This is how they shall camp...

Ever since Sinai, the Jewish people have been campers. We may have lost that rugged, outdoorsy feeling over the generations, but the Torah is very clear about our camping. The Book of Numbers explicitly instructs how, where, and when the camp was to be set. Exodus tells of the time we built our first sanctuary as a tent in the wilderness with the camp surrounding it. Balaam, sent to curse Israel, instead pronounces a blessing: "Mah Tovu Ohalecha, Yaakov! Your tents are so good, Jacob!" What a good bunch of campers you are!

I arrived at the URJ's Camp Harlam yesterday to begin my two weeks of service as a camp faculty member. I have been assigned to work with the Galil unit (not to be confused with Israel's crack army unit of similar name), whose campers are going into eighth grade. I am living in "The Ritz" - an appropriately euphemistic name for the faculty barracks.

I came to camp for three reasons: First, Jewish overnight camps are among the most successful programs for instilling a strong, lasting, positive Jewish identify in our kids. Unfortunately, MRT had not sent many campers here for a while (we had a few stalwarts - Sarah, Kelsey!) and I want to boost our enrollment and see more MRT families take advantage of this amazing resource. Thanks to generous scholarships from the Foundation for Jewish Camping and MRT, two of our students received signficant incentive grants to help pay for camp. We have four campers here this session! Second, I learn a great deal during my two weeks at camp. I live and work with ten other cantors, rabbis, and educators on faculty along with those who work full time for the camps and the Union. I am able to learn best practices from others, experiment with different curricula and programs, and see the state of the art in Reform Jewish education and youth work from a national sample. It is one of the most impactful experiences I can have this year. Third, my own children are here at camp and this is a great way to experience it together. I went to Camp Bauercrest, a Jewish overnight camp, for 12 years and look forward to my kids having the lifelong friends, growth experiences, and pure fun that I enjoyed there every summer! Be sure to consider camp for you kids and ask me about it when I get home!

Have a great summer... I know we will!

MRT's campers: Sarah (left on her bunk), Rachel with her family, and (right) the lice check line (a camp must)!