48 | DECEMBER 7 • 2023
themselves, gather life skills and chant
one-of-a-kind ditties that could only
have been cooked up by clever camp
staffers.
And some 50-plus years after my last
camp adventure, I can genuinely say
that there is no Havdalah like camp
Havdalah.
CONNECTED
Our grandson, Ari, described camp as
the place where he learned to play poker
and helped bring a camp goat into one
of the bunks.
Our grandkids, even those who live
outside of Michigan, connect by wearing
Detroit-sports team clothing. Our New
Jersey granddaughter Rachel’s first day
at an Indiana camp this summer began
with a round of the Jewish geography,
camp subsection: “Where are you from
and do you know anyone from my
hometown?” She didn’t find anyone
from her own city, but she discovered
a new friend who lives in my mom’s
Southfield neighborhood.
Many campers choose to attend the
same one-to-eight-week session each
year to reunite with friends, and it is
not uncommon to find cousins from
different places who choose to attend
the same Jewish camps so they can be
together. Our Israeli family travels to the
states each summer to attend camp with
American cousins.
It used to be that mail was the only
regular proof that your kid was actually
still at camp. Then camp started posting
daily photos. This summer alone, we
scoured literally thousands of online
photos in search of our Pennsylvania
campers, some of whom seem to
continually avoid the camera. There is a
point each summer when my daughter
says, “It’s time to text the friend of
my friend who knows someone who
works at camp to send proof that Jake is
actually still there.”
The bond between campers often
goes far beyond the edge of the tree-
and lake-filled grounds. Our daughter
Kim created ongoing relationships with
Israeli and other international staff. Her
Tamarack Camps British co-workers
spent days off at our home and then
reciprocated when she and her local
friends visited them in London.
A couple of years ago, I met a young
woman at Shabbat dinner at my
kids’ home in Florida. When Jewish
geography failed to bring us much
common ground, she said, “I’ve heard
if you’ve ever gone to Jewish overnight
camp you can connect with anyone.”
Then she asked where I’m from. I said,
“Detroit.” And this person, 30 years my
junior who lives in a state I’ve never
been to (Connecticut), blurted out
the name, “Ariella Goldfein!” When I
yelled back, “That’s my cousin!” she
responded simply with, “Camp Ramah
… Connected.”
* Foundation for Jewish Camp’s 2022 overnight
camp census
CAMP GUIDE
continued from page 46
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