RJ Blog

It’s been just about a year since Jordan Magidson joined the team here at Camp Kalsman! Check out her perspective on the year and the experience of wearing two different hats in the same community.

by Rabbi Elisa F. Koppel It’s been a week since I returned home from NFTY Convention and the Youth Engagement Conference. Between catching up, Purim, and exhaustion, I haven’t yet gotten the chance to post some reflections. I had hoped to blog during the event, but seemed to use every moment for catching up and networking with old friends and cherished colleagues.  Today, thanks to Jury Duty, I have some time to sit and write. I actually started writing this while at the convention! Roll into dark Roll into light Night becomes day Day turns to night On Friday night, [...]

by Rabbi Kimberly Herzog Cohen It was 10:30 at night (12:30 Dallas time). We were in another windowless room, and it had been a long day of travel. But I was pumped. Why? Because I just witnessed 860 teens sing their heart out and delight in being together. The energy is palpable here at the Youth Engagement Conference, and I feel blessed to be part of it. I entered the windowless room and encountered the question posed to the participants in the conference, made up of educators, youth group leaders, clergy and more: Why are you here?

A few weeks ago I was sitting in the Dining Hall at the staff table singing and clapping my hands as we all sang during the Song Session that typically follows each lunch and dinner. I looked around and realized with a start that I was oldest person in the room.

It isn’t just a program for Jewish teenagers that do volunteer over summer break; it is home.

I have heard it said that the single most valuable Jewish experience young people can have is Jewish camp. Jacobs Camp is the absolute personification of this belief. We love it and so do two more generations (so far!) of Orgel family members!

In the Torah portion of the week we were in Birmingham, we read about Balak and how when an obstacle is in your way, it might be there for a reason. Prejudice in the South has, in my opinion, made that community stronger. The people there have had to deal with hate and hardship, and have continued to survive. Birmingham has changed since the time of Martin Luther King Jr., and while prejudice may still exist, we have the strength to overcome it.

The biggest impact it had was this new attitude I have, which is that I pretty much agree to try anything. If someone asks me to help with something, or to try something new, even if I don’t necessarily feel 100% excited about it, I like to take part. It’s surprising how much you can enjoy something just by doing what you might not think you want to do. I learned to put myself into new situations that seem weird or scary, and just go with it…because, seriously, why not?

By Rabbi Micah Greenstein Rabbi Greenstein is the Senior Rabbi of Temple Israel in Memphis, TN.  He is the father of Cara (Songleader & Marketing Intern), Jake (Garin Counselor) and Julia (Talmidim Camper). Here’s the question: What is the strongest factor in the Jewish identity formation of a rabbi’s kid? School? Shul? The fact that the child’s dad or mom is a rabbi? Divine intervention? In my case, it’s none of the above.  It’s Jewish summer camp. While there are many worthy pieces to the Jewish identity jigsaw puzzle, in my rabbinic family, Jewish summer camp is the hands down winner. [...]

After visiting Urban Adamah, I am inspired to change the way I live my life back home.

Our 2012 Camper Care Coordinator, Rabbi Jody Cook, reflects on our community’s work with Gift of Life Bone Marrow Foundation and a very personal connection.

The important thing about our conversation was that it didn’t focus as much on campfire s’mores and scary stories as much as it did on relating camp to the field we work in. I talked about the stress of being responsible for creating programming on short notice with limited resources and how those skills translate to being able to work in any high-stress environment (such as a television control room in the midst of breaking news). He totally got it.