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

