On Tu B’Av, Celebrating Szarvas Camp as the Best Jewish Matchmaker

What guarantees a strong, successful relationship? For Judit Ungár and Peter Selmeci, the secret ingredient isn’t just shared values or mutual devotion — it’s the entire Jewish community infrastructure JDC has helped build for decades in their native Hungary. 

From the moment they first met at Szarvas, the JDC-Lauder international Jewish summer camp in rural Hungary, Judit and Peter knew they had a special bond. Years later, both of them are Jewish leaders in their home city of Budapest, giving back to the very community that had brought them together in the first place. 

On Tu B’Av, we sat down with Judit, 48, to hear about the key role Szarvas and JDC played in her love story. 

Q: How did you and Peter meet?

A: We met in 1997 at Szarvas, the JDC-Lauder international Jewish summer camp in rural Hungary. Peter was 20 and I was 19, and we were both counselors during the third session. We became close friends that summer, and it took almost a year before we realized we were meant to be together. 

Q: What role did Szarvas play in your love story? What makes this place special, both for you as a couple and for young Jews around the world?

A: Szarvas is where our story began, so it will always be a very special place for us. For me, it was already my eighth summer there, while it was Peter’s first. He’d gone to high school in Israel and only learned about the camp through friends.

Szarvas is much more than a summer camp. It creates lifelong friendships, strengthens Jewish identity, and brings together young Jews from different countries and backgrounds. Many of our closest friends today are people we met there almost 30 years ago. It’s a place where lifelong friendships — and sometimes lifelong partnerships — are born.

Q: Tell us about your wedding.

A: We were married at the Bethlen Square Synagogue in Budapest, where I had sung in the children’s choir as a little girl. Rabbi Robert Deutsch (“Yiddu”), z”l, officiated at our chuppah, and later he also became the sandek at our sons’ brit milah ceremonies. It beautifully reflects how Jewish life connects different milestones throughout our lives. We were surrounded by our loving family and friends. It is a heartwarming memory.

Q: Talk about your involvement in community life. What does your role in Jewish Hungary look like today?

A: Giving back to our community has always been important to us.

Peter serves on the executive board of the Budapest Jewish Community and is also a board member of the JDC-supported JCC Budapest-Bálint House, one of Europe’s leading Jewish community centers.

For several years, I taught Talmud Torah classes for children at the Thököly Road Synagogue and later at the Frankel Synagogue, and I volunteered for many years in the Lauder School’s Sachar Program.

We both believe that everyone should contribute in whatever way they can to help Jewish life continue to grow.

Q: How does the Jewish community strengthen your bond as a couple? In what ways has your involvement served as a foundation for your relationship and brought you closer?

A: From the very beginning, we wanted to build our family on Jewish values. Judaism is not just something we practice — it is part of our everyday life and shapes the way we raise our children, celebrate holidays, and spend time with our friends.

Many of our closest friends come from the Szarvas community. Some of these friendships now span four generations. Our grandparents sat together in synagogue, we grew up together, and now our children attend Szarvas together. That continuity makes us feel part of something much bigger than ourselves. 

L’Dor V’Dor is our beautiful reality, and it has become even more meaningful considering everything our ancestors endured in Hungary.

Q: What role does JDC play in your community today? In what ways does JDC help cultivate Jewish life in your city?

A: JDC has had a tremendous impact on Jewish life in Hungary. Through Szarvas, it has helped several generations of young Jews strengthen their Jewish identity, build international friendships, and develop future community leaders.

For us personally, JDC changed our lives because without Szarvas we probably would never have met. Today, we continue to see the positive impact JDC has through programs that strengthen Jewish education, leadership, and community life. It was very important to us that our children follow in our footsteps and become young Jewish leaders. Thanks to the Szarvas madrich training, that has become a reality.

Q: You met at Szarvas, and now your children go there. What inspired you to send your kids there? Why is it meaningful that they get to experience the magic of Szarvas?

A: There was never really a question about whether our children would go to Szarvas. We wanted them to experience the same joy, friendships, sense of belonging, and Jewish identity that shaped our own lives.

One of our greatest joys today is visiting the camp and seeing them grow up in the very place where our own story began.

Q: When they return home from camp, what’s the first thing they tell you about Szarvas?

A: The first thing they always talk about is the people — their friends, their counselors, the atmosphere, and how much fun they had together. We always joke that we probably know the parents of their camp roommates.

The songs, the Shabbat celebrations, the activities, and the feeling of belonging stay with them long after camp ends. When we listen to their stories, they remind us of our own summers at Szarvas, and it makes us happy to see that the same magic is still alive for a new generation.

Q: What do you love most about each other?

A: What first attracted us was different than than the qualities that attract us now — it’s what’s lasted that really matters.

I admired Peter’s confidence, his athletic spirit, and the fact that he spoke Hebrew and cared deeply about Judaism and Israel. He possessed the Israeli chutzpah that helped us through every setback we faced.

Peter says he first fell in love with my kindness, my sense of responsibility, my strong bond with my family and friends, and the way Judaism has always been a natural part of my life.

Most importantly, we share the same values and the same vision for our family.

Q: What’s your advice for a successful relationship?

A: Friendship comes first. We became friends before we became a couple, and that strong foundation has carried us through every stage of life.

Sharing the same values is just as important. Building a family around mutual respect, trust, and a shared commitment to Jewish life has helped us stay connected through the years.

Q: What’s the most important thing to remember about your love story?

A: Our love story is really a community project. We met because of Szarvas, we built our family around Jewish values, and we have spent our lives trying to give back to the same community that brought us together.

We often say that Szarvas was our shadchan — our matchmaker — and we will always be grateful for that. We even spent the first Shabbat of our honeymoon at the camp.

Our friends are a big part of that story. They have supported us and stood by our side for more than 25 years.

Judit Ungár, 48, graduated form the Anna Frank Jewish High School in Budapest and holds an MSc in Economics and Business Administration. She has spent more than 25 years working in her family’s company, active in the pharmaceutical market, where she currently serves as an executive responsible for sales and marketing. She is also a member of the Supervisory Board of the Hungarian Association of Dietary Supplement Manufacturers and Distributors (MÉKISZ). 

Alongside her professional career, Judit has been actively involved in Jewish informal education for many years, teaching Talmud Torah and volunteering in the Lauder School’s Sachar Program. She speaks four languages — Hungarian, Hebrew, English, and Spanish. In her free time, she enjoys Israeli folk dancing (hora), cooking, baking, and Zumba.  

Peter Selmeci, 50, serves as the Director of Integration at MVM Group, Hungary’s largest energy company. He has more than two decades of experience in management consulting, having held leadership positions at PwC and Accenture before moving into executive roles. He studied and graduated from high school in Israel and holds degrees in economics and legal economics. 

Peter is an active member of the Budapest Jewish Community, serves on its Executive Board, and is also a Board member of the JDC-supported JCC Budapest – Bálint Ház. Together with his wife, Judit Ungár, he is the proud father of three sons. In his free time, he enjoys swimming, cycling, skiing, spending time with family and friends, and contributing to Jewish community life.  

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