Opinion
Israel tour for teenagers is the heart of Anglo Jewry
The JC Leader, 4 August 2023
August 3, 2023 10:03
1 min read
The JC Leader, 4 August 2023
August 3, 2023 10:03Next month will mark two years since the last Covid-related restrictions were lifted. It was a terrible time for everyone — but especially for children.
A study published this week by the Institute for Fiscal Studies and the UCL Institute of Education, which showed that lockdown damaged the emotional development of almost half of children, will have surprised no one.
It was not just that schools were closed, denying children the essential developmental fabric of mixing with others; almost every aspect of a normal childhood was put on hold, sometimes irrecoverably so. In our community, children lost the chance to go on Israel tour and to spend part of the summer on camp — which had been becoming an increasingly normal part of a Jewish summer holiday.
So even this second summer of being back to normal is worth celebrating, in the knowledge that we must not take it for granted.
This year’s summer camps organised by Jewish youth movements are now in full swing. There have been incidents of bad behaviour — but there always are when large numbers of children are gathered away from home.
For the vast majority, however, summer camp is an enjoyable and fun activity and behaviour is not an issue. They should not all be tarred with the same brush.
Another normal summer of Israel tour is especially important. It is essential that the next generation of our community gets a proper appreciation of and feeling for the Jewish homeland — particularly so at a time when Israel is itself in a political crisis. Politics is, by definition, transient. Israel — and the history of our people — is for ever.