CaMP

The Girl Next Door

In Israel, moms often rely on teens from the neighborhood
for a much-needed summer break.

dations, and hiking and scouting are
the primary activities.
Parents seeking less expensive
camps, or camps closer to home,
often opt for those run by neighbor-
hood councils or community centers.
At least in Jerusalem, most of the com-
munity centers offer half-day camps
only, though some have a full-day
option (until 4 p.m.) due to parental
demand. These camps, for kinder-
garten through third-graders, are
geared toward working parents and
may run as long as four weeks. A
light breakfast is served campers
each morning and, for the full-day
campers a hot lunch is provided.
Typical camping activities include
sports, swimming, field trips, arts and
crafts, and drama. For older
campers, an overnight trip also might

Diane Schaeffer
Appleiree Staff Writer

or most Israeli parents, the ques-
tion "What do we do with the
children this summer?" probably
isn't addressed until near the school
year's end on June 30.
Day camps, keitanot, abound dur-

ing the state school system's two-
month vacation, and posters advertis-
ing them often go up only at the last
minute. But there's a catch: Most
camps last half a day, until 1 p.m.,
and run just a week or two.
In Israel, summer camps come in
several different varieties, from the
highly professional, to the community
center-sponsored, to "home-grown"
keitanot. A fairly recent arrival on the
Israeli scene are all-day and
overnight camps that specialize in
everything from science to hiking to
horseback riding, and American-style
day camps. In addition, established
camps are run by institutions such as
the Society for the Protection of
Nature in Israel and the Israel
Museum.
Indeed, the Israel Museum's camp,
for first- through eighth-graders, is an
institution in itself. Started 20 years
ago, it is still going strong. The half-
day camp offers a three-week and a
iwo-week session and focuses on a
different theme each year. Last year's
theme was "The Box-Interdisciplinary
Art." Activities included arts and
crafts, museum tours, lectures, movies

Diane Schaeffer is the former
editor of The Kansas City Jewish
Chronicle. She and her husband,
former Detroiter Akiva Schaeffer,
live in Jerusalem with their three chil-
dren Yehuda, Sara and Yitzhak.

1998

74

Yehuda and Sara already have experienced the fun of day camps in

Israel. Yitzhak still dreams of the day...

three-week, full-day camp session —
with transportation to and from the
camp site — features swimming
lessons and weekly field trips to
everything from a fun park to a tank
making.
museum, dolphinarium and moshav
Camps such as the Israel Museum's
canneries.
Crafts such as woodwork-
can take a large chunk out of the
ing, sports like soccer and baseball,
average Israeli family's budget, but
morning and afternoon prayers, and
many larger corporations will refund
lots of camp spirit in the form of color
or partially refund camp costs for their
wars
and rousing songs round out the
employees' offspring in the interest of
activities. Snacks are provided, but
keeping parents on the job during the
lunch is on the parents.
summer break. However, for the
Each of the Israeli youth movements
working mother, an American-style,
also
sponsors day and overnight
all day camp is more of a life-saver.
camps, the latter of which might run
One mother speaks enthusiastically
two to three days for younger child-
about the American-style camp her
ren to 10 days for the older crowd.
son started attending six years ago
Usually these camps emphasize the
when he was 3 years old and the
great Israeli outdoors. Sleeping bags
only alternative was one- or two-week
under the stars, rather than wooden
half-day camps. A religious camp
bunks, are the established accommo-
established by former Americans, the

and a trip to a planetarium — i.e., a
world in a box." Older children
also were able to choose from pho-
tography, multimedia and jewelry

"

.

be offered.
Israel's religious communities offer a
separate set of camps for children: =,
For instance, the neighborhood
Orthodox girls' school sponsors day
camps for its students, run by teen-
aged counselors, similar to those run
by the neighborhood community cen-
ters. Like most other day camps, the
program includes swimming, field
trips, arts and crafts, drama and edu-c--;
cational demonstrations. In addition,
many teachers, or rebbes, in .
Orthodox boys' grade schools offer a
one week day camp for their stu-
dents, independent of the school.

A Cottage Industry

Summer vacation has given rise to a
thriving cottage industry in Israel's reli-
gious community in the form of day
camps run by pre-teens and barely
teen-agers for younger children.

