A special day of activities is sweeping FJC’s Gan Israel camps this summer – EnerJew comes to campus to let the campers experience what the youth movement is all about first-hand. EnerJew Day is a “demo-version” of the movement’s way of combining fun and learning, organized by the youth activists themselves.

Over 25 EnerJew Days – attended by thousands of campers – have been set for the summer region-wide, with more than half already completed. Each EnerJew Day is different, depending on the camp – its size, theme and the imagination of the city’s club members, but all share three core characteristics: “outstanding, action-packed and Jewish-learning centered.”

“We wanted to make this day stand out, packed with our signature ‘out-of-the-ordinary’ learning activities that would provide a real taste of EnerJew,” said Vitaly Tikhiy, EnerJew Day chief coordinator. EnerJew is FSU’s Jewish youth movement, and the campers are loving the home-grown action and hope to continue enjoying EnerJew activities during the upcoming school year as well.

Out of the overall amount of campers less than half have heard of EnerJew before, Tikhiy said, so a hefty boost is expected in club participation come September. EnerJew clubs are active in 25 cities in 5 FSU countries as of now, and will be opening in 6 more cities in the fall.

“When are you coming back?” children asked in every camp from Odessa to Siberia at the end of EnerJew day. The event’s activities varied from informal leadership trainings, arts and crafts projects to color wars, sport games, musical performances, all organized by the youth movement members themselves with the help of club coordinators.

The campers were also excited to get take-home souvenirs, such as tee-shirts, hats, cups or bracelets. “Thanks to EnerJew Day the campers discovered something new about themselves and their friends, the event really expanded their horizons,” wrote camp counsellor from Samara after the completion of EnerJew Day in their camp.