Strengthening the Jewish souls of our congregation’s one thousand kids under the age of eighteen can be a challenge. Even though we have an outstanding, fun, dynamic and creative religious school at Temple Beth El (with more than one hundred madrichim staying on after B’nei Mitzvah to help in their high school years), there is only so much we can do with our kids attending just three and a half hours a week of Hebrew School and Religious School. Youth Group conclaves, trips to Israel, Jewish Day Schools, and Jewish summer camps all help to strengthen our kids’ Jewish identity.
I am proud that we have twenty eight Beth El campers attending Camp Coleman and 6 Points Sports Academy this summer. This past Friday, as I visited Camp Coleman and our Beth El campers there, it became even clearer to me that Shabbat and Judaism are not subjects that can be taught only in the classroom, they must be lived. At our Reform Movement summer camps, Shabbat and Judaism are experienced, celebrated, and learned at the deepest levels.
At our fourteen Reform movement summer camps, everything stops for Shabbat. The entire camp dresses in white to convene for creative Shabbat services led by the campers and joined by enthusiastic teen and young adults song leaders. At Coleman on Friday, inspiring and humorous reflections on the week were offered through a weekly newsletter on the Dining Hall tables, an amazing weekly video show capturing their fun week in film, and dance and krav maga performances that shared what campers had learned. The night was topped off with a rowdy song session. On Saturdays at Coleman, campers have mandatory options: they have to do a fun activity of their choice such a playing on the lake on a paddleboard or floating trampoline or climbing the rock wall.
Even though we are “People of the Book,” Judaism cannot be learned solely through study, it must be part and parcel of our daily experiences. As I took in the peace of Shabbat, the songs of our Jewish youth, and savored the community they were building, I offered gratitude for our Reform movement (URJ) camps that strengthen our kids’ Jewish identity so that they will feel a strong part of the Jewish people throughout their lives.
I attended URJ’s Camp Harlam in Pennsylvania for seven years, worked at URJ’s Camp Swig in California for five summers and have been blessed to work on the faculty of Coleman for most of the past nine summers. I can see from my Facebook connections reflecting decades of camp friendships how those who were touched by Jewish camp continue to connect with and care about their Judaism.
If you have a child, send them to a Jewish camp. If you don’t have a child, attend our Congregational Wildacres Labor Day Retreat or come on one of our Congregational Trips to Israel to strengthen your own Jewish soul. Or, help to teach a child, by giving to one of our youth funds that help our students take part in these experiences that strengthen their Jewish souls.
