On a Sunday afternoon, junior Liem Elgrably guided a group of Israeli elementary school students in a Tzofim activity designed to teach personal space. Liem felt proud that her leadership in Tzofim helped the kids learn boundaries while also providing a good time.
Founded in 1995 as Friends of Israel Scouts, Tzofim North America is a youth movement for Jewish teens from Israel. Tzofim has 28 Shvatim, or chapters, throughout the United States, and offers a gap year along with multiple summer programs. Many students at CESJDS are Israeli, and Tzofim, which translates to English as “scouts,” is a way for Israeli-American youth to connect with their heritage and connect with other Israeli kids their age.
“[I love] that I got to meet so many people, especially because I am Israeli and I feel like I connect with them a lot,” Liem said. “I feel like I wouldn’t have been able to meet so many Israelis if I wasn’t in Tzofim.”
Liem has been involved with Tzofim for six years. For the past two, she has enjoyed working as a counselor for younger Israeli campers. Last year, she was a counselor for fourth-grade students, and this year she took on a new role as head of all the fifth-grade counselors in her chapter.
Every Tuesday, the counselors meet to plan activities for their kids, who range from third grade students to freshmen. On Sundays, all Tzofim meet at the Bender JCC of Greater Washington to participate in the activities, which follow different themes each week. The themes are often, but not always, connected to Israel or recent Jewish holidays.
“I really am connected to the kids,” Liem said. “Especially because even if I was a counselor last year and now I’m not, I still see the kids all the time and keep in touch with them.”
In addition to weekly meetings, the Tzofim have three camping trips a year, which they call Machaneh. There is one winter, one summer and one spring trip. These are held at YMCA Camp Letts in Edgewater, Maryland, and New Jersey Federation of Young Men’s Hebrew Associations and Young Women’s Hebrew Associations in Lakewood, Pennsylvania.
There is also a spring trip where the Tzofim go camping in the woods at Camp Running and Dancing Bear in Monkton, Maryland. On the trips, counselors spend the day leading programming for the kids, and at night the counselors have opportunities to bond and run their own activities.
Eighth grade student Liya Stayer has been doing Tzofim for three years. Stayer feels she has found a vibrant Israeli community through Tzofim, and her favorite part of her experience has been Machaneh. One of her favorite memories from a camping trip was getting to spend time in the lake with her friends.
“Most of my friends were going back to Israel … so it was a super memorable [camping trip],” Stayer said.
According to Liem’s mother, Natalie Elgrably, one of the most important values Tzofim teaches her kids is independence. This is because Tzofim’s communication and responsibilities are placed entirely on the counselors.
Natalie has three children in Tzofim, and feels it has deepened her kids’ connection to Israel and Israeli culture.
“They get to connect much more with Israel,” Natalie said. “They celebrate the holidays a lot more than they do in school, and in more detail.” Not only does Tzofim provide a community for the kids, but it also gives the parents a community. Natalie feels extremely connected to all the parents, especially those who she has known for a long time.
“It feels like a family,” Natalie said. “We’ve been there for so many years … [so] we all know each other and became friends. We kind of raised our kids together through the years.”