INTERFAITH
Am I Ready?
My daughter's going to a Jewish camp.
Ann Arbor
T
his summer, Gabby, our old-
est daughter, will be going
to a Jewish overnight camp.
She will be gone for two weeks, and it
will be her first extended time away
from us.
I'm having a bit of a prob-
lem with the whole concept
of camp. My wife, Bonnie,
who is Jewish, asked me if I
was uncomfortable because
it was a Jewish camp.
Ironically, even though I
am Protestant, it's not the
Jewish part that is so hard
for me.
During the 11 years that
I have been committed to
raising Gabby Jewish, my
feelings towards Jewish programs for
my children have evolved. In my early
days of parenthood, when we first
signed her up for pre-school at the JCC
of Washtenaw County, I wasn't initially
prepared for her to be in a Jewish pro-
gram. Through wonderful experiences,
however, I came to love the JCC Early
Childhood Center.
Moreover, once she graduated from
pre-school, I was on board with her
attending reli-
gious school and
Hebrew school
at our temple. So
now, a camp
with a Jewish
foundation seems natural; it's simply
her being away from home that I'm
not ready for.
I guess my camp phobia stems from
lack of personal experience. I never
went to overnight camp when I was
a kid. I don't remember any of my
friends going, either. The only "memo-
ries" of camp that I have for compari-
son come from movies. Think about
every camp movie you've ever seen:
The Parent Trap (Gabby has no twin
sister although, some mornings that
fact is in doubt); Little Darlings (I can't
explain the plot here; this is a family
paper); Friday the 13th (it took place
at a camp; it counts).
While my friends and I managed to
avoid the camp experience, my wife
is from Boston, where going to camp
is as common as growing up with a
wicked-funny accent. "Well, we live
in Michigan — and nobody goes to
camp here I thought grumpily a few
months ago while looking through
brochures. Then friends told me that
going to camp is just as automatic for
Michigan's Jewish kids. My lame ratio-
nale was blown. I was toast.
Bonnie persisted. She got me to look
into a camp in Wisconsin.
Yes, the state all the way
across Lake Michigan. We
had heard many wonderful
things about this camp from
friends whose kids go there.
We almost signed her up,
but in the end figured that
it would require us to take a
vacation to drive her there
and a vacation to pick her
up. So, no decisions made.
Then one day, Gabby told
us about a camp in Michigan where
her friend Hannah goes. We looked
at the Web site — so far so good. It
seemed very nice. After meeting with
the camp's director, Gabby was bounc-
ing full of enthusiasm. I took one look
at her face and knew that I better start
getting used to the idea of her not
being around for half of July.
Yes, it took a while, but I finally
turned my thinking around. How
How could I not .5end her to camp
f she wanted to go so badly?
could I not send her to camp if she
wanted to go so badly? In my heart
of hearts I knew that it would be a
wonderful experience for her — one
that would help her grow and become
more independent and self-confident.
She's not going to get that by me hold-
ing her hand every minute of the day.
In the meantime, I have her younger
sister, Molly, to smother with dad-
daughter bonding for that part of the
summer. Not wanting to upset Molly, I
delicately told her about Gabby's two-
week camp plans. She responded with
a huge smile on her face, "Why not
three weeks?" 7
Jim Keen is a freelance writer and col-
umnist for InterfaithFamily.com . He is
the author of "Inside Intermarriage: A
Christian Partner's Perspective on Raising
a Jewish Family" (URJ Press).
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April 26 2007
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