Jewish Camps are Great by:Ariel Kay

“What do you mean, you’ve never been away from home before?” This was the question I asked my new friends over and over again my first semester at Brandeis. I had been going away from home for two months every summer since I was 11. The possibility that someone, particularly a Jewish youth, had never been to summer camp was almost unfathomable to me.

I belong to the youth movement Habonim Dror North America, which runs seven camps, or machanot, throughout the United States and Canada. I began attending Camp Na’aleh in upstate New York in 2002. Na’aleh was my first experience at a place that was completely Jewish. I had gone to public school my whole life, and my small New Jersey town was mostly Christian. Being surrounded by kids whom I had never met before, and yet who shared similar experiences of growing up a little bit different opened my eyes to a world I never knew existed.  Suddenly, everyone in my immediate surroundings could relate to the trial of explaining kashrut to their friends and laugh together at the Israeli accents we tried to mimic.

Camp is a wonderful place to meet other Jews, a place to feel as though you not only belong, but that you’re in the majority. Those are great things. But that was not all that Na’aleh offers.

Na’aleh was the first place I learned about important social issues, related to both Jews and non-Jews alike. It was where I first heard about labor unions, the crisis in Darfur and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Habonim Dror is special, because it provides more than just a space for Jewish kids to meet and mingle. It provides a platform for critical thought, open and honest discussion, and establishment of values. Each day, along with swimming, chugim (clubs) and games, my age group and I spent an hour and a half with our madrichim (counselors) tackling a specific issue. These ranged from learning about the kibbutz movement, to how to connect to nature, to the pros and cons of peaceful protests. These subjects were often, though not always, framed in a Jewish context.

Now I am 20 years old, and I have worked as a counselor at Na’aleh for the past three summers. I also took a year off between high school and college to go on Workshop, Habonim Dror’s yearlong program in Israel. The tables have turned. I’m no longer amazed at the Special Days the counselors run, because I’m the one staying up until 3 a.m. to prepare them. What I am amazed at, however, are my campers. Every year they impress me with their interest in learning, as well as their ability to truly include everyone. Na’aleh is small. This past summer was the first year we had over 100 campers. Everyone at camp knows one another, from the eight-year-old first timers to the 15-year-olds who like to think they know it all. We come together as a community like nothing I have ever seen before. When one camper leaves early or comes late, the atmosphere of the place is noticeably altered.

My friends from Na’aleh are still my best friends today. Most of the people that I work with during the summer started camp around the same age that I did. And now, most of them continue to work in the Jewish community during the school year, whether it’s working at Hebrew schools like BJEP, running kenim (events campers attend during the year) or involving themselves in some form of Israeli activism on campus.  I know that none of these young adults would have the commitment to youth education or to bettering the Jewish community were it not for the lessons we learned in Habonim Dror.

Summer camp is an experience unlike any other. I would encourage every kid I know to try it out. Living, if only for a few weeks, in a place created entirely for young people is empowering and eye-opening. Na’aleh made me the person I am today, and I will always be grateful for that.