A group of five or six girls sitting around, talking, laughing to the point of tears.
The scene could be anyone, anywhere, and it has repeated itself countless times over the years: on a bunk bed at Greene Family Camp, around the campfire under the stars, in dorm rooms, and now, a few years after college, in front of our computers in a Google “Hangout,” Google’s multi-person video chat.
Recently, Greene Family Camp’s Olim Fellows and directors attended Fall Kallah for the Olim Fellowship program. The Olim Fellowship is a two-year program that teaches camp staff members strategies on how to perform their jobs to the highest potential and involves five URJ camps across the country: URJ Eisner Camp, URJ Crane Lake Camp, URJ Camp Harlam, URJ Camp Coleman, and the newest member, URJ Greene Family Camp. This Kallah was hosted in Atlanta, Georgia, as well as at URJ Camp Coleman in Cleveland, Georgia.
Summer camp is about discovery. New sports and hobbies. New friends. New songs. New independence. It’s all about creating and experiencing a community in which kids are free to explore and grow. That’s why I loved Greene Family Camp at the time. Looking back on my experiences as a camper, counselor, and administrator, I now value camp for the unintended byproducts of those “fun” summers. I developed a set of values and beliefs at camp that have grounded the choices that I’ve made and the attitudes with which I have made them ever since.
In early August, my husband Brad and I had the opportunity to travel with several lay leaders and professional URJ staff on the NAC Caravan, visiting four URJ camps in three days! The NAC is the committee of lay leaders providing direction and governance for all 13 URJ Camp and Israel Programs. This whirlwind trip afforded me the chance to not only observe our Movement’s camps in action, but also to experience the warmth and ruach that permeates throughout.
Over the years I’ve had several campers tell me they’ve never felt more at home than at camp. I always laughed at what I assumed was youthful exaggeration, but then I realized that every time I turn on to Smith Lane, the butterfiles start. It’s a small feeling, just a little flutter, but it is the unmistakable excitement that I’ve made it through another year, to be rewarded with a long summer at GFC. A summer filled with grilled cheese sandwiches, late night conversations, high energy song sessions, and breathtaking Shabbats. A summer of hard work and LOTS of perspiration, [...]
For those of us with first-hand experience of the value added from summer camp experiences, a recent study from the Foundation for Jewish Camp only reinforces what we’ve long known: Jewish summer camp not only works, but lays the groundwork for a more vibrant Jewish future.
