COURTESY CAMPJCASHALOM.COM
Camp to Camp
Tamarack reaches out to help Malibu camp destroyed by fi re.
JENNIFER LOVY CONTRIBUTING WRITER
M
ore than 2,300 miles from the picturesque
grounds of Camp Tamarack in Ortonville
sit the charred remains of three Jewish
overnight camps in Malibu that were destroyed by a
deadly wildfire that recently claimed the lives of at
least 88 people in California.
Upon learning about the devastating loss of almost
every single structure at the Camp JCA Shalom — an
institution Tamarack leadership knows through a
mutual affiliation with the JCC Association (JCCA)
— Tamarack’s CEO Steve Engel was one of many to
reach out to the director of the California camp to
see what could be done to help.
“The destruction that the Woolsey fires caused at
Camp JCA Shalom is reverberating across the Jewish
world. There has been an outpouring of support from
JCC camps and communities that demonstrates the
strength and power of the JCC movement,” said Jodi
Sperling, JCCA senior consultant on overnight camp.
According to Sperling, leaders from other West
Coast JCC camps drove hours to be with the JCA
Shalom team, bringing food and supplies. Camps
across North America have sent meals and gift
cards to JCA Shalom’s year-round staff, 30 of whom
lived on site and lost everything in the wildfires.
Like Tamarack, JCA Shalom is used year-round for
retreats and other camp experiences.
Sperling, who obtained her master’s in social work
and certificate in Jewish communal services and
Jewish studies from the University of Michigan in
2002 and completed a one-year field placement at
Tamarack, added: “The road to recovery will be long
and hard, but JCA Shalom knows they won’t have to
go through it alone.”
Camp Hess Kramer and its smaller sister camp,
Gindling Hilltop, were the other Malibu camps
destroyed by the horrific fire. However, because of
team remain positive, encouraged and ready to move
forward. In a recent email, they say, ‘Together, we
will turn ashes to blossoms,’ and that’s exactly what
Camp JCA Shalom in Malibu was one of three Jewish camps to be
destroyed by fire in California.
Steve Engel
Weingarden-Devaney
Tamarack’s affiliation with JCA Shalom through
the JCCA, leadership choose to focus its attention
on this particular camp by donating to the camp’s
wildfire relief fund. Also, through social media,
Tamarack is sharing camp updates, including ways to
help JCA Shalom.
“I was just in California, miles removed from the
fires, yet totally connected to the pain felt by those
directly affected,” said Lee Trepeck, director of Camp
Maas at Tamarack Camps. “As a community, our
entire Tamarack Camps family shares in the sadness
of damages and losses endured at Camp JCA Shalom,
Camp Hess Kramer and Gindling Hilltop Camp.
“Even through destruction, the spirit at their
camps endures. In Judaism, love thy neighbor is con-
sidered a paramount principle. So while we feel deep
sympathy for the damages at these Jewish summer
camps, we also recognize that so many may have lost
even more. Our heavy hearts extend to this entire
community.”
According to Engel, Joel Charnick, longtime direc-
tor of JCA Shalom, was overwhelmed by the amount
of support coming from camps and other organiza-
tions in the wake of the fires.
“Despite the devastation, Joel and the JCA Shalom
remain positive, encouraged and ready to move
forward. In a recent email, they say, ‘Together they
will turn ashes to blossoms,’ and that’s exactly what
they will do — together. They are not in this alone,
as they have the entire Jewish camping community
behind them,” Engel said.
All the camps plan to rebuild and, in the meantime,
are in the process of securing temporary locations.
Caryn Weingarden-Devaney of Commerce
Township attended both Hess Kramer and Hilltop.
“Much of my Jewish identity is because of those
camps,” she said. “It was, is and always will be the
most special Shabbat service on Earth.”
A few years ago, her family attended the 60th-an-
niversary celebration of Kramer and, in July, she took
her children, Tamarack campers, to California to
attend the 50th-anniversary celebration of Hilltop.
“I was in tears, telling them what happened,” she
said. “However, no fire can destroy the memories
and friendships we created at camp. It cannot take
away their magic and their spirit.” ■
To donate to Camp JCA Shalom, visit shalominstitute.com/
wildfire/relief-fund/#donate. To donate to Camp Hess Kramer
and Gindling Hilltop Camp, visit wbtcamps.org/recovery. You can
read more and view additional photos at https://shalominstitute.
com/wildfire/facility-photos.
These images are difficult to look at, and we ask you to be
cautious with whom and how you share them, particularly with
younger children. If you are struggling with how to share and
process this news, resources are available at the link above.
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