Global Jewish Pen Pal Program
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The Global Jewish Pen Pal Program matches Jewish individuals with Jewish pen pals around the world.
03/07/2023
Did you know that the original, very first hamantaschen were made in Europe from a rich yeast dough?
Yeast dough hamantaschen remained standard until the 20th Century, when cookie doughs became popular for being easier to prepare and longer lasting.
Many Eastern European Jews made their way to South Africa, and it is still common to find yeast dough hamentashen in South Africa, or where South African Jews live, today. 🇿🇦
I unintentionally made yeast dough hamentashen this year, and the dough rose a lot. I like to call them hamanknishes, for they look like knishes with sweet fillings, or rolls stuffed with a sweet filling.
Although it wasn't my goal to make this type of hamentashen, it was fun to reconnect with a part of Jewish history in this way! ✡️
Happy Purim to all! 🎭
Comment below your favorite hamentashen flavor ⬇️
12/23/2022
We're creating our own library of Jewish books from around the world! 📕📗📘
This week we are featuring a special 48 page book about the different ways Hanukkah is celebrated in Israel, USA, Turkey, Uzbekistan, Italy, Australia, Poland, and Tunisia. We highly recommend this book, for all ages, children and adults! 🕎
Be sure to check out our website to view the full collection of books. 📌
Did you write or publish a book which has global Jewish themes? Send us a private message to learn how YOUR book can be featured and shared with our international audience! ✏️
09/22/2022
We're creating our own library of Jewish books from around the world! 📕📗📘
Each week we will feature one book on our social media, which has content about Jewish life around the world, or Jewish life in one specific country.
Be sure to check out our website to view the full collection of books. 📌
Did you write or publish a book which has global Jewish themes? Send us a private message to learn how YOUR book can be featured and shared with our international audience! ✏️
Click here to claim your Sponsored Listing.
How the Global Jewish Pen Pal Program Came to Be
In 2014 I (Madison Jackson, the founder of the Global Jewish Pen Pal Program) participated in the Szarvas Fellowships, a program which brings North American teens to the Szarvas International Jewish Youth Camp in Hungary in order to engage in camp activities and interact with youth from around the world. Little did I know that this trip, my first time ever in Europe and my first time flying on an airplane without anyone that I knew, would change the course of my life.
It was during my time at that summer camp that I first really thought about the existence of Jews in other countries. It was during my time at that summer camp that I first met Jews my own age from 25 countries around the world. Upon returning to the United States I became devoted to learning about European Jewry. I was so inspired by my time at Szarvas that I decided to major in college in Judaic Studies with a focus on Jewish life in Europe, become a virtual intern for Paideia – The European Institute for Jewish Studies in Sweden and spend a summer living and interning for the American Jewish Committee in Warsaw, Poland.
Jews around the world, often from a young age, have the chance to connect with Israeli Jews through pen pal programs set up at Jewish day schools and Hebrew schools, or through organized trips to Israel. While this connection between North American and Israeli Jews is very important it is equally important that Jews from other countries have the chance to build connections both with North American and Israeli Jews and Jews from other countries in the diaspora. Our religion is so small as is we must unite together as one global Jewish peoplehood. Unfortunately, there are very few opportunities for this to happen. Schools rarely set up pen pal programs with Jews from other countries and trips to Europe or Asia are expensive. As a result, many people don’t understand what it means to be Jewish in other parts of the world and worse, negative, false impressions are created.
To remedy this lack of connection between Jews from all over the world I began the Global Jewish Pen Pal Program. Using four main criteria I match people from all over the world together:
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