ENP’s BBYO Bridges Buddies: Bigger and Better

ENP's BBYO Bridges Buddies has started another season and is bigger and better than ever! Following the resounding success of the pilot started last summer, ENP has relaunched this unique project in not one but two BBYO regions and their Israeli partner cities.

This November, teens from Ashkelon reconnected on Zoom with their friends in Baltimore while a new group in Migdal HaEmek got its first taste of online meetings with BBYOers in Detroit.  ENP's partnership with BBYO is designed to strengthen the connection between Israeli and US Jewish youth and acquaint teens from either side of the Atlantic with each other's culture and Jewish lifestyle and is carried out entirely online, making maximum use of the new COVID-driven reality. Israeli-Ethiopian teens get a chance to practice and improve their spoken English, while US youth are exposed, sometimes for the first time, to Ethiopian Jewry and its rich culture. In a recent highlight,

Detroit teens got to hear first-hand the inspirational Aliyah story of Esther Asseye, mother of one of ENP’s Migdal HaEmek participants. The story sparked powerful discussions among the teens about courage, conviction and tenacity and the tremendous personal powers we all possess.  Sessions typically begin with a general theme, for instance the Sigd Holiday and Thanksgiving, and continue with participants conversing more intimately in break-out rooms, which allows for personal connections to be forged. This year, Detroit participants are also joined by two Israeli shinshinim currently on a gap year in Michigan, providing added input and inspiration to Ethiopian-Israeli teens, while serving also as role models to those looking to expand their horizons and have a meaningful experience overseas.

In Migdal Haemek, ENP SPACE is made possible with the generous support of the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit. SPACE in Ashkelon is supported in part by The Associated: Jewish Community Federation of Baltimore. The Bridges spoken English program, of which the peer exchange is an integral part, was piloted with a grant from the Jewish Federation of Greater Houston. Generous donors from the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh and the US Embassy also make ENP’s Bridges program possible.

ENP is working to expand the project to other cities, giving more Ethiopian-Israeli and Jewish American youth the opportunity to engage, learn from each other and make lasting connections. Would you want your community to become part of our initiative? Contact ENP!