Up Frog NORMALCY page 6 • "When I come to camp, there are times, just seeing the chil- dren, knowing their prognoses, what they're up against, that I have to walk away and compose myself," he says. "But most of the time, the children are having fun, smiling, dancing and singing. The camp has such a profound influence on the chil- dren." He recalls one girl who had five hours of surgery one day, fol- lowed by seven the next. "She was very .depressed, wouldn't eat. I called her, reminded her about camp, said what we were going to do [neXt year], and she started to eat." Rabbi Goldberg teaches karate and meditative breathing to the boys, while the Mrs. Gold- berg teaches lamaze breathing to the girls — all of which helps during painful treatments. "I use karate to teach to breathe be- yond pain and fear and that they can control their environment," he says. At camp, "you don't have to worry about CT scans or needles or X-rays or anything like that," says Ruth, 16, from Ann Arbor. "I go to different cancer camps.. This one is special because it's just for Jews. It's not the same thing as being in Israel, but al- most." As many as 100 kids can at- year, while she was dating their son, Avi. "It was great, very positive, not sad at all. The point is to give these kids whatever will make them smile," she says. Although most people would expect a visit to Camp Simcha to be somber and tear-laden, it is just the opposite. Why? "Because it's not like you're meeting them in a hospital," ex- plains Altea Steinherz, who lives with her husband in Jerusalem. "They're at camp, nor- mal kids — OK, so the in- firmary is a lot more high-tech than most. But you're meeting kids in an environment where they're totally relaxed and happy. Many of them don't have Oak Park native Rlvky Schwartz, with Ellana, 12, from Israel: The best thing is campers' smiles. that year-round." Children come from ob- tend, but the population varies, you can't come back. Next year depending on who goes back and I'm off three years," he laments. servant and secular families alike. "One of the most fascinat- forth to the hospital. This sum- Ben, 13, also from Atlanta, ing parts of the programs is that mer, the campers' ages ranged says there's nothing he doesn't we have children who are grand- from 4 to 21. like about Camp Simcha. His Do-v, 12, from Atlanta, says friends there "are kind of more children of Satmar rabbis, and the friendships made at Camp understanding and because of little boys with earrings," Rabbi Simcha are different from the their disease, they're more ma- Goldberg says. "Everyone has such a good at- ones at home because the other ture." titude, and no matter how upset campers "have problems that Drs. Peter and Laurel Stein- you have. The only thing that herz oversee medical care. Their they are, everyone's happy," says makes me unhappy is that if daughter-in-law, Altea Stein- Adrienne, 14, from Palm Harbor, you're off chemo for three years, herz, first came to the camp last Fla. Justin, 14, from Hallandale, COLORWORKS STUDIO OF INTERIOR DESIGN Fla., says Camp Simcha is spe- cial because "we're all friends, all come together. Around the world a lot of Jews aren't getting along, and we're all getting along, all different types ofJews." Camp Simcha packs more into three weeks than some camps do in two months, says Ruthie Gold- berg. One day a circus comes to camp. The next, stunt men on bi- cycles. And on another, day, the kids pile onto four busses to go to the mall, beginning at Toys 'R. Us, which opens early just for these campers. As the busses pull away from camp, the ambulance follows at the end of the line — a shocking reminder. The children at Camp Simcha may appear to be viva- cious and spirited, but they are precious, almost fragile. The first summer that the Goldbergs came to camp, Ruthie Goldberg went to the waterfront and asked who would like to learn to 'dive. A girl with only one leg raised her hand. Goldberg was skeptical. But "within minutes, she did a per- fect dive," she recalls. "Whatev- er they put their minds to ... there's a strength they have that none of us could have. 'These kids give us more than we give them," Mrs. Goldberg says. 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