The Charlotte Jewish News - November 1998 • Page 26
Jewish Summer Camp Vital to Maintaining Commitment
By Jane Uliman
ENCINO, CA (JTA) - The
Central Jewish Institute in New
York sponsored the first American
Jewish summer camp in 1919.
Since that, time, Jewish mothers
have been conscientiously sewing
name tags on dozens of socks,
shorts and T-shirts - most of which
they never see again - and receiv
ing adoring and affectionate mes
sages from their children that read,
“If I want dinner, I have to write
this letter.”
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camp is a respite from driving car
pools and making lunches. It’s
also an opportunity to practice
Tamagotchi resuscitation skills.
For three of my four sons, it is a
time to enthusiastically leave
behind their Nintendo M, their
favorite fast-food hangouts and
their central air-conditioning for
accommodations that make Motel
6 look like the Ritz-Carlton.
Two of them are off to Camp
Alonim, nestled in the Santa
Susanna Mountains in Brandeis,
Calif., just north of Los Angeles.
The other is off to Camp JCA
Shalom in the Santa Monica
Mountains in Malibu.
These, like all Jewish camps,
are survivalist experiences.
But Jewish overnight camp is
not about surviving the hairy
chicken, the shortage of hot water
or the meddlesome mosquitoes.
And it’s not about surviving as a
Jewish commando — building
underground shelters and stockpil
ing Uzis and cans of
Manischewitz matzah ball soup.
No, Jewish summer camp signi
fies nothing less than the survival
of American Jewry, It helps ensure
that my children will resist a 52
percent intermarriage rate; the
temptations of cults, missionaries
and Eastern religions; and the
allure of an assimilated society.
Our grandparents and great-
grandparents didn’t need Jewish
summer camp. Rather, in the iso
lated shtetls of Eastern Europe, the
men studied in year-round cheders
where knuckle-rapping rabbis
made sure they adhered to Jewish
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law and advanced their Jewish lin
eage. Our grandmothers and
great-grandmothers were taught to
be balabustas and to graciously
accept arranged marriages.
But life in America is different.
Here Jews live in a more integrat
ed and secularly seductive envi
ronment. As a result, Jewish chil
dren need more than traditional
Hebrew schools to maintain their
affinity for Judaism; they need
exhilarating, experiential Jewish
activities.
And that’s exactly what Jewish
overnight camp provides - a joy
ous, invigorating and uplifting
few weeks of total immersion in
Judaism, with memories powerful
enough to last the entire year. This
is what Shlomo Bardin, a Chasidic
educator from Ukraine and the
founder of Camp Alonim, referred
to as “an adventure in curing
alienation.”
Alienation is one of the biggest
problems facing today’s Jewish
children. And non-formal Jewish
education - including Jewish
overnight camp, day camp, youth
groups and trips to Israel - is a
powerful antidote.
At camp my sons experience
Judaism with their heads, their
hearts and their hands. On Bunk
Night Out, for example, a special
after-curfew adventure, my 9-
year-old does not merely, go a on
treasure hunt. He and his bunk-
mates are Israeli soldiers on a dan
gerous mission, cutting through
treacherous enemy territory to
find the hidden candy.
My 14-year-old engages in a
serious discussion about animals
and nature. No one talks in amor
phous, self-serving platitudes.
Rather, my son and his fiiends
leam about the mitzvot of preserv
ing the earth and of being kind to
animals. They leam ^bout obliga
tions, commanded by God, that
are absolute and enduring.
Tradtional observances also
take place.
On Friday evenings, my son
worships with campers, coun
selors and staff, all dressed in
white, at Shabbat services. On
Saturday mornings, they attend
Torah readings and discussions.
They are spiritually nourished as
they pray, and they are compas
sionately connected as they sing
“Hinei Mah Tov”: “How good and
pleasant it is when brothers and
sisters are together.”
My husband, Larry, and I send
our sons to Jewish overnight camp
because we are deeply rooted in
our more-than-5,000-year-old his
tory. Our sense of right and wrong
and our sense of moral and ethical
responsibilities emanate from our
religion.
Well-grounded and comfortable
in our Judaism, we are better pre
pared to meet the world’s chal
lenges. We want the same for our
sons. We also want Jewish grand
children at our Passover seder.
The Talmud tells us that we
must teach our children how to
swim; their lives may depend on
it.
At Jewish camp, there are
swimming lessons for beginners
as well is advanced swimmers.
And these lessons don’t all lake
place at the swimming pool. They
occur during Israeli dancing and
before each meal when the Motzi
is recited. They also occur on
horseback rides, in drama groups
and at the tetherball court.
What the Talmud neglects to tell
us, however, is that swimming
lessons are not enough. We must
also teach our children how to sew
and how to write detailed and
enthusiastic letters home. O
Russia
(Continued front page 24)
Habanim (blessing of the chil
dren) and showed how parents
place their hands on their chil
dren’s head and bestow a blessing.
“I suggested the families try it and
thought it would last about 30 sec
onds. The families were so
touched by the moment that their
blessings lasted five minutes.”
said Cahan. “It was annazing how
everyone realized at that moment
how Jewish traditions could add
depth and meaning to their family
life.” The mock wedding the fol
lowing night ended the camp
week with another eye-opening
Jewish family experience.
“Often we are overwhelmed by
the enormous difficulties in the
world around us and feel help
less.” says Melissa Polen, coordi
nator of the Jewish Service Corps.
“What Josh’s experience in the
Jewish Service Corps shows us is
how one person can make a huge
difference.”
After his year-long experience,
Cahan feels he has forged lasting
ties with the Jewish community in
Ykaterinburg. This coming year
he will make several return trips
back to help with high holiday cel
ebrations and again for Chanukah.
Six adult couples have asked him
if he will help organize real wed
dings for them under a chuppah.
What amazed Cahan most about
his time in Ykaterinburg was “ that
even when irreparable damage is
done to Jewish communities,
somehow there’s an indelibility to
the Jewish spirit.”JE)C is currently
selecting individuals to serve in
the 1999 Jewish Service Corps.
For more information call (212)
687-6200, write to the American
Jewish Joint Distribution
Committee, 711 Third Avenue,
New York, NY 10017 or check
out the JDC Web Site at
www.jdc.org. O
Learn About UAHC Camp
Coleman on December 4
Bobby Harris, Director of
UAHC Camp Coleman, will pay a
visit to Temple Beth El on Friday
evening, D^ember 4. Following
services, Bobby will present a
viedotape of camp life and answer
questions regarding the camping
experience at Camp Coleman,
located in the mountains of north
east Georgia.
Many children from the
Charlotte community have attend
ed Camp Coleman in the past few
years and our numbers are grow
ing.
“Camp was cool,” says twelve-
year-old Dan Montoni. “The
activities were fun. There was
sports, socials, day trips, swim
ming, and daily tefillah. I want to
go back and become a madrich
and go to Israel.”
Campers entering grades three
and four can become Bonim for
two, four, or eight weeks. Two,
four and eight week sessions are
also available to campers entering
grades five and six, as cochavim.
Sophim are campers entering
grades seven and eight, and they
can come to Camp Coleman for
four or eight weeks. The oldest
group is the campers entering
ninth and tenth grades, the cha-
lutzim.
As an annual incentive to
encourage Jewish summer camp
ing for Reform Jews, Sisterho(^
will again be making a small
campership available to first-time
campers. In addition, any family
who needs additional scholarship
assistance can contact Rabbi
Morris for funds which will be
supplemented by the Sisterhood
treasury. 0
“Chapel in the Oaks”
(f
IFUNERAL DIRECTORS
500 Providence Road Telephone: 332-7133
CELEBRATINC
OUR
115th
ANM\ERSAR\
Jewish Community Center
Welcomes New Teen
Director
The Jewish Community Center
of Charlotte recently welcomed a
Teen Services Director to its staff.
Neil Popish joined the JCC staff on
October 1, 1998. Neil comes to
Charlotte from Long Island, via
Boca Raton, Florida. He was the
Assistant Director of Teen Services
and the Adult Sports Coordinator at
the Adolph and Rose Levis Jewish
Community Center in Boca Raton,
Florida. Neil Lived in Boca Raton
for eleven years and is a graduate
of Florida Atlantic University,
where he has a degree in history,
with certification to teach middle
and high school.
“I have never felt so welcome
anywhere before in my life, “ says
Neil. “Everyone has been so won
derful to me, which inspires me to
work even harder, because I can
truly see I will make a difference
here in Charlotte.” “I have basical
ly made the JCC my second home
in recent years, because of the vari
ety of programs offered. I am
already participating in the men’s
softball and basketball leagues here
at the JCC.”
Look forward to many exciting
and challenging teen programs in
the very nev future. Neil will be
traveling with the new Teen Travel
Camp next summer, which will
incluide teens entering 7th through
10th grades. In addition, the Teen
Services Department will offer
leadership training, SAT -prep class-
and ^turday evening programs
in the near future. O