It takes a village

Jerusalem Village provides young adult visitors with a ‘community’ atmosphere, friendly access to Jewish life.

By PEGGY CIDOR
Jerusalem Village 521 (photo credit: Ronny Tuvia )
Jerusalem Village 521
(photo credit: Ronny Tuvia )
Usually associated with such high ideals as eternity and spirituality, the city of Jerusalem does not generally bring to mind home cooking and kaffeeklatsches when it comes to visitors. That is, until Lisa Barkan and her husband, Jeremy, came along. The two were sitting at a cafe on Emek Refaim Street one Friday afternoon about two years ago, when Lisa began to wonder where all the young people hanging out there, who clearly were not locals, went for Shabbat.
On a recent Friday morning, over a cup of coffee on the terrace of a coffee shop in Baka, where she lives, Barkan recounted the story of a very simple idea that quickly became a hit among young adult visitors and immigrants.
Jerusalem Village is the result of Lisa’s inquiry into what young visitors or single new olim do in the Holy City when Shabbat arrives.
“Jerusalem has a very different atmosphere than other cities. It is more focused on family gatherings, and even non-observant visitors will seek a more traditional atmosphere on Shabbat,” she says. “So my husband and I started to tackle the idea, and we soon came to the conclusion that we needed to organize a nice, welcoming place to invite these young adults, where they could meet their peers over a Shabbat meal. So simple, yet so lacking.”
About a year ago, Jeremy died. But Lisa, despite her grief, was determined to work even harder on what had become more of a mission than a project.
“It is as if I am fulfilling my husband’s last wish,” she says.
Recently, as a result of all her and her staff’s efforts, Jerusalem Village, which started out as a small local initiative, is becoming a major project that has the backing of the Jewish Agency and Jewish federations abroad, and even a five-year plan.
What is the Jerusalem Village project? The answer is less simple than it seemed at the beginning.
Overall, it is an initiative to welcome young adults visiting here to enable them to meet other young adults from around the world, to offer them a pleasant, relaxed, warm atmosphere and friendly access to Jewish life – such as Shabbat dinners – and to get to know local young adults as well. Furthermore, Barkan wants to give the visitors a glimpse of what a Jewish community could be, without preaching, as one may expect from an observant person. The basis of the project is the idea that a young Jewish adult visiting Jerusalem should not feel the same here as he or she would feel anywhere else in the world. For a young Jew, spending a few days or weeks in Jerusalem should be something special – and for that, special attention must be paid.
Once the basic premise was established, it was time for innovations, activities and initiatives. Jerusalem Village, with the cooperation and support of various local and world organizations, now offers much more than a nice Shabbat meal for young Jewish visitors.
Barkan, with her small but dedicated staff, has managed to enlarge the scope of the primary idea.
Today, Jerusalem Village offers a wide range of activities such as city tours, encounters with young locals, workshops, short-term Hebrew courses, cooking, gardening and photography activities. But the Shabbat dinners remain the highlight of the project.
Clearly, Barkan says, the idea is to bring people together.
“We’re not trying to do matchmaking,” she points out. “That’s not our purpose, although we don’t object to that happening. But we want to enable these young adults to get a glimpse of what a Jewish community could be.”
Barkan adds that in many cases, the visitors are used to some form of Jewish community back home.
“They have the synagogue or the family or their friends, but it’s a situation where they belong to one community and don’t get a chance to know what goes on in other communities. Here, they experience a Shabbat meal with religious and non-religious young adults like them. I believe it gives them a lot, and that’s the feedback we get as well because we offer them something new. We tell them, ‘Look at this pluralism we offer you here. Make it yours, too.’” Barkan’s initiative is part of a larger framework.
Jerusalem Village operates out of the Jerusalem Youth Authority, while the Shabbat dinners are held at the Ginot Ha’ir Community Center on Emek Refaim Street. It has support from the Jewish Federation and New Spirit, as well as several coffee shops, particularly those frequented by the young generation. The connection with coffee shops is not incidental. One of the most popular programs offered by Jerusalem Village is called Be Sweet, which calls upon young locals to take a new oleh out for coffee or hot chocolate or to host young visitors at home for a meal, etc.
“It’s about bringing people together within the city’s young adult community,” says Barkan. “Everything we offer serves that purpose – the alternative tours of the city to some of the most interesting off-thebeaten-track places, the various activities in the Winter Club – be it gardening, cooking, participating in the marathon or a photography workshop. Ultimately, it all ends up making people get to know one another.”
At present, Barkan is working on a plan for the next five years.
“We’re identifying the main issues and trends we should focus on,” she explains, “And here again, we need the input of those who participate in the Jerusalem Village programs. We ask them to provide us with their ideas and suggestions. Young adults between 20 and 35 are invited to share their experience during our series of focus groups on our next programs. That’s how we plan to enhance and continue with this initiative.”