The Zncl Annual Rabbi David & Alicia Nelson Legacy Fund presents

Dr. David M. Gordis

Internationally known author, Jewish scholar, lecturer,
President Emeritus, Boston Hebrew College speaking on

JUDAISM...

for relaxing and family bonding.
In today's always-connected, over-
scheduled, hustle-and-bustle society,
families need to get away for a week-
end retreat, where their together-
ness will not be interrupted by the
demands of work and school. For
more than 35 years, Tamarack Camps
has offered family camping programs
as a way to infuse families with infor-
mal Jewish experiences.
In 1988, the late Jeanette Tilchin was
serving as Tamarack Camps' registrar
and wondered why Family Camp was
only for parents and children. So the
Bubbie-Zadie Family Camp program
began as a way for grandparents to
spend a weekend
with their grand-
children, engaged in
camp programming.
There is a special
bond that is formed
between grandpar-
ents and their grand-
children during these
weekend retreats
run throughout the
summer at the Butzel
Conference Center in
Ortonville. Bubbie-
Zadie weekends
prove to be a double
blessing to parents,
who get to 1) enjoy
a weekend alone
without the demands
of their children,
and 2) can take great
pleasure in knowing their children
are building lasting relationships with
their grandparents.
Tamarack Camps' executive direc-
tor Jonah Geller emphasizes the sig-
nificance of family camping. "We're
committed to family camping because
the experiences we provide create
meaningful memories for families,
which strengthen their connection to
each other',' Geller said. "The Butzel
Conference Center is conducive to
achieving our goals, as it provides our
families with a facility to enjoy time
together in a peaceful setting. While
there are plenty of choices of activities
for everyone, the fact that we all do
it at the same location helps create a
strong feeling of cohesiveness!'
At a recent five-day Family Camp
experience, many of the parents in
attendance had spent years at Family
Camp as children. ow, they returned
with their own children to continue
the tradition. Lisa Zaks Klein was one
veteran family camper, who brought
her own family for New Year's Family

Camp, held Dec. 30 to Jan. 3. "Family
Camp offers a true Jewish communal
experience like no other, Klein said.
"I was fortunate to grow up attend-
ing family camps and now Tamarack
Camps allows my children the oppor-
tunity to be part of a larger Jewish
community from sun up to sun down."
Another longtime Family Camp
participant, Rachel Grey Ellis, also
has returned to Family Camp several
times as a parent with her own fam-
ily. "Family Camp and the values I
learned there are the legacy that my
parents have given to me and my sib-
lings," Grey said. "I am now passing
the legacy on to my children."
In December 1975,
eight families gathered
in Sheruth Village for
a Chanukah family
camp. The next year,
they moved to the
Butzel Conference
Center and made it a
gala New Year's cel-
ebration. Rick Goren
was a young boy when
he attended that first
New Year's Family
Camp, but it must
have made a lasting
impression on him
because he returned in
December 2009 with
his baby daughter to
introduce her to the
family tradition.
In this new decade, a
successful Jewish educator realizes the
need to educate the entire family. The
Jewish camp experience should not be
reserved for young children for a few
weeks each summer. Since the camp
philosophy works, we must extend
it to the entire family and encourage
more families to participate. To make
this a reality, donors and philanthropic
foundations must subsidize the fam-
ily camping experience, so that every
interested family can participate.
Helayne Shaw, director of
Tamarack's Family Camp program,
said, "There is something magical
about the family camp experience. It's
informal Jewish education at its finest.
Families at Family Camp experience
hands-on Judaism, as they are expe-
riencing quality and quantity Jewish
family time. The outside pressures are
not present. It's Jewish family, prime
time!' ❑

The Jewish
camping
experience
should not be
reserved for
young children
for a few weeks
each summer.

Jason Miller is the rabbi of Oakland

County-based Tamarack Camps. He can be

reached at miller@tamarackcamps.com .

D

Dr. Gordis

Tuesday, ay 4, 2010

offers a whole new
Perspective with his insights

7:30 p.m.
Congregation Beth Shalom

into what affects
our collective Jewish Soul

14601 W. Lincoln Rd., Oak Park,

Ticke
$12 in advance, $15 a

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Tickets & info for both events. call

248-547-7970

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