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Scores of Russian-speaking youth from Israel, North America and the former Soviet Union have gathered in Israel for a two-week international summer camp organized by the Jewish Agency and the Genesis Foundation.
The brainchild of Jewish Agency chairman Natan Sharansky, 240 Russian-speakers aged 13 to 17 are participating in this year's Project Rimon summer camps.
Project Rimon, now in its second year, is separated into two camps; Ma.com, situated on Kibbutz Nordiya near Netanya, which began last week, and Isra-Campus, based at the Givat Haviva educational campus near Hadera, which began in late July.
"Our primary objective, first and foremost, is to create a meeting point for Russian speaking Jews from abroad with Russian-speaking youth in Israel," said Rina Gerber, manager of Ma.com. "But the camp also provides the space and framework for the children to express what their Jewish identity means to them, especially the Israelis who otherwise don't have the opportunity to discuss such issues."
The daily activities at the summer camps revolve around a number of groups and workshops, including theater, dance, design, visual communications, writing and media.
