Meet Ofek Segal, Israeli Scout from Shoham
My name is Ofek Segal. I'm 17 years old and I live in Shoham, Israel. I was born on January
4th 2000 in Israel. I study in Shoham High School and my majors are Physics and Computers.
My mother's name is Lilach, and my father's name is Menachem. My father is a very good
cook, and a hilarious person. I hope to be like him in the future when I will have my own
family. Also I have twin sisters, Yaara and Daniella, they are 14 years old. My sisters and I
are all in the Scouts together. I feel connected to my family, especially when we spend time
together watching comedy shows, going to restaurants, and going on trips together.
My favorite hobby is playing basketball. I have played basketball since I can remember
myself. I joined a professional team when I was 10 years old. It helped me improve my
physical and social skills. Most of my friends, I firstly met through the basketball team, and
many of them are still my best friends. In our team, there are four practices and one game
every week. My favorite team in Israel is Maccabi Tel Aviv and my favorite player is LeBron
James. Last year I decided to quit the basketball team and I joined a Military preparation
program, named 'Maslul'. I really want to be a combat soldier, to help protect my country, and
I hope that this program will bring me to the best unit in the IDF.
I also like to go to the Scouts. I'm in the Scouts for 5 years. Last year I was a counselor of a
group of sweet girls who were in the fifth grade at that time. I connected to them and we still
keep in touch till this day. This year, I'm a counselor of older kids, in the seventh grade. This
is a large group of 50 children and this is why there are five more counselors with me.
In my school I study in a special leadership class. Every Monday we have 5 hours that are
devoted to talking about many topics, especially about Israel. We are doing research and
think together how we can become a better society. We also improve our connection to Israel
by going on hikes and volunteering in places that need our help. I really like Israel because
the people here are very warm and open-hearted.
The Shoham community is home to a thriving chapter of the Israeli Scouts (Tzofim) youth movement. Every summer, Tzofim sends a delegation of Scouts to various communities throughout North America. The interview process is long and grueling, and only a select few Scouts are chosen to represent Israel. In 2017, Memphis was honored to welcome Ofek as one of our delegate Scouts for the summer.
Ofek served as Israeli Culture Specialist at the MJCC Day Camp, educating campers of all ages about Israel in fun and interactive ways. He enjoyed home hospitality from several different host families, helping to bring a "taste of Israel" into their homes and forging personal relationships that strengthened the families' bond to Israel. Throughout the summer, he interacted with the Memphis Jewish community in other ways, such as volunteering at Plough Towers and meeting community members at local synagogues.
The Israeli Scouts summer delegation to Memphis is a program of Memphis Jewish Federation, and is made possible by the Art Wolff Israel Summer Scouts endowment program.