Summer camps and happy campers

Summers at Jewish overnight camps are packed with a wide range of fun activities. Campers are encouraged to discover new skills and interests they never knew they had.

Jewish camp weaves Jewish values, culture and traditions into the fabric of camp, helping campers to connect to their own identity and the larger Jewish community. At camp, Jewish and Israeli culture is celebrated through song, food, art and dance.

The impact of Jewish camp is immediate – campers return home connected to a community and friends that will last them a lifetime.

There are a variety of traditional and specialty overnight camps that span different denominations of Judaism, accommodate special needs and interests, and offer unique programming, catering to each family’s needs.

Through the One Happy Camper program, 40 Rhode Island campers experienced Jewish overnight camp for the first time in summer 2014. Some of these happy campers and their parents shared their first camp experience with us, and we are sharing them with you here. They are excited to return to camp in summer 2015.

If your child has never been to Jewish camp, FJC’s One Happy Camper program offers need-blind grants up to $1,000 to first-time campers. Learn more at onehappycamper.org or contact Elanah Chassen.

Russian-speakers who would like assistance selecting a camp and applying for the grant should contact the Foundation for Jewish camp at onehappycamper@jewishcamp.org or call 646-278-4520.

Through BunkConnect, launched by the Foundation for Jewish Camp in 2014, families can find spots at Jewishcamps across the country at affordable special rates of 40-60 percent off. This is open to first-time campers of all backgrounds, including Jewish day school students. Access BunkConnect.org for more information.

BY ANTHONY GLUCK

Camper

L - R: New friends Dana Druin Bederson (Chevy Chase, MD), Anthony Gluck (Warwick, RI), Rebecca Shinkar (Larchmont, NY), Andrew Friedland (Morristown, NJ), and Rayna Luback (Boca Raton, FL) pose for a picture before leaving camp at the end of the session.I just returned from the Union of Reform Judaism’s  Kutz Camp Leadership Experience in Warwick, New York.

By attending Kutz, I grew intellectually, mentally and spiritually. Besides the 196 teen campers who attended this session, the faculty also was from all over the United States and Israel. The people I met from the staff, the faculty and the friends I made were an inclusive, nurturing, loving and a supportive   community.

My major was Creative Arts for the entire month.  Minors and Electives changed weekly and daily.  The classes were fascinating. The staff and the faculty did a great job at teaching. Besides the classes, we swam, climbed a massive tower which challenged us to go outside of our comfort zone, played games, hiked, danced, etc.  Everything had a Jewish flair.  This experience taught me many things:  life skills, Jewish rituals and information I can use in college and in my personal life.

I’ve made wonderful friendships which I hope will last a lifetime. I now feel more connected to other Jewish peers.  All of the friends I met at camp were involved in their area’s youth group. Their parents either attended Kutz as a teen, were active in their temples as a cantor, rabbi, Jewish educator, temple president or in their local Jewish Federation. I am glad that my new friends are just as committed to Judaism as I am.   I am using social media to stay connected with them.

This experience has sparked an interest to become more involved locally in my temple’s youth group, PROVTY.  Since my return from camp, I have attended the NFTY-NE Leadership Training Institute in Springfield, Massachusetts and the December Institute at Camp Eisner.  In February, I plan to attend the NFTY National Convention in Atlanta. I have also applied to work at Kutz next summer in their Avodah program.

Kutz Camp’s Leadership Experience was a positive life changing opportunity for me. In the “Wizard of OZ,” Dorothy says, “There’s no place like home.” Kutz considers the camp to be “Home” and greets everyone upon arrival by saying, “Welcome Home.”

Jennifer Liese | Parent

J-Camp – The JCC after-school program is wonderful. Opal, a first grader, is always happy to go there, doesn’t want to leave and clearly feels very much at home there. The staff are caring, creative and responsive. The activities are always interesting and expansive. I especially love that you emphasize healthy cooking, gardening and teamwork. I also feel like you all model and teach the kids to be kind and respectful to one another in ways that are rooted in ethics as much as behavior. We’re lucky and grateful to be part of what you all do so well.

By Jeremy Satlow

Camper

Jeremy Satlow, Camp Yavneh (Northwood, New Hampshire)I loved camp! Everyone there was nice! The main thing I liked was the social aspect. The whole Jewish aspect was also fun like davening shacharit, the morning service every day. I also love Shabbat at camp because the whole camp comes together for services, and we get a whole day to relax.

BY KARYN ROBBINS |  parent

Asher Robbins in his bunk at Camp Eisner. /COURTESY | ROBBINS FAMILYWe had been talking about going to camp for a couple of years, but I was surprised when Asher and his friend approached me after a camp assembly at Temple Habonim, and they said (almost in unison), “we want to go to camp.”  I asked them when they wanted to go and they said, “this summer.  We want to go to Eisner.”  They were very clear and excited.  I wasn’t sure if it was going to be a passing interest or not, but it stayed around and was strong.  After some discussion, we agreed to send him and got him registered for Camp Eisner with support from One Happy Camper.

Despite growing up in a community where there are not a lot of Jewish children, Asher has always strongly identified as a Jew.  He feels safe and comfortable at the temple.  He likes religious school and Hebrew school.  Attending a Jewish camp is something I wished for my kids and, with Asher, it was a shared wish. I was impressed with his bravery to head off for almost four weeks the summer before he entered fifth grade. We did a camp visit in the spring with his friend and his friend’s mom, and that really sealed the deal for us. 

For me, I realized that this was a camp that was prepared for all the care and love that would be requested by a bunch of Jewish mothers.  I felt like it would also be great for him to live in the cabins with a bunch of boys and learn even more about community and compromise.  For him, it was a beautiful campus with such a wide variety of activities – a climbing wall, two pools, hiking, camping, a garden, a pottery studio and archery just to name a few.  There was clearly something for everyone (I wished I could go!). 

Asher’s experience exceeded our expectations.  In his words:

“Last year, I asked my parents if I could go to Camp Eisner because I thought it would be fun to be around so many other Jewish kids, saying prayers together, going to services and having fun together.  I ended up liking it even more than I thought I would and my expectations were high!

I liked the activities, meeting kids and adults from Israel, England and around the U.S.  I liked the strong community.  I felt so proud to be a part of the camp community where you could just be yourself and not worry about what others say.  Drop all of your worries and have fun.”

While at camp, Asher especially liked “the Eisner bubble.”  This concept is about always treating others as you would want to be treated.  There is zero tolerance for bullying, and the children were kind to each other.  Asher said, “We tried to make it so that no one felt like the odd person out.  We included everyone.  This made it easier to make good friends and to be a good friend.  I have tried to take this idea home to my family and friends.”

While there are lessons that kids learn in their everyday lives, it felt to me that having Asher spend almost four weeks at a camp that functioned with Jewish values as the guiding principles was incredibly special for him and for me to watch.  I felt as if we had extra backup in showing the complexities of being Jewish in a secular society and in sharing all of the joys of being part of a Jewish community.  He looks forward to returning this summer.

THE ROBBINS FAMILY are members of Temple Habonim in Barrington. Camp Eisner, in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, is operated by the Union for Reform Judaism.

BY LAURI FRIEDMAN

Parent

Matthew, left, with bunkmate Brett. /COURTESY | FRIEDMAN FAMILYWe were very happy to bring our son Matthew to Camp Avoda for his first summer of overnight camp. Within minutes of unloading his stuff into Bunk 2, Matt was already asking about extending his stay. It is hard not to be impressed with Avoda; the camp’s compact size allows you to see the beautiful lakefront from almost everywhere. The energy of the returning campers was infectious. Counselors were welcoming their old friends and new ones like Matthew. He made a friend immediately, and they both ran off to join a game on the main field.

As parents, we were excited for Matthew to be at a camp with strong Jewish values and like minded children from across the country. What struck us most was not only how many campers returned year after year, but how many were the children (and grandchildren) of previous Avoda campers. These were kids and adults who have dedicated their lives to Avoda, and their connections built during the short two months each summer. (In fact, it is very common to hear campers asking their friends about their activities during the “offseason,” that inconvenience between summers where kids go to school and travel with their families.) From director Ken Schiffman on down through his entire staff, there was a strong focus on making sure the new campers felt welcome and not too overwhelmed with being away from home.

Matthew was signed up for this summer’s sessions at Avoda before he went back to school. He had learned important lessons about living with others in a communal environment. He tested his skills at sports he doesn’t encounter at home. And had magical experiences traveling to fun adventures with the whole camp. It was a great summer and one I believe Matthew will want to relive until he can’t any more.

MATTHEW FRIEDMAN is in fourth grade at The Wheeler School. Camp Avoda, established in 1927, is a Jewish boys camp in Middleboro, Massachusetts.