Ultimate Frisbee and rock ‘n’ roll liturgy for Shabbat services can only mean one thing: The Jewish summer is about to begin in earnest for the thousands of overnight campers.
Several innovative programs which focus on Jewish identity and American culture await overnight campers this summer.
“We think we can do it all,” said Ruben Arquilevich, executive director for Camp Newman in Sonoma County. “We can provide a loving environment and fun and exciting programs as part of our goal to continually create a community of living Judaism.”
Judaism will come alive at Camp Newman, which will host more than 1,400 kids in the second through 12th grade. This summer’s educational theme is elu d’varim (ethical obligations).
“These would be honoring one’s parents, welcoming strangers, studying daily, visiting the sick, consoling the grieving, visiting with the bride and bridegroom and being a peacemaker,” Arquilevich said.
Many of the camp’s activities will reflect the theme. For example, Gail Pro, a tallit artist, will work with pre- and post-b’nai mitzvah campers to make tallitot and decorate them according to the topic of elu d’varim.
Over the summer, there also will be several musical and artistic festivals at the camp, featuring Jewish rock ‘n’ roller Rick Recht, Cantor Wally Schachet-Briskin and Jewish ceramic artist Leslie Gattman.
The campers also will have the opportunity to mock-travel to Israel, via an all-day simulation created by the 25 Israeli staffers who will be at Camp Newman this summer.
“There will be a historical walk-through timeline with counselors dressed as heroes from Jewish history, an Israeli obstacle course that simulates military fitness training,” Arquilevich said. “The pool area will become a Red Sea-Eilat resort area, and a portion of the campground will be transformed into an Israeli shuk.”
This off-season, the clamor to attend Camp Tawonga has been so great that there are already waiting lists to get in, said associate executive director Ann Gonski. So, for the first time in more than 20 years, there will be two additional two-week sessions that will cater to kids entering grades 4 though 6.
“Our goals are to foster a positive self-image and self-esteem,” said Gonski of the 1,200 children who will partake in Tawonga’s programs, “create a cooperative community, emphasize the value of tikkun olam in partnership with nature and promote a positive Jewish identification.”
Gonski said Camp Tawonga, located on the Tuolumne River just outside Yosemite, plans to fulfill its mission with six or seven offsite travel and adventure camps, a new climbing wall and the addition of four Israeli teens originally from Ethiopia.
“The Israelis from Ethiopia will join 14 Israeli teens from the Upper Galilee,” said Gonski. “They are part of a special leadership program sponsored by Israel’s Society for the Protection of Nature, and we hope these four young people will have something to teach us.”
Camp Tawonga is going even more worldly this summer, Gonski said, with plans to host teens from Argentina, Mexico and El Salvador for a special international session.
“The international session is a new experience for us,” Gonski said. “We will have diversity training and conversations before the summer so invited campers can discuss what it means to be a Jewish global citizen.”
Camp Tawonga is also reaching out to generations of Tawonga alumni — sponsoring family camp, before and after the regular summer sessions, just for Tawonga alums.
“By now we have fourth generation campers still alive,” Gonski said. “The alumni group has more than 200 members, and this summer one of our former board members is coming up to alumni week to celebrate his 70th birthday with several of his family.”
The 1,200 campers at Camp Ramah, nestled in the southern California hills of Ojai, will focus on 350 years of American Jewish history, said the camp’s executive director, Rabbi Daniel Greyber, “through a series of educational and fun programs. There will be special programs for July 4th which explore the intersection between American and Jewish identity.”
Ramah’s youngest campers will have the opportunity to sleep overnight in a new tree house. And the Etgar students, entering grades 9 through 11, can elect to take specialized programs, said Greyber.
“For Etgar tennis,” said Greyber, “we will have Kathy Potter, who once played at Wimbledon and was ranked 18th in the world. For media arts, some kids will travel to Los Angeles and meet with a Ramah board member who is also an investigative journalist for NBC.”