Publisher's Notebook
Opinion
Greatest Jewish Invention:
How About Camping?
Jewish Education
Doesn't Help
NECHEMIA MEYERS SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS
ARTHUR M. HORWITZ PUBLISHER
brochures? What could be more Jewish? At the
many discoveries that have influ- same time our kids are picking and choosing their
enced the development of Western sessions, they are honing their Scholastic As-
civilization. Life-saving vaccines. sessment Test-taking skills. Here are some of the
The theory of relativity. And possibilities:
overnight camping.
Yes, that summer rit-
ual which transfers our FOOD: (Choose 1)
children from play sta- E kosher
tions and Internet chat
rooms to mildewy bunks and bug juice ❑ kosher style
is a uniquely Jewish invention. It com- ❑ outright treife
bines biblical wanderings, name changes,
an affinity for the professions and SAT JEWISHNESS:
preparation to mold future generations.
Go ahead. Ask the rabbis. They'll tell E Orthodox
you that during the Exodus from Egypt,
Conservative
the children of Israel spent 40 years wan- E
dering in the wilderness (they could have 0 Reform
chosen the teen caravan option) pitch- ❑ Humanistic
ing tents, holding barbecues, singing
songs around pillars of fire and com- ❑ kibbutz
plaining about the quality of the staff. ❑ moshav
And they ate manna, even though "they
E settler
knew not what it was."
Still not sure? Have you noticed the
names of the camps? Tamakwa. Tanu- POP QUIZ:
ga. Wahanowin. Very rustic. Decidedly Food is to Jewisimess as
American, Native American. (Maybe
a. helium is to latex
their owners wanted to apply for casi-
no licenses all along.) Since arriving to
b. fetish is to Freud
these friendly shores, changing sur-
c. saucer is to Frisbee
names has been a Jewish art form. Af-
ter all, would you send your kid to Camp
d. carbon dioxide is to ferrous oxide
Tulmult? Camp Zaftig? Camp
e.both a and c
Vildechaya? Maybe Camp Tony Curtis
or Camp Kirk Douglas?
Ask your kids who are the most im- PROGRAMS: (Choose 2)
portant adults at camp. Not the bunk
counselor or the camp director. Not the ❑ weight loss
naturalist or the dietitian. Not even the E horseback riding
coaches. Hands .down, it's the resident E. wilderness
doctor and the resident pharmacist. They
provide a combination of vital services E. caravan
(treatment of insect bites, bouts of food ❑ fine arts
poisoning and dispensation of medica-
tions) with an ongoing career day. Imag- ❑ basketball
ine ... become a doctor or pharmacist and ❑ swimming
you, too, could spend every summer at
❑ tennis .
camp with your family, in your bunk!
But make room. There's a trend to- ❑ sports team ownership
ward having a resident attorney — to ❑ sports agent
keep an eye on the resident doctor and
pharmacist and to file suit if an umpire
ACCOMMODATIONS: (Choose 1)
blows a call during the color war.
And what about the camping ❑ Rustic (walk to bathroom; no hot water;
Jews have been credited with
no toilet paper)
Tweener (walk to bathroom;
warm water, one-ply paper)
❑ Almost home (bathroom attached
to bunk; hot water;
three-ply paper)
But the ultimate contribution of Jewish
camping to Western civilization? It reminds us
how important we are to our kids. For the lit-
tle things, like doing their laundry and cook-
ing their favorite meal, even if its only macaroni
and cheese. For the bigger things, like encour-
aging their independence and reinforcing their
Jewishness in subtle and not-so-subtle ways.
The counselors, directors, coaches and resident
doctors merely provide us with a break from
our most important task — raising our chil-
dren. 0
The assumption that Jewish ed- Jews, who go on believing that
ucation is the key to Jewish con- Jewish education can make a
tinuity is unfounded, according major difference.
Take, for example, Professor
to Dr. Stephen Miller, a British
Alan Dershowitz, author of a
sociologist.
Speaking at the recent Bar- new book titled The Vanishing
Ilan University workshop on American Jew. He thinks it
"Jewish Survival: The Identifi- would be possible to counter as-
cation Problem At The End similation and intermarriage by
Of The 20th Century," Dr. creating academically excellent
Miller based his conclusion on secular schools with a strong
a 1995 study of British Jewry Jewish component.
sponsored by the Institute for
Jewish Policy Researe
don.
The largest and mos
resentative survey of
kind ever carried out,
encompassed not mil:
committed Jews, but
also those who are as-
similated, intermar-
ried or uninvolved.
Since intermar-
riage is identified as
the main enemy of
Jewish survival, and
has already reached
44 percent in Britain,
the study outlined the
factors that tend to e
courage it. They inchk
weak religious home
university education
and a lack of Jewish
At those schools, prayer
youth club experience.
As to whether a Jewish edu- would be optional, and the only
cation tends to lessen the criterion for acceptance would
chances of intermarriage, Dr. be a desire to learn from Jewish
Miller said: "It is not, in itself, a tradition.
The Dershowitz scheme
significant factor if parental re-
ligiosity is taken into account." promises much more than it can
In the United States, where deliver, for the aforementioned
intermarriage has passed the studies clearly indicate that the
50 percent mark, the situation Jewishness of a young person
is similar says Professor Sergio and his propensity to intermar-
ry are determined by the Jew-
ishness of his home rather than
of his education.
Home life is more the So Jewishness
parents who want to im-
bue their children with a Ju-
important than
daism they don't themselves
practice are not likely to suc-
formal Jewish
ceed; in this sphere, as in oth-
education.
ers, there is little to be gained
by saying "Do as I say and not
DellaPergola, a renowned as I do."
In one of the Jewish papers
Hebrew University demogra-
that carried the Dershowitz in-
pher.
In a survey on the future of terview, there was a full-page
the Jewish people in the next ad which — albeit unintention-
millennium, Professor Del- ally— said something that may
laPergola declares that the main be more cogent about the future
factor working against inter- of Diaspora Jewry.
The headline at the top read:
marriage in the United States
is the religiosity of parents and "Celebrate with the entire Jew-
the degree of religious obser- ish community — Sunday,
March 16. Special guest speak-
vance in the home.
And while Jewish education ers, music, food." And just be-
does heighten a young person's low, in much bigger letters, the
sense of identification with the title of the affair was given, "Af-
Jewish people, it does not, on its firmation 6000 — Celebrating
own, make it more likely that the Future of the Jewish Com-
he or she will marry within the munity into the Jewish Year
6000 (2240 CE)."
fold.
And what is the institution
These observations don't
seem to discourage concerned that will promote Jewish sur-
vival for another 250 years? It's
Nechemia Meyers writes from ' the old one — the family. 0
Rehovot, Israel.