Anlee Schaye, a master teacher of English as a second language. The camp had grown since last year, with enrollment up 40%. Each morning, the Ukrainian pupils learned English with our Ukrainian partners, the English faculty at the Or Avner Levi Yitzchak Hebrew Day School, with our counselors serving as classroom aides. In the afternoon, the children put their English skills into practice in a number of activities, ranging from arts and crafts to sports and dancing. Meanwhile, Anlee worked with the Ukrainian English teachers to improve their English language pedagogy and teach them interactive teaching strategies.

This year, an evaluation process was also instituted to measure the program’s effectiveness. Although it is difficult to learn a new language in just three weeks time, the students did demonstrate some improvement in comprehension and fluency. Those who offered only one-word answers to our questions at the beginning of camp were, by the end, responding with full and grammatically correct sentences. We hope that the seeds planted this summer will one day bear fruit for these students, opening up opportunities in a globalized world in which English is an indispensable asset.

Yet there was another component to the trip: to continue the conversation among world Jewry. This experience exposed our group to a branch of the Jewish family tree that had been unfamiliar to most of us. We were immersed in Ukrainian Jewish life, living with host families in the community, sharing Shabbat meals, and visiting the many Jewish institutions that have emerged since the fall of the Soviet Union. Much of what we saw would've been hard to believe had we not seen it with our own eyes. The vibrancy of Jewish life in Dnepropetrovsk today would be unimaginable even two decades ago. Where Jewish life was once all but dead, we witnessed a Shavuot celebration that exceeded, both in exuberance and attendance, what can be found in most US cities. Where once Jewish literacy had been decimated and learning Hebrew was considered subversive, today the Jews of Dnepropetrovsk flock to classes on subjects ranging from Hebrew to Chassidut. Where Zionism was once illegal, we experienced an Israeli Independence Day celebration full of joy and open pride. From Jewish senior care facilities to Jewish orphanages, from microloan and entrepreneurial programs for Jewish women to youth groups for Jewish young adults, from kosher restaurants to exercise classes, Jewish life in Dnepropetrovsk is thriving, and we were privileged to have the opportunity to contribute in our own way to this miraculous renewal.

Judah Khaykin is a graduate of the Hornstein Jewish professionals program and was the coordinator for the summer camp this past summer