On My Mind
Executive editor — issues and opinionsGive Our Kids Summer Camp
So I’m worried about camp and campers.
And I’m asking all of us who can to pick out a camp of your choice, maybe even the one you attended, and send them a check that you can afford, even if it’s for just a few dollars.
Camp is the part of the foundation of Jewish life.
So many married couples met at one of many overnight summer camps or even day camps.
Camps are critical to the connections we make as Jews.
I attended Camp Milldale. Some of the best time of my life was spent at that camp. I remember counselors and bunk houses and camp songs. I remember riding the bus home exhausted from the swimming, softball, talent shows, arts and crafts and so much more.
Then I attended Habonom D’ror Moshava when it was in Annapolis. Again, some of the most important feeds to my Jewish appetite came from Mosh. I still sing some of the camp’s songs in my head and thank HaShem that I had that experience.
And finally, I worked as a counselor at Camp Greyrock. Same feelings only as a counselor, working with bunk.
With so many great camps in this area to choose from, it’s so important to Jewish continuity that we give. And in this day of the Internet, giving to camps has been made easier.
Again, I remember my dad taking me to Sunny’s Surplus to buy the trunk, rain gear, sleeping bag and canteen.
I remember sending letters home.
Care packages.
My first camp crush.
My counselor actually fought in the Six Day War, and he was an instant connection of Ahavas Yisroel or love for Israel for all of us.
Color wars, late night raids, painting the Shabbat Shalom sign, dancing, softball, basketball, swimming and even parents’ day.
Times are tough.
The economy is what it is.
But if we can send whatever we can send to these camps, then the children we are giving over our Jewish future and leadership to will have an opportunity to experience what many of us experienced.
Remember the one counselor who could sit at the Saturday night camp fire in the woods, and tell that scary story so that you screamed and held on to your best camp friends?
That’s what we’ve got to preserve.
Wearing white and singing Shabbat songs as we walked as a camp down to the river.
I’ll never forget those moments.
I want us to give our children, even during an economic decline, those same chances.
