22 | JUNE 4 • 2020 

JCC Day Camps 
Cancel Early Sessions

They are currently still hoping to run 
session 2 and post-camp session
in July and August.
J

CC Day Camps is canceling 
pre-camp and session 1 for 
its 2020 camp season. It is 
also canceling all third through 
sixth grade specialty camp 
programs and Teen Camps for 
sixth through ninth graders for 
summer, due to the coronavirus 
pandemic.
Pre-camp was set to begin 
on June 15 and session 1 was 
slated for June 22. As of last 
week, according to an internal 
email, JCC Day Camps was still 
attempting to continue with 
camp programming. Ultimately, 
it decided to cancel the first ses-
sions.

“We remain hopeful that we 
will be able to provide a mod-
ified camp program later in 
the summer for kindergarten 
through sixth graders but, at 
this point, a potential start date 
is hard to project,
” JCC Day 
Camps’
 statement read. “If we 
are able to run such a program, 
it would include new health and 
safety precautions to safeguard 
campers and staff and would 
likely preclude busing as an 
option.
”
The camps are run through 
a partnership with Tamarack 
Camps, which has already can-
celed its summer sleepaway 

programs. JCC is offering three 
different refund options for 
families who have already paid 
for camp. Families can receive a 
full refund, apply their payments 
for future camp sessions or pay 
it forward as a donation to the 
JCC.
Session 2 of the day camps, 
scheduled to begin on July 22, 
and the post-camp sessions, 
which are set to begin on Aug. 
17 and 24, have yet to be can-
celed. If they are canceled, the 
refund options will apply to 
those sessions once a decision is 
reached.
“We do appreciate your 

patience, partnership and on-go-
ing support, and we look for-
ward to being in touch as soon 
as more information becomes 
available,
” the statement reads.
“Our first priority is the health 
and safety of our campers and 
our staff,
” Brian Siegel, chief 
executive officer of the JCC, told 
the JN. “We didn’
t have enough 
confidence that we could deliver 
on our promise for the first half 
so we canceled the first sessions. 
We are anxious to be able to 
operate because we think there 
is a great need for summer camp 
but we can’
t deliver if we can’
t do 
it safely.
” 

CORRIE COLF STAFF WRITER

COURTESY OF JCC DAY CAMPS FACEBOOK

Jews in the D

D

etroit City Moishe 
House is looking for a 
new member to join 
their team this summer. 
Resident Alyssa Katz says now 
is a good time for 20-somethings 
to apply and get involved in 
Detroit’
s community of Jewish 
recent college graduates. Moishe 
House hopes to find motivated 
young Jewish adults to help orga-
nize events each month for their 
peers with the help of educa-

tional resources, a programming 
budget and training. Residents 
also receive a partial rent subsidy. 
“
Anyone who’
s motivated to 
help enrich the Detroit Jewish 
community, that’
s who were 
looking for,
” Katz said.
Moishe House was founded 
in 2006 as a response to Jewish 
college graduates outgrowing 
Jewish campus life, and not yet at 
the stage for young family pro-
grams. Moishe House is present 

in more than 100 communities 
in 27 countries and reaches more 
than 60,000 Jewish young adults 
each year. 
Typically, Moishe House holds 
five to six events a month. These 
events range from Shabbat din-
ners to lessons to social events. 
The house itself is used as a kind 
of community center. 
Although the programming 
has changed during the past few 
months due to the COVID-19 
pandemic, Detroit City Moishe 
House is still hosting at least two 
virtual events a month, including 
a recent event about Jewish fam-
ily recipes. Katz said there was a 
large turnout despite the event 
being virtual, and it provided a 
space for people to share their 
own recipes and the memories 
that go along with them. In June, 
there are plans to hold both a 
Jewish studies lesson and a yoga 
lesson virtually. 

The first Moishe House in 
Detroit opened in 2011 and 
relocated to Indian Village in 
early 2016. It currently houses 
four members who hail from 
Michigan, Missouri and Ohio. 
There is also a thriving Moishe 
House in Royal Oak. 
The organization has expand-
ed to include Jewish Learning 
Retreats for residents. It also 
runs Camp Nai Nai Nai, a Jewish 
“summer camp for adults” that 
includes typical summer camp 
activities. This year Camp 
Nai Nai Nai was held virtually 
from April 24 to May 22 as 
“Expedition Nai, The World’
s 
Largest Virtual Color War.
” A 
month’
s worth of challenges, 
from home fashion shows to 
community service activities, 
were posted on the website. 

Interested applicants can contact 

detroitcitymh@gmail.com.

Detroit City Moishe
House Seeks New Member
Social events and subsidized rent
for Jewish 20-somethings.

YAEL EICHHORN JN INTERN

COURTESY OF DETROIT CITY MOISHE HOUSE

