Volume 8, Issue 11 / Cheshvan 5766 / November 2005
Discovering a Rich Heritage
"My grandfather is a Holocaust survivor who lost family members during the Shoah. His Jewish background and survival story deeply impressed me," relates Blanca Edelmann. "This definitely inspired me to strengthen my Jewish identity." Blanca, 22, grew up in Szolok, Hungary with a Jewish father and non-Jewish mother. She recalls remarks made by classmates that made her feel different and realized it was because of her Jewish roots. Blanca participated in Jewish summer camps in Hungary where she was exposed to Judaism through a myriad of activities.
During her second trip to Israel as a participant in a kibbutz summer camp, the 14-year-old Blanca declared she would make aliyah within five years. However, already by the following year she came to Israel as part of the Jewish Agency's Naaleh program, the first Naaleh group from Hungary. After learning Hebrew at a kibbutz ulpan, she went to a dormitory high school in Hod Hasharon. "Some of my initial expectations didn't materialize. My parents were in Hungary and couldn't help me. I felt that I really matured in those years."
Blanca's initial Zionist enthusiasm somewhat waned during her first years in the country when she had to deal with the various challenges on her own. When she served in the IDF as an officer in the Israeli Air Force, she experienced the sense of belonging that comes from serving in the largest organization in Israel. "Army service is an experience that I would never pass up. It contributed a lot to my feeling Israeli."
Halfway through her army service she participated in the Nativ course, which provided an essential boost for her Zionist ideals. Nativ is a course run by the IDF in coordination with the Jewish Agency. During the 8-week course at the Jewish Agency's Kiryat Moriyah campus, Blanca learned Bible, Jewish history, philosophy and Zionism from expert educators who are on the staff of the Institute for Jewish Studies directed by Nehemia Citroen.
"The Nativ course motivated me to continue with my service. I enjoyed learning the history of the land of Israel. We would visit the places we studied about. We learned about battles and then stood on the same spot where they happened. This inspired more patriotism and Zionism."
The Nativ course and encouragement she received from Nehemia also paved the way for Blanca to complete the conversion process to Judaism. After the Nativ course, Blanca participated in two supplementary courses in Jerusalem's Beit Gesher where she learned Jewish law. She successfully underwent a conversion exam in front of the rabbinic court.
Blanca lives today in Tel Aviv and works as a secretary for a hi-tech firm. She intends to study in the future. A few months ago her sister Esther, 25, also moved to Israel and the two sisters lived together. Esther received a semi-traditional Jewish high school education in Budapest. In 2000 she came to Israel on the Jewish Agency SELA program and learned at an ulpan at kibbutz Ein Harod. "It was an amazing experience."
Esther returned to Hungary for family commitments, and is now completing a degree in business administration in Hungary. "Today in Hungary, almost everybody with some connection to Judaism will try to visit Israel, learn Hebrew or volunteer in the IDF."
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