Yawgoog celebrates 30th anniversary of the Temple of the Ten Commandments

This year marks the 30th anniversary of the dedication of the current Temple of the Ten Commandments at Yawgoog Scout Reservation. Prior to 1984, the Jewish chapel was located in a part of the camp euphemistically called “the swamp” behind the Lattner cabin. Originally an open-air chapel without a roof, an A-frame was built in 1966 by the Jewish Committee on Scouting to cover the “pulpit.”

This served the Jewish community at Yawgoog until the early 1980s. According to Jules Cohen, the former chairman of the Rhode Island Jewish Committee on Scouting, he was approached in the early 1980s by Bob Fuller, who told him that the Jewish chapel at Yawgoog was in a terrible state and needed serious repair or replacement. Cohen then spoke to Russell Gray, who was Narragansett Council’s Vice President of Relations, and they realized that the original Rhode Island Jewish committee on Scouting had dissolved long ago and Rhode Island needed a new one.

After a building fund drive, ground was “broken” on the new Temple of the Ten Commandments located just off Tim O’Neill Field on Yawgoog. I say “broken” in quotes in that the entire chapel is above ground without a foundation. The new chapel was named for the previous chairman of the Jewish Committee on Scouting, Abe Aron, who had recently passed away, and was dedicated in the summer of 1984.

After 10 years, the Jewish Committee on Scouting realized that the chapel was too small to hold the number of Scouts and Scouters who were attending Friday evening and Sunday morning services, reinforcing the adage, “if you build it, they will come!” In 1995, in conjunction with the building of a new cabin for the resident Jewish chaplain, the chapel was expanded in length in hopes of meeting demand. 

Fast-forward 19 years. With the chapel in place and a resident Jewish chaplain who is one of the five most senior staff on Yawgoog, the Jewish programming is thriving. Services are conducted daily Tuesday through Saturday; the Sunday morning “Ask the Rabbi” program draws a “standing room only” group of scouts from all religious backgrounds. Each summer, Chaplain Rabbi Sol Goodman invites Rabbi Laufer and the Chabad Shofar Factory to come to camp and allow the boys to make their own shofars. The chapel has been used to house Webelos during inclement weather when the older Scouts and their leaders are gathered in the dining halls. 

On Aug. 2, to coincide with the annual Yawgoog Alumni Reunion, we will have a rededication ceremony in the chapel at 6:30 p.m. All alumni of the Temple of the Ten Commandments, either in its old location or its current location, are invited to participate. If you haven’t attended an Alumni Reunion, it’s also a good way to reconnect with camp and those who attended camp with you. 

You can register for reunion events at www.yawgoog.org/scouting/alumni/alumni_index.html# and clicking on the registration link. There is no cost to register for the reunion. 

Yawgoog Scout Reservation is a 2,000-acre Boy Scout camp located in Hope Valley, Rhode Island. Each summer, approximately 6,400 scouts and leaders participate in one of the weeklong overnight camp sessions. Depending on the year, it ranks as one of the top three (and no lower than the top 10) Scout camps in the United States. The Temple of the Ten Commandments is located just off Tim O’Neill Field, which is located on your right as you pass through the entrance gateway.

CURTIS ABBOTT is chairman of the Rhode Island Jewish Committee on Scouting.