Jewish Exponent Camp Guide Camp Guide 2013 Vol 1 : Page 2
2013 Summer Camp Guide The Jewish Exponent’s 58th Annual Source for Fun in the Sun! The Magic of Jewish Summer Camp Professor Arnold Eisen, a scholar of American Ju-daism and the chancellor of the Jewish Theological Seminary, proclaimed, “Nothing I do to build Jew-ish life, Jewish education, or the Jewish community is more important than getting more kids to Jew-ish camps.” Those are strong words from the ivory tower and quite the endorsement of Jewish summer camp. But Eisen wasn’t the only head of a major Jewish academ-ic institution who lauded Jewish summer camping at the Foundation for Jew-ish Camp’s recent Leaders Assembly. He shared the stage with Richard Joel and Rabbi David Ellenson, the presidents of the Ortho-dox and Reform academies respectively, who both agreed that the answer to Jewish continuity can be found at summer camp. All three academicians extolled the virtues of the summer camp experience for young Jewish children who seamlessly go from overnight hiking and ca-noe trips to Friday eve-ning Shabbat services by the lake. The leaders of Ye-shiva University, the Jew-ish Theological Seminary and Hebrew Union Col-lege took turns standing in front of 400 Jewish camp-ing leaders at the FJC gathering – from camp di-rectors to donors – to ex-plain how their denomi-nation would help to grow the Jewish camping phe-nomenon in the coming years. These schools train Jewish educators – most of whom discovered or strengthened their Jewish identity at summer camp – and with a $45 million in-2 camp guide 2013 SChoLarShIpS vestment from the Jim Jo-seph Foundation (divided among the three institu-tions) they will be able to prepare more young peo-ple who wish to work in the informal Jewish edu-cational field of Jewish camping. With over $90 million of philanthropic contribu-tions coming through the FJC since its founding 13 years ago to benefit Jew-ish camping, it is clear that this is where donors are investing the most cap-ital in what has become known as “Jewish conti-nuity.” Approximately 72,000 Jewish children current-ly attend a Jewish sum-mer camp. The statistics show that the Jewish sum-mer camp experience has a tremendous effect on children and their Jewish identity. A recent study by the renowned sociologist Steven M. Cohen commis-sioned by the FJC shows that Jewish campers grow up to be connected to Jew-ish life and identify proud-ly within the Jewish com-munity as adults. Most Jewish summer camps are nonprofits and, histori-cally, have not been able to compete with the lavish facilities and stellar sports programs at the private-ly owned for-profit camps. But that is changing. Over the past decade the hottest cause for major philanthro-pists in the Jewish commu-nity has been funding the growth of Jewish summer camps, which means seed-ing new camps and ensur-ing there are ample need-based scholarships to afford all young Jewish children the ability to experience the magic of camp. SCHOLARSHIPS AVAILABLE FOR JEW-ISH SUMMER CAMPS Camp leaders have long recognized that a main reason more young people don’t make Jewish camp-ing part of their annual summer experience has been because they choose to focus on one interest like drama or a particular sport and seek out camps that specialize in those ac-tivities. FJC has put its at-tention into funding such specialty camps that con-centrate on one main in-terest category but also in-fuse the Jewish magic for which Jewish camps have been known. FJC was able to open five new camps in 2010 as a result of the first Specialty Camps In-cubator – based on a busi-ness incubator model – and now the second wave of that program has been launched resulting from the $8.6 million invest-ment by the AVI CHAI Foundation together with the Jim Joseph Founda-tion. There seems to be some-thing inherently Jewish about summer camp. In-deed, when Jewish adults gather the conversation inevitably turns to Jewish camp memories filled with nostalgia. When two adult Jews meet for the first time, the game of “Jewish Geography” ensues and “Which camp did you go to?” and “Did you know so-and-so who went to that camp?” are the unavoid-able questions. As Eisen has written about Jewish summer camp, “For once in these kids’ lives, Jewishness is not something they are or do off to the side of life, in Hebrew school or syn-agogue. It is not a sub-ject for debate but simply there, taken for granted, a part of what happens 24/7.” No matter what the activity – from baseball and boating to crafts and campfires – the social as-pects of Jewish camp all play out in a constant Jew-ish milieu. The benefits of those summer experi-ences are reaped over the course of a lifetime for the Jewish individual, and in turn for the Jewish com-munity as well. Spring is upon us and we are now focused on Passover, but thousands of young Jew-ish children are already counting the days until school vacation and their own exodus to the free-dom of another memo-rable summer at Jewish camp. Reprinted with the permission of Rabbi Jason Miller, as ap-peared in the Huffington Post on March 30, 2012 Jewish summer camps are not only fun, but they are also places to meet new friends in an environment that celebrates your faith. At Jew-ish summer camps, you can enjoy sports, arts and crafts, music and more while practicing and observ-ing important Jewish traditions. The Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia is pleased to announce that it has needs-based scholar-ships available for families from the Greater Philadelphia region seeking to send their children to non-profit, Jewish-identity day camps and overnight camps during the Sum-mer of 2013. Federation is proud to sponsor two funds, which last year helped nearly 600 children from low-and moderate-income house-holds to further develop their Jewish identities and establish new friend-ships with other Jewish children. Families reporting net incomes of less than $100,000 on their 2012 IRS tax returns are encouraged to apply for awards generally ranging between 10% and 30% of tuition. Families with higher incomes, but with special circumstances, are also encouraged to apply. For further information, please contact Drew Martin by email at dmartin@jfgp.org or phone at 215-832-0530. The T he Jewish Ex overnIGhT CampS Camp Ramah in the Poconos Lakewood, PA 215-885-8556 www.ramahpoconos.org Co-ed, grades 3 through 10. Jewish living and learning in an overnight camp setting. Offering aquatics, performing & visual arts, sports, outdoor adventure, Hebrew lan-guage, and Jewish studies. Schol-arships available. Camp Saginaw Oxford, PA 888-477-CAMP askus@campsaginaw.com www.campsaginaw.com Camp Saginaw is a coed, residen-tial camp in picturesque Chester County, PA on over 300 acres with a lake, creek, and two pools. We of-fer a variety of sessions and over 50 activities including sports, arts, aquatics and adventure programs. Jewishexponent.com Jewish exponent
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