Kindergarten students at United Hebrew Congregation learned the Hebrew song “L’Dod Mosha Hayta Chava” on Monday, May 13. The English version is “Uncle Moshe Had a Farm” and it is nearly identical to the Old McDonald version most Americans remember from childhood. The singalong was led by a group of visiting Israeli scouts from the Yokneam Region.

“It was really cute,” said Adi Kolin, 16, one of the Israeli scouts. “We taught them how to say the animals in Hebrew. They had a really good time.”

The 10-day visit to St. Louis is intended to strengthen the connection between Israel and the local Jewish community, according to Merav Gleit, treasurer of the St. Louis Israeli scout chapter. Both groups participated in the events commemorating Yom Hazikaron and Yom Haatzmaut. The visitors from Yokneam stayed with local Jewish host families.

Roni Levy and Noel Naor led the Israeli scout delegation. Levy said, “We came here to study the St. Louis Jewish community. And we also came to tell everybody what happened in Yokneam on October 7.”

Yair Vokhil, 18, said the trip was his first to the U.S. and it met every one of his expectations.

“In Israel, everything we know about America we learn from watching movies,” Vokhil said. “Driving around and walking around here, it was like a dream, exactly like what we envisioned. We also want to get to know the Jewish community here and how they live. It seems like they are much closer here than in Israel. It’s so wonderful to see.”

Also on the Israeli scouts’ agenda was a visit to Saul Mirowitz Community School and Epstein Hebrew Academy, where they addressed a more serious topic: living in the aftermath of the Hamas attack. Vokhil lost a family member in the attack at the Nova Music Festival. Kolin shared her ongoing grief after losing a close friend serving in the Israel Defense Forces.

“His name is Ofir Tzioni,” Kolin said. “He was a master sergeant in combat engineering and my sister’s boyfriend. He operated a D-9 vehicle and died when an anti-tank missile hit it.”

During the Israeli scout group’s travels prior to St. Louis, one stop was in Italy. That’s where Kolin pasted stickers bearing the photo, name and rank of fallen IDF soldiers, including Tzioni, Mool Gershoni and Itay Glisko. She is also offering stickers to her new friends in the St. Louis Israeli scout chapter. Holding up a sticker with Glisko’s photo, she explained the Hebrew inscription under his name.

“There’s a signature phrase that says something about him as a person. It says ‘courage’ and ‘humbleness.’”

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