On the coast of the Black Sea, just a few short kilometers from the renowned Batumi Botanical Garden, Georgia’s Camp Gan Israel has begun. The camp is organized by the Jewish community in Georgia with support from the Federation of Jewish Communities of the CIS and its President, well-known philanthropist Lev Leviev.
This year, 120 children from Tbilisi and the cities of Kutaisi and Gori, as well as several other locations in Georgia, are attending Gan Israel. The camp provides Jewish children who do not attend Jewish educational institutions the opportunity to learn about their heritage and roots.
“We have used the tried and true methods as well as creative ideas to advertise the camp and attract children,” explained Rabbi Meir Kozlovsky, a Chabad-Lubavitch emissary in Georgia. “We placed ads in the synagogue in Tbilisi, as well as at the Charity Center, and we even created a ‘Gan Israel Georgia’ Facebook group.”
A unique feature of Gan Israel Georgia is the fact that all of the teachers and counsellors involved are local residents of Georgia, who share and understand the realities in which these youngsters live.