By Carl Zebrowski
Editor

The unmistakable clamor of kids waiting impatiently for something exciting to happen spilled out of the JCC’s Kline Auditorium on the morning of August 12. The stage inside was decorated and lit up, and Camp JCC kids filled the seats and the floor in front of the stage, as the Israel Scouts Friendship Caravan was about to begin its annual musical show.

The Israel Scouts stop here every summer as part of their North American tour to strengthen the bonds between Israel and the Diaspora. With local sponsorship from the JCC and Jewish Federation of the Lehigh Valley, the show gives audiences a view of Israel from the perspective of the Israeli performers while in turn giving the Israelis a chance to get to know local Jewish communities, all while encouraging one another toward greater hope for the future.

The show began with one of the performers carrying a box to center stage. The box contained notes that each of the 17-year-old scouts had written down before the start of their tour. Each note was one short sentence summing up what each scout hoped to get out of the tour.

With that introduction, the action on stage proceeded to flip back and forth from singing and dancing—joined enthusiastically by the kids and adults in the audience—to opening each performer’s notes, one at a time, and discussing them. Some uplifting and messages and meaningful wishes were revealed.

One scout wrote, “I hope I will always be surrounded by my friends.” The conclusion, as the performers stood among the Lehigh Valley community members? “I think we found our people.”

Another scout thoughtfully penned, “I hope this summer changes me for the better. There’s always room to grow—maybe a little kinder, complain a little less.”

As the show wound down toward its ending, the leader of the scouts group took center stage. She took a moment to express her own thoughts about the summer and the scouts’ mission. 

“We came all the way here to tell you a story—what we really are, what we really do,” she told the audience. “And to give you all some hope.”

At this trying time for Israel and Jews all over the world, the message of hope echoed powerfully throughout the show. “I hope that things continue to get better,” read one of the performer’s notes.

That evening, the scouts put on their show again, for a community-wide audience of mostly adults. After the stage lights dimmed that night, the Israelis mingled with community members, each experiencing a few face-to-face moments of insight into and oneness with the other.

For information about how you can do your part to make sure the Jewish Federation can continue to support inspiring programs like this one, contact Aaron Gorodzinsky at [email protected] or 610-821-5500.