Camping season is just around the corner. Prime spots at many Jewish overnight camps are already taken. Enrollment is currently underway or will soon begin at the local Jewish day camps. One thing is for certain. If you want your child to be affiliated and stay connected to the Jewish community as an adult, one of the best ways to ensure that is to find a way to send him or her to summer camp.
For years experts have been saying just that. Earlier this month a study on the long-term impact of Jewish overnight camp was released, concluding that those who have attended camp are more Jewishly engaged as adults.
Certainly professionals who specialize in both formal and informal Jewish education be an essential part of a Jewish child’s life.
“Children who attend Jewish day or residential camp are comfortable being immersed in Judaism,” said Karen Gerson, director of informal education for CAJE, the education arm of the Jewish Federation of Greater Kansas City. “They thrive in these summer environments and as adults look toward friendships and associations with other Jewish people and organizations.”
It’s hard to say exactly how many Jewish children in the area attend Jewish camps, but Gerson said the number could be around 350. It’s been difficult for some families to afford the luxury of sending a child away to camp in the downward economy we recently experienced, but scholarships are available for those who search for them. The deadline has already passed for the Gershon Hadas Guardian Society for Children scholarship. However Gerson said money is still available from the Federation and The Foundation for Jewish Camp for a One Happy Camper grant.
“It is a $1,000 incentive for those who are attending Jewish residential camp for 19 days or longer for the first time,” said Gerson, who said more information is available on the Federation website, www.jewishkansascity.org.
Wider Jewish world
Marcia Rittmaster, Congregation Beth Torah’s religious school and youth groups director, knows the value of camp from both a parental and an educator’s standpoint. Her children attended day camp. She has attended overnight camp along with many of her students during the last 10 years.
“Without hard data, I can tell you that I’ve seen exactly those results since I became involved in promoting Jewish summer camp,” said Rittmaster, who has attended Goldman Union Camp Institute in Indiana as a staff member.
“The kids who had the opportunity to attend a Jewish camp are more likely to be involved in youth group and later in Hillel, marry Jewish, raise Jewish children, become religious school teachers, adult volunteers in Jewish organizations and even become rabbis,” Rittmaster said.
She thinks residential camp is especially important for Midwest students because it widens their Jewish world.
“I can’t tell you how often I hear that young adults are still friends with people they met at camp. They run into them in college and the business world. At camp they don’t really think about being Jewish, they just are. Their days and weeks are governed by Jewish cycles (praying before and after meals, a set time for daily worship and most particularly the way Shabbat is totally set aside and different,” she said.
She attends camp for many reasons, one being it makes the Beth Torah parents comfortable she’ll be keeping an eye on their children for a couple of weeks.
“I go because I love seeing our kids grow as individuals and become comfortable in the camp culture. I go because it gives me a special bond with the kids (and families) that go with me. I go because I, too, have made camp friends with other faculty members and we study, learn and work together in a manner that can’t be duplicated at a weekly or monthly get together,” Rittmaster said.
Staying at home
Bridey Stangler, the interim director of Jewish Community Center camps, was both an overnight and a day camper and is sold on the importance of both in a child’s life.
“Camp creates this long-term Jewish identity. I’m proof of that. I have friends who are proof of that. Everybody I was on the board with at KU Hillel all have Jewish camping experiences,” said Stangler, who attended Olin-Sang-Ruby Union Institute, a Reform camp in Wisconsin for five years.
"I think sleep-away camp is particularly important because having time away from your parents gets you the opportunity to create your own beliefs and your own opinions about Judaism."
She’s spent more than a dozen summers as a counselor or programmer at various JCC camps. She notes this year the JCC alone offers six different camping options for children in preschool through middle school. Other local options include preschool camps offered by Congregations Beth Shalom and B’nai Jehudah as well as a camp for children in kindergarten through eighth grade put on by The Torah Learning Center.
Stangler said the JCC is hoping to recreate overnight camp as much as possible at its day camps, without the actual cabin and bunks.
“Day campers aren’t living, breathing and sleeping with the same people for weeks. But here our kids are grouped into sub groups and we do everything we can to make their own communities,” she said. “It’s a little family by the end of the summer.”
Regardless of what camp a child attends at the JCC — it could be Barney Goodman (general), sports, theater, art or even outdoor adventure — Judaism is infused in every way possible.
“Jewishly we do Shabbat every week no matter what camp they are in,” Stangler said. “I think that’s the one time of the week when the kids feel more separate from the everyday hubbub of camp and I think that’s the most like overnight camp.’
“We also incorporate gemilut chasadim (acts of loving kindness) and try to exemplify Jewish values in every way possible,” she continued.
Stephanie Katzif, who served as the director of all JCC camps for 22 years and will work with several specialty camps this summer, truly believes in the importance of any kind of Jewish camp. On a personal note, one of her daughters married a man who she met at overnight camp. And she points out that two of her former staffers — Jay Lewis and Kim Davidow Lewis — met while working at Barney Goodman, eventually married and both work as a Jewish communal professional.
She’s proud that the JCC has taken steps to expand on what it offers its campers and their parents — such as daily access to camp photos online, adding more field trips and more part-time options — while retaining the camp’s tradition of excellence.
“We know the experiences of overnight camps make people more likely to join synagogues and stay involved in the Jewish community,” Katzif said. “I think that we do the same things in day camp by showing that saying the motzi is a natural thing, that giving tzedakah is a natural thing and always thinking of others is important.”
The camp is full of counselors who were once campers, and during interviews Katzif said those prospective counselors always mention how important the camp was to them.
“Working at a camp as a counselor is important, too. It keeps them connected with the Jewish community as well, and now with all the social networking these counselors really do keep in contact with each other long after the camp session ends. It’s all a part of Jewish geography.”
