28 | FEBRUARY 6 • 2020
Camp Young Judaea Midwest director creates
Jewish connections for generations.
ROBIN ANDERSON SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS
Camp Guide
F
rom the moment I set foot on camp,
I have been supported by a learning
environment that meets me where I
am and challenges me to grow,
” says Aaron
Levine as he enters the Camp Young Judaea
(CYJ) Midwest office for his first day as an
assistant director.
CYJ Midwest’
s community, Levine says,
“played a central role in the development of
my Jewish identity and has surrounded me
with role models who moonlight as lifelong
friends.
”
Levine grew up in West Bloomfield and
was first connected to CYJ in high school;
however, his most prominent experiences
were spending many summers in staff roles
as a counselor, unit head and program
director. His time working at camp, along
with a gap year in Israel on Young Judaea’
s
Year Course, solidified his connection to
Judaism and a personal relationship to the
land of Israel.
Summer 2020 marks a special time for
Camp Young Judaea Midwest, which will be
celebrating 50 years of fantastic memories
this spring. Many of those memories have
their roots in Michigan, as CYJ “lived” in
Chelsea, South Haven and Ortonville before
finding its permanent home in Waupaca,
Wisc., in 1989.
Camp Young Judaea Midwest is located
on an 80-acre lakefront property in Central
Wisconsin. In addition to Jewish connec-
tion, CYJ offers a wide variety of activities
including waterskiing and tubing, archery,
arts and crafts, horseback riding, camping
trips, mountain biking, dance, a makers’
lab,
sailing and boating, a high and low ropes
course and much more.
Throughout CYJ’
s 50 summers, thou-
sands of campers and staff like Levine, have
built a family with their CYJ friends. Much
like the campers, who come from all over
the Midwest, throughout the United States,
from France, Israel and Mexico, you can
find the CYJ Midwest legacy all over the
world. From the Israeli you worked with
25 years ago whose family now lives in the
United States, to a bunkmate from your first
summer whom you reconnected with at
your local synagogue, all these connections
will be rekindled on Sunday, May 24, at the
50th Anniversary Celebration in Chicago.
Being part of CYJ’
s Jewish community
is an eye-opening experience for many
campers and staff. Its pluralistic approach
to Judaism allows for participants to meet
others from all kinds of backgrounds. CYJ’
s
families range from those who are the only
Jewish person in their grade at school to
students at Jewish day schools. CYJ has
campers who come from small, medium
and large Jewish communities, all different
types of temples, synagogues and shuls, and
who celebrate Shabbat and Jewish holidays
completely differently.
CYJ has created a safe space for campers
and staff to learn from each other. It facili-
tates the opportunities to ask questions, try
new traditions and build friendships with
other Jewish campers from all walks of life.
CYJ can create a large impact on each per-
son that, in turn, creates the potential for
each person to make a small impact on the
larger Jewish community.
As one parent shared, “Our son loved his
experience at camp. We were glad for him
to experience Jewish life outside of school
and home and to experience more of a
[traditional] Shabbat experience as we do
not consistently celebrate in our interfaith
home.
”
Creating a personal connection to Israel
is a strong aspect of Camp Young Judaea
Midwest’
s values. When Julie Ruskin Ohana
of West Bloomfield
, board member, CYJ
alum and director of community engage-
ment at Frankel Jewish Academy, began
planning her trip to Israel with her family,
she contacted the CYJ office. Without
telling her daughter Avital, she connected
with Avital’
s 2018 Israeli counselor, Neta,
and set up a special meeting. Watching
Avital’
s smile spread across her entire face
when she saw Neta was exactly the reaction
Ruskin Ohana was seeking. She saw in that
moment that the community that had wel-
comed her had proven just as powerful for
her own child.
When CYJ asks current and former
campers to describe camp in one sentence,
it is often a variation of “CYJ is a family.
”
The intimate nature of 120 campers per ses-
sion offers each person the chance to grow
as an individual while learning to be part of
a group and larger community. A first-time
parent from 2019 shared this story with us:
“The camp made [our daughter] feel like
she fit in, something she does not feel at
school, and really developed her self-con-
fidence … she built strong, nurturing rela-
tionships with the counselors. Her sense
of empathy flourished at camp. She wrote
us a letter where she described how great
one staff person was and how she excelled
in her role as moderator of the talent show.
She was worried the staff member did not
know ‘
how awesome’
she is. It was a beauti-
ful display of caring, and I tribute the camp
with that.
”
CYJ is a place for each person to grow
and learn as an individual, as a Jew and
as part of a larger community that’
s like
family.
For more about Camp Young Judaea Midwest or the
May 24 reunion, contact Robin Anderson, director, at
(224) 235-4665, robin@cyjmid.org or cyjmid.org.
COURTESY OF CAMP YYOUNG JUDAEA
“
Marking
50 Years
The waterfront at Camp Young
Judaea in Waupaca, Wisc.
Avital and Shai Ohana enjoy their Camp Young Judaea
experience. Avital’
s mom surprised her with a visit
from her counselor when the family was in Israel.
TI F