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DEBRA B. DARVICK
Special to the Jewish News

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Top: Aaron Rosen loves the waterfront at
Tamarack's Camp Maas.

Above: Julie Zuckerman
and bunkmate Liza Stern of
Chicago at Lake of the Woods Camp.

ummer camp has come a long way
since Alan Sherman's Jeffrey Skinner
got ptomaine poisoning after dinner
at Camp Granada.
Whether a youngster's passion is sports,
music, theater or film, a camp exists to fit the
bill. Camps of every specialty abound, yet
some things remain constant. Summer camp
is a home away from home, an incomparable
universe where deep friendships are formed,
new skills are mastered and independence is
gained, sometimes one tearful letter at a
time.
And for those youngsters attending a
Jewish camp, the summer months are not
only a place to gain dexterity at the potter's
wheel, but at living Judaism 24/7 as well.
When Debby Rosen's children were ready
for camp, she called the Jewish Consrvative
movement's Camp Ramah in Canada. Having
attended Ramah in the Poconos as a young-
ster, the Farmington Hills mother was eager
for her children to have a similar experience.

"I loved Ramah so much that I went back
every year. I went to Israel and then was a
counselor. I wanted Shari and Aaron to have
the same experience that I did," Rosen
recalls.
Aaron, 14, a student at Warner Middle
School, took to Ramah instantly and will
return for his fourth summer in June.
"Aaron met all these terrific kids from
Grand Rapids, Cleveland and Milwaukee and
had a blast," Debby says. "They have a strong
waterfront, and water-skiing is Aaron's first
love. I'm happy that he is going to camp for
fun, but he learned a lot with regards to
Jewish experience, too.
"He knows how to daven [pray] now and
is trying to observe Shabbat more than he
did previously. He took on much more than
we'd planned for him to do at his bar mitz-
vah. Ramah has added a whole new dimen-
sion to his life."
Researching camps for their daughter Julie,
a sophomore at Andover High School, Betsy
Appleton and husband Eric Zuckerman of
Bloomfield Hills had other criteria. "I was
looking for a camp in Michigan that was all

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