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This column comes your way from Great Barrington, MA – home of Eisner Camp, which is our region’s Union of Reform Judaism overnight camp.  Like most URJ camps, Eisner invites rabbis to spend up to a week with them during their different summer sessions.  Guest rabbis teach, help with services and electives, and are generally on hand as a rabbinic presence for the kids.  So, armed with my tallit and a big bottle of sunscreen, here I am in a place I once thought I’d never be again.

I wonder how much has changed since my own days as a camper, and how much remains the same.  Is camp still a place that feels contained yet expansive, wild yet safe?  Where the days are jam packed with activities, yet rest time is prioritized?  Where it’s possible to be overtaken by exhilaration, homesickness and wonder all the span of an hour?  Where, in the words of Roger Bennet, co-author of Camp Camp, “everyone gets … a fresh start to define themselves … a second chance to be the kind of kid they always wanted to be?”

My own camp memories are mixed, to be honest.  Some days held the warmth of inclusion, others the sting of exclusion.  Who was admired and who was derided could change on a dime, almost always without reason.  Camp was also the place I learned I could face those tough times and live through them.  It is where I learned the melody of Shalom Rav that we sing at our own services at TBD.  Havdalah first won my heart at Camp Eisner as everyone stood by the lake and sang their hearts out with hands outstretched towards the light.  And with Jonah finishing his first summer session here, our family creates one more piece of shared history. 

One thing we do know is that Jewish camping experiences go a long way towards fostering a strong sense of Jewish identity.  This truth is born out in studies, but we need look no further than the reflections of our own teens over the years.  Some that I have known, and some here this summer have shared that time at camp “really adds to my understanding and appreciation of being Jewish.  There is a sense of safety, a sense of belonging, a sense of community associated with being Jewish … that manifests itself at camp.  My remarkable memories from camp have deeply shaped my Jewish identity.  I have experienced numerous moments there where everything just seemed perfect and in place.”

I can’t think of better hopes for our young people than these, in every season.

Meanwhile, may the rest of the summer offer all of us opportunities for rejuvenation and reinvention, whatever our proximity to camp!

Have a beautiful Shabbat, and we’ll see each other soon!