By Rabbi Rachel Maimin, Faculty

I still remember it as if it were yesterday.
It is the end of my first week at Kutz Camp.
We have thoroughly cleaned our cabin, Hill 1.
We have gotten ourselves ready for Shabbat –
20 girls sharing one bathroom,
hair dryers and straightening irons
fighting for outlet space.

We step out of our cabin,
waiting just outside.
We hear the sound of music floating down the hill,
guitars and the voices of songleaders,
of counselors, and of fellow campers fill the air.
Closer and closer the beautiful sound draws,
until finally it arrives at our door.

We join the group,
walking and singing our way down the hill,
around the main building,
and down to the willows.

We join together in songs of praise,
welcoming Shabbat,
thanking a creative source greater than ourselves
for this beautiful world which surrounds us.
It is the first time I have really felt Shabbat’s presence.
I can almost reach out and touch
the very essence of this special day.
At this instant,
in this community,
time stops.

We are present for Shabbat
and for one another.

This was my experience
as a participant
at Kutz Camp,
the Reform Movement’s leadership training program
for teenagers.
And this experience
has been lived out
by thousands upon thousands
of children and teenagers
and young adults and not so young adults
who spend time every summer at Jewish camp.
I had the great privilege earlier this month
of returning for a second summer
to Goldman Union Camp Institute, to GUCI,
our Reform Movement’s regional summer camp
located in the suburbs of Indianapolis.
Serving as faculty for two weeks this summer,
I experienced,
once again,
just how much Jewish summer camp matters,
just how much GUCI matters.
We hear this over and over again
because it is true:
Jewish summer camp is among the highest predictors
of a strong adult Jewish identity.
In a national study released in 2011,
which included over 27,000 interviews,
900 of which were conducted right here in Cincinnati,
HUC-JIR and NYU professor Steven Cohen,
along with several colleagues,
found that, unequivocally,
“Camp Works.”[i]
They write,
“What do children bring home with them
from a stay at Jewish overnight camp?
The analysis indicates that they bring,
first of all,
an increased inclination
to practice Jewish behaviors in their lives,
from Shabbat candle lighting
to using Jewish websites,
and to appreciate the value of Jewish charity.
Secondly,
they bring an increased inclination
to value and seek out the experience
of Jewish community,
whether in the immediate sense
of joining other Jews in prayer
or in the more abstract sense
of identifying with fellow Jews in Israel.
These acquisitions will enrich the lives of campers now
and in their adult future.”[ii]
“As adults,
[those who attended Jewish overnight camp]
are 21% more likely to feel that being Jewish
is very important.”[iii]

Why is this?
Why does Jewish overnight camp have such a strong impact on the lives of those who attend?

Of course there is no one single answer –
camp consists of many layers
that are beautifully woven together,
taking the best of what we know
about Jewish education,
and community building,
and leadership development,
and Jewish music and prayer,
and how to live Jewish time,
and bringing it all together
to form one deeply textured and colorful tapestry.

A taste of community building:
Every day,
GUCI begins with roll call,
a time for the whole community to come together,
many still in pajamas,
many half asleep,
to start the morning
by singing together 3 songs:
Modeh Ani – how grateful I am to be alive today!
Sh’ma – a reminder that we are all connected,
that just as our God is 1,
so too are we one community,
one world,
at one with God.
The Na Na Song, whose words we say together
in English first:
Blessed are You,
Adonai our God,
Ruler of the universe,
who has given us the opportunity
to mend the world!
We sing together,
we jump together
(well, some of us jump together),
we clap together.
We see one another,
one community
made up of individuals,
individuals who matter,
individuals who know each other.

A taste of leadership development:
I was privileged to spend two weeks this summer
alongside Anaf,
the oldest unit of campers,
filled with rising 9th and 10th graders.
These teens are amazing.
They are filled with insight and depth,
they are leaders at camp,
and they care for one another so deeply.
And,
they are still campers.
Their counselors have a balancing act to perform –
how to be their role models
and how to be their friends.
Sitting with the counselors of Anaf,
themselves only 18 or 19 or 20 years old,
I was moved one particular evening,
maybe the second night of camp.
Lying down on our stomachs,
heads in the middle of the circle,
this group studied individual pictures
of every single camper,
repeating their images
until they could recognize and name
every single camper in their unit.
Not every single camper in their cabin,
or every single camper in their discussion group.
Every single camper in their unit.
Because camp is about community.
Camp is about being known by those around you.
And camp is about being able to bring your truest self,
your goofiest self,
your most intellectual self,
your most daring self,
and your most loving self.
And the counselors know
that if they do not bring these qualities,
and if they do not know their campers,
then their campers will not see firsthand
that knowing and being known
is a deep and real Jewish value.
These counselors are building leadership skills
that they will use for the rest of their lives.
Skills for taking care of others,
for supporting others,
for pushing when necessary,
for having difficult conversations.
And they do so because they love GUCI,
because their counselors did so for them,
because they care about the Jewish identities
that they are helping their campers to build,
because they love the sense of community
and the love and acceptance
that is so pervasive at camp,
that flows between and among
every single person at camp,
regardless of status.

A taste of Jewish music and prayer:
It has been raining for days on end.
Finally,
a break in the sky.
Shabbat morning dawns
and the day is beautiful.
We can finally be together outdoors
in the Beit T’filah,
the outdoor chapel.
The whole camp community sits together,
having prayed,
having heard words from the Torah,
and words about the Torah.
The service is concluding,
and we join together in song,
B’tzelem Elohim – based on the idea
that we are all made in the image of God,
and that our community,
our relationships,
are in fact what make us in the image of God.
Campers,
counselors,
staff members,
we raise our voices in song,
and put our arms around each other.
For this moment,
and so many others like it,
it just doesn’t matter who is setting next to whom.
We are all one community,
a community filled with love,
and that love is shown
by the lack of self-consciousness,
and the abundance of acceptance,
as arms are thrown around one another,
and each row sways in rhythm with the music,
singing out,
“When I reach out to you and you to me,
we become b’tzelem Elohim.
When we share our hopes and our dreams,
each one of us b’tzelem Elohim.”

As our researchers explain,
“The bonding experience of camp
not only builds a long-lasting taste
and yearning for community;
it also creates habits of Jewish practice.
It makes Judaism part and parcel
of life’s most joyous moments.
Moreover,
those moments are experienced as integral parts of life
in a beloved community.”[iv]
May we be so wise
as to continue to provide this sense of community
and leadership development
and love for Judaism
through meaningful camping experiences
for our children and grandchildren
and many generations to come.
And may we also be so fortunate
as to know such a community for ourselves,
so that we too may experience
life’s most joyous moments
as integral pats of life
in our beloved Jewish community.

Kein Yehi Ratzon.
May these words be worthy of coming true.

[i] Cohen, Steven, et al. “Camp Works: The Long-Term Impact of Jewish Overnight Camp.” 2011. http://www.jewishcamp.org/sites/default/files/u5/NEW%20Camp_Works_for_Web.pdf
[ii] Ibid, 17.
[iii] Ibid, 11.
[iv] Ibid, 17.