From the Five Towns to France

An especially fruitful business trip taken by a local rabbi has locked down an opportunity for Jewish Five Towns children to participate in a subsidized French exchange program in Paris or Nice.

Temple Israel of Lawrence Rabbi Jay Rosenbaum, who returned last month from a European tour, had meetings with French Jewish leaders to pave the way for Five Towns teens between the ages of 16 and 18 to spend 10 days in Paris in July of 2011 to learn the Jewish customs and traditions of the local French families who will house them.

In July of 2012, Parisan kids will come to stay with families in the Five Towns. Participants will study French in the morning, and tour France in the afternoon.

Teens from the French city of Nice will also be staying with Five Towns families this autumn. They will be served kosher food from the kitchens of their host families, according to Rosenbaum. Five Towns kids will be headed to Nice in July of 2012. "The kids from these communities are all Orthodox. We house them here and make sure that the religious needs of the Orthodox are met," said Rosenbaum.

While the trips have registration fees, they are not an "exorbitant amount," Rosenbaum said. He does not want to set a price range yet because he has not yet secured the grants he is expecting will relieve part of the cost burden. He recommends those interested call Temple Israel of Lawrence.

Rosenbaum, who is secretary general of the World Jewish Congress, was also working to establish an international conference of rabbis for exchange while in Europe.

Chief Rabbi of Nice Joseph Abittan, who engages in Muslim-Jewish relations, would be responsible for inter-religious coexistence outreach. Rosenbaum himself is engaged in dialogue and a separate exchange program with the Vatican.

Rosenbaum also spearheads an American-Jewish exchange with non-Jewish Germans from Berlin. In March of this year, Temple Israel of Lawrence concluded an international housing swap with Orthodox Jewish students from Rome.

In addition to educating youngsters about a different culture, the program was designed to promote Jewish unity in the Five Towns between the Orthodox and Reform faiths with the Italian high school students spending the Sabbath with families from the Hebrew Academy of Long Beach. Amid the intra-religious conflicts which sometimes manifest in the Five Towns, Rosenbaum said his programs bring Jews together.

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