Two Connecticut students chosen for prestigious summer program
By Cindy Mindell

Two Connecticut natives are among 22 American and Australian college students selected for the Yeshiva University Center for the Jewish Future’s (CJF) fifth annual Counterpoint Israel Program. Eli Bilmes of West Hartford and Jay Estes of New Haven are among the students who will serve from July 12 to August 12 as counselors in a summer day camp for Israeli high-schoolers in Dimona, a development town in southern Israel.

This summer marks Counterpoint’s 35th anniversary. Launched in 1974 as an informal Jewish education program for high-school students in Australia, the Counterpoint model has been replicated in South Africa, South America, Turkey, Canada, and Israel. The curriculum is designed to help the campers explore a positive self-image and traditional Jewish values, as well as gain English-language skills through a variety of discussions and classes.
“As Yeshiva University strives to create and sustain outreach efforts in communities around the world, Counterpoint has proven to be one of our most potent and powerful tools, demonstrating year after year that Jewish education is as much about the approach and delivery as it is the content of the message,” says Yeshiva University president Richard Joel, former director of YU’s Torah Leadership Seminar, which inspired Counterpoint. “Counterpoint continues to succeed because it creates an atmosphere in which students feel loved, accomplished, and comfortable enough to open themselves up to experiencing the spiritual, joyous side of living a Jewish life.”
Because of the program’s impact in Dimona over the last four years, the municipality of the southern Israel development town decided this year to become a full partner and double the size of the summer camp from 60 to 120 students, says Gila Rockman, CJF’s director of Counterpoint Israel.
“I decided to participate in the program for two primary reasons,” says Bilmes, who is entering his senior year at University of Maryland. “I love Israel extremely passionately, and plan to move there in the near future. This was an excellent opportunity to spend time in Israel while doing something beneficial for the country. Two, to work with kids in a camp setting. I have worked at Camp Shalom in West Hartford and really enjoy the camp atmosphere. Being a role model for Israeli teenagers at camp is something I really think I will excel at, and something that gives me a sense of purpose and fulfillment.”
“I hope to impart positive values and experiences on the local teens in Dimona,” says Bilmes. “I hope they learn a lot from their older, American counselors. I also hope to learn a bit more about the development towns in Israel. Dimona is a town in desperate need of outside resources and help, and being there, accompanied by my prior experiences in Israel, will really provide me with a 360-degree look at Israeli society.”
“This will definitely be a unique opportunity for me,” says Bilmes. “I hope to revive my Hebrew that was once fluent, and also see a part of Israel that I have not seen before. Temperatures in Dimona in the summer typically hover above 100 degrees, so that will also be a challenge for me, but not something kosher Gatorade cannot help me overcome.”
Jay Estes, a New Haven native, is a junior at Yeshiva University majoring in business.
“When I found out about Counterpoint Israel and its mission, I saw great potential for myself to grow as an individual as well as a leader, and to utilize my skills to teach and inspire the teens I’ll be working with this summer,” he says. “After spending a year in Israel before college, involved at a yeshiva and in charity work, I gained an appreciation of the land and the wonderful people who live there. I realized that when I lent a helping hand, I wasn’t just being a good Samaritan helping out the next guy, I was helping out my brother with whom I share the land and a lengthy history. I thought Counterpoint Israel would be the perfect opportunity to once again give back to Am Yisrael and hopefully impact these teenagers in a meaningful way by instilling in them more self-confidence and the drive to succeed. By investing the time in these teens, it is our hope that they will strive to accomplish more for themselves and ultimately reciprocate, and give back to Israel and its people.”
“For the last 35 years, Counterpoint has transformed the lives of thousands of high-school students and inspired its counselors – consistently YU’s best and brightest – to become agents of change in the world around them,” says Rabbi Kenneth Brander, the David Mitzner dean of CJF and a past head advisor of Counterpoint Canada. “The way in which this initiative has shaped Jewish communal leadership and communities like Dimona over the years is a testament to the life-changing magic of Counterpoint. So many leaders of Jewish communities throughout North America and in Israel are products of Counterpoint. As this innovative program marches on, it is exciting to think that the counselors and campers of today will be among the Jewish leaders of tomorrow.”

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