The Charlotte Jewish News - November 1998 - Page 27
Between the Bunk Beds: Learning Camp Barney Medintz Sets
Jewish at Camp Open House in Charlotte
By Adrienne Sanders
NEW YORK (JTA) - Remember
sleep-away camp? Sunny after
noons of splashing and swimming
in cool lakes, singing campfire
songs while roasting marshmal
lows, and whispering to bunkmates
late into the night — all are com
mon camp memories.
For many campers, living an
actively Jewish life is part of those
memories - and often becomes an
integral part of their future
Jewish youth across the country
go annually to camp, and with
them goes the promise of a stronger
Jewish identity.
A positive correlation exists
between attending Jewish camp
and maintaining a positive Jewish
identity, Jewish affiliation, obser
vance, contribution to Jewish caus
es and “in-marriage,” according to
the Brandeis University Institute
for Community and Religion,
which has completed three demo
graphic studies on the subject since
1990.
Each summer in the United
States lOO Jewish, non-profit
sleep-away camps host about
35,000 kids from all Jewish
denominations and organizations.
A strong Jewish identity - even at
camps with minimal Jewish prac
tices - develops through many
aspects of the camp experience.
Social cohesion with other Jewish
campers, practicing Jewish tradi
tions in a fun environment and
enthusiastic role models all con
tribute to enhancing a positive
interest in Judaism.
“Being Jewish is a common
bond I have with my camp friends
that I don’t have with my other
friends,” says Laura Aimsman, a
IS-year old who has attended
Pittsburgh’s Jewish Community
Center sleep-away camp for eight
years.
“I like water-skiing and the lake-
front activities, but my favorite part
is being with my friends,” she says.
For kids from small towns with
tiny Jewish populations, sharing
the summer with Jewish bunkmates
and swim buddies is in easy entry
into the Jewish world and a great
way to form lasting friendships.
Though JCC camps are non-
denominational and vary in their
level of Jewish content, most offer
some Jewish activities. For unaffil
iated children, camp can be an
important entry into Judaism.
When youngsters see their friends
studying for their Bar or Bat
Mitzvah, some become interested
in having their own. For more reli
gious campers, camp becomes an
extension of the values and tradi
tions they practice at home.
‘*Each summer in the US,
100 Jewish camps
host about 35,000 Idds
from all Jewish
denominations.”
For Aimsman, observing Jewish
traditions, including Teaming
prayers and keeping Shabbat, is
part of the bond she shares with her
camp cohorts.
“I love the fact that we all get
dressed up and sing together on
Shabbat,” she says.
Jewish camping experts say that
the controlled and communal camp
environment itself allows for a real
immersion into experiential
Judaism.
At the Barney Goodman Camp
of the JCC of Greater Kansas City,
KS, groups of youth, at the begin
ning of each session, make a
Shabbat kit of a challah cover, kid-
dush cup and placemats.
At the Reform movement’s
Camp Eisner in Massachusetts,
campers hold nightly services
under the stars and enjoy Israeli
dances later in the evening.
For many, the spiritual environ
ment is quite different from the
secular one they are used to the rest
of the year.
Services in camp aren’t “boring”
like services at shul, says Aaron
Soffin, 15, who has attended Eisner
for five summers. “It’s full and reli
gious.”
The counselors who guide
campers through the summer
become important role models for
their charges, say camp experts.
Spending 24 hours a day with a
hip college kid who loves being
Jewish sends a very powerful mes
sage to impressionable youngsters,
they say.
“When you’re young, the fact
that counselors are into it really
affects you,” says Soffm.
He says that while all of his
camp friends are now interested in
Judaism, that wasn’t the case when
they started. Many became more
involved in their Jewishness by
spending their summers at camp.
“Camp reconnects, connects or
advances” Judaism for campers,
says Lenny Silberman, a veteran
camp director who heads the JCC
Association’s camp services
department
“The beauty of JCC camps is
that a good percentage of the
campers are unaffiliated. After
camping, many of the kids bring
their Judaism home,” he says.
Some teens with a strong Jewish
curiosity choose to spend the sum
mer at camps designed to enhance
their Jewish knowledge.
For instance, the Union of
American Hebrew Congregations
camp, Olin-Sang-Ruby camp in
Northbrook, IL provides intensive
Hebrew and Tor^ study courses.
Sara Isaacson, whose 15-year-
old daughter Rachel attends Olin-
Sang-Ruby, says that camp has
been “critically important” to her
daughter’s experience as a young
Jewish woman.
“They take a real look at texts, in
small groups; it’s not a dumbing-
down. It has helped empower
Rachel that she has her ideas about
Torah, too,” says Isaacson. ‘The
two most important factors in
Rachel’s Jewish life have been her
home life and Jewish camp.”
Indeed, many Jewish profession
als acknowledge that supplemental
Jewish education needs all the help
it can get.
Camps are especially important
in the Reform movement, many
say, where the fight to keep kids
Jewish is often fraught with the
familiar threats of non-affiliation
and intermarriage.
“If you want your children to
live, know and understand our
Jewish heritage, camps are an
absolutely essential part of their
experience,” Rabbi Eric Yoffie,
president of the UAHC, said in a
recent speech.
And most importantly, from the
kids’ perspective - camp is fun. As
Laura Aimsman’s mother, Merril,
put it:
“Laura waits eleven months of
the year to go back to camp.” ^
Camp Barney Medintz, summer
resident camp of the Atlanta
Jewish Community Center, will
present an exciting new musical
slide production in Charlotte on
Thursday, December 10th at the
Charlotte Jewish Community
Center, beginning at 7:00 PM. Jim
Mittenthal, Camp Director, will
meet with new and retuming fam
ilies, answer questions pertaining
to the 1999 summer camp season,
and provide applications for regis
tration.
Camp Barney Medintz is locat
ed in the North Georgia mountains
on over 500 acres of forest, lakes
and streams just 75 miles north of
Atlanta. According to Mr.
Mittenthal, the setting facilitates
dozens of “exciting and unusual
activities, including water-skiing,
hydro-tubing, sailing, canoeing,
leaping off the “Blob” or soaring
down the 80-foot slide, horseback
riding, campouts, whitewater raft
ing, theater, tennis, all land/court
sports, videography, crafts, music,
Israeli culture, mountain biking,
swimming, climbing the adjacent
Appalachian Trail and a series of
high adventure rock climbing, rap
pelling and ropes courses.
Camp Barney Medintz, cele
brating its 37th summer season.
has created “a unique community
that is all about adventure and self
discovery, exhilarating activities
and exciting events, being in a
strong culturally Jewish environ
ment with special friends, all
under the supervision of a careful
ly selected group of mature, tal
ented, loving and enthusiastic
staff,” said Mr. Mittenthal.
Camp Barney Medintz contin
ues to develop new construction
projects throughout its large and
magnificent mountain facility.
After entirely renovating cabins
and bathrooms last season, the
focus this year is the new Brill
Equestrian Center, a sports com
plex and ski beach, re-doing the
Halpem Center gymnasium and
amphitheater, a new Nature
Center, an organic vegetable gar
den and additional work on cab
ins.
Inquiries about the 1999 sum
mer season are far exceeding pre
vious years and each of the two-
and four-week sessions are likely
to fill to capacity in the coming
weeks. For more information,
call the camp office at (770) 396-
3250 ext. 154, or Camp Barney
Medintz Charlotte parent repre
sentative Susan Jacobs at (704)
364-1922. 0
“Who finds a faithftd fnend,
finds a treasure.”
Apocrypha: Ben Sira 6:14
Whitewater rafting is among the many fim activities available at
Camp Barney.
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