day of the child

for the last three years i have been participating in an event called day of the child. this is an event through the organization, children uniting nations, for foster youth. adults, mostly affiliated with colleges, like myself volunteer to be a mentor for this one day event. on this day, hundreds, possible a couple thousand, foster youth are sponsored to attend the event. they are partnered with adult volunteers/mentors for the day and given the opportunity to participate in carnival activities, all for free. this years event was this past sunday.

instead of taking two cars and running into each other at the event like the past years, rebecca and i decided to go together. we set out early, or at least what i thought was early. we though we were picking up emma, but it turns out she wanted me to come to her house and then just leave at the same time in separate cars. waste of time, but whatever. rebecca and i both have directions mapped out on our phones, hers talks so we listen to hers. as it turns out she mapquested the address of the headquarters of the organization rather than the site the event was being held this year. we get there and get checked in and all the business stuff. the kids begin to arrive and we line up to meet the children and get paired. the way they did the pairing was not the best. they were trying to be respectful of us and in doing so forgot to respect the children. trying to the keep the groups of mentors with the friends they came with, a child was walked down the line, "anyone want this boy". no one stepped up and i felt that bad that this boy was being walked up and down the line with no "takers". as he was about to walk away i said, ill be with him!

so we walk over to where the event is. the first table we come to is one that is an israeli partnership. he shares that he is half jewish and pulls a jewish star necklace out of his pocket, sort of happy. i share with him that i am jewish and he smiles and puts the necklace on. as we make our way through the booth we continue on and find a place to sit where we begin talking. as it turns out he doesnt like carnival rides and he didnt want to go on the animal tour, so aside from using his six tickets to play some games, we had A LOT of time to talk. he asked me about being jewish and shares that the other boys at his home make fun of him for being jewish and he cant celebrate any of the holidays. as it turns out, he teaches himself hebrew online and each time a holiday he knows about comes up he looks forward to celebrating it with his father and he is unable to. being that he sounded somewhat educated in the jewish practice and knowing that he was 14, i asked if he had a bar mitzvah. he said he was supposed to and that his social worker was going to find him classes and he flaked.

i felt so bad for this kid. all he wants is to be jewish, though he can identify as jewish, he can not practice and is uncomfortable being open about his judaism. my ability to practice. talking to him made me realize that my ability to practice a religion is something i have always taken for granted. i am not a religious person and though my family is jewish, i identify more with my own defined belief system more than that of the jewish doctrine. something that has been forced upon me and just sort of a part of my life is a luxury for so many others. in talking to him, i really felt that i could make a difference in his life and help him. since sunday i have been throwing around the idea of calling the agency and seeing if can be his mentor and/or help him get involved with a jewish community/synagogue.

this year, this event really made an impact on me and i can only hope that i made just as big of an impact on him and that i will have the opportunity to help make his dreams come true.