This article was authored by Jeremy J. Fingerman and published by The Jewish Journal. Click Here to read the original version.

From Israeli hostages remaining in captivity to the rising fever of global antisemitism, the heartbreak of Oct. 7 and the days since feels endless. We cannot ignore this pain. But neither can we let ourselves drown under its weight. Now is the time to embrace joy, and the hundreds of Jewish camps in full swing across North America are teaching us how. 

Right now, over 180,000 campers and counselors are filling their days with fun and friendship, creating Jewish memories that will last a lifetime. I know this because 50 years ago this summer, in Wisconsin’s remote northern woods, I began to forge my Jewish identity in a camp community infused with Jewish joy.

At Camp Ramah in Wisconsin, I felt embraced at Friday night services on the shores of Lake Buckatabon, where golden sunsets refracted off the water, through the pine trees, and carried our community into Shabbat. I whispered, laughed, confided, and cried in the sacred space of my bunk. In that spartan wooden cabin, I met some of my closest friends, including one who, more than 49 years later, recently celebrated with me at my grandson’s bris.

I recognize that this summer isn’t normal. All of us, and all of our camp communities, continue to struggle with the trauma and grief that began on Oct. 7. Many of the over 25,000 college students serving as counselors have experienced antisemitism on campus. Close to 3,000 Israeli shlichim and displaced Israeli teens are spending time at camp after a long stretch of war. 

Yet camp proves that we can pursue joy in tough times without denying that times are tough. As young campers in the mid-70s, my friends and I weren’t immune to the turbulence of Vietnam, the Yom Kippur War and Watergate, just as today’s campers aren’t immune to the world around them. But camp provided me with a reprieve, a function it’s serving for young Jews today even after Oct. 7. 

Early reports from this summer reveal that camps are effectively navigating their roles as places to have difficult conversations, communities of in-person connections, and bubbles that offer respite. Little of the tension and rancor of campus has spilled over into our camp communities.

Camps aren’t just showing us the power of joy. They’re teaching us how to pursue it: by disconnecting from technology and the news and connecting to our creativity and one another.

My experience at camp was tech-free because in the 1970s, there wasn’t much tech from which to be free. But even today, camps are dialing down the noise of the outside world. They’re acting as islands of in-person interaction where young people addicted to screens can rediscover their attention, directing it inward toward their feelings or outward toward people and nature.

Like Shabbat, camp reminds us that disconnecting does not mean disengaging from community. It’s the opposite: we disconnect so that we can be more present with loved ones. In this regard, Jewish camps reveal and model the importance of sacred, communal spaces.

Over the past nine months, many Jews and Israelis have been mocked or dismissed for bringing up their pain, no matter their politics on Israel. These young people, like all of us, need opportunities to heal around people they are confident will accept them. Camps have long reported that shared Jewish identity enables campers and staff to explore complex emotions and opinions in a way they can’t anywhere else — and the same has been true this summer so far.

In a time of communal crisis, camps are also reaffirming that sometimes we need to remove our fingers from the pulse of the world’s trauma. Instead, we can listen more closely to our breathing and the birds by the lake. We can cheer and stomp in frenetic song and dance sessions. And we can step into new roles that expand our character, whether it’s growing as a communal leader or discovering a love of theater, both of which I took part in as a camper 50 years ago.

In their emphasis on tech-free spaces, the wonders of nature, in-person community, and fun activities such as sports, ceramics, hiking, sailing, and drama, camps provide a roadmap for pursuing joy, especially in difficult times. This isn’t a joy that papers over our problems. Rather, it replenishes the strength we need to tackle them.

NEW YORK — As summer camps across the country spotlight kindness during this year’s Camp Kindness Day, Foundation for Jewish Camp (FJC) is spearheading research to help camps transform young people into compassionate leaders. In summer 2024, FJC provided grants of approximately $15,000 to five camps to join the second cohort of its Character at Camp Initiative.

Character at Camp is a three-part initiative combining research, programs, and communication to further understand how Jewish camps develop young people’s character and provide resources that empower camps to expand on their existing success. Run by FJC and funded by a generous grant from the John Templeton Foundation, the initiative began with a landscape survey of 120 camps in FJC’s network to understand which character strengths Jewish camps emphasized most. One trait stood out in particular: Kindness. 

“Kindness, or chesed, is a core Jewish value that’s woven into every aspect of the camp experience — from programming to informal interactions in bunks,” said Jeremy J. Fingerman, CEO of Foundation for Jewish Camp. “On Camp Kindness Day, FJC is proud of all the work the more than 300 camps in our network do to develop young people’s character, and are excited to build on that success through the second cohort of our Character at Camp Initiative.” 

The camps in the second cohort are spread out across Pennsylvania, California, Georgia, and Canada and include BB Camp (Manitoba), Camp Havaya, Camp JCA Shalom, Camp Mountain Chai, and Camp Barney Medintz. Character at Camp funding supports various initiatives at these camps, including camper, family and staff surveys, staff remuneration, and the integration of additional leadership roles for staff to be ambassadors of character development practices.

“We’ve known from multiple sources that Jewish camp offers a transformative experience for young people. But Character at Camp is enabling us to dig deeper and understand how camps nurture young people’s growth,” said Nila Rosen, Director, Learning and Research at Foundation for Jewish Camp. “By studying how camp experiences and camp relationships influence youth development, we are gaining new evidence about the importance of camp and the practices at camp that nurture the growth of compassion and kindness.”

Last summer, at URJ Crane Lake Camp, campers and counselors worked on a Kindness Mural Project, splashing “Spark Kindness” in bright orange letters. At Camp Ramah in Wisconsin, one camper spoke of a culture of mutual support — from assisting each other with Torah readings to cheering on friends at basketball games. A group of “Virtue Ambassadors” at Camp Laurelwood suggested that they “observed moments of kindness every day, in every place at camp.” 

At FJC’s 2024 Leaders Assembly, which will take place December 9th to December 11th in Chicago, the Character at Camp Initiative plans to reveal the latest data on character development and to release a short documentary led by filmmaker Hannah Roodman, featuring footage from one of the camps in the initiative’s second cohort. Next year, FJC’s Character at Camp Initiative aims to publish data and findings in a peer-reviewed journal. 

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About Foundation for Jewish Camp 

FJC advocates for over 300 day and overnight camps that provide nearly 180,000 campers and counselors each summer with a meaningful, personal, and lifelong connection to Judaism. FJC is the only public 501(c)(3) charitable organization solely focused on Jewish camp. jewishcamp.org

Media Contact

agoldstein@ninetywest.com for Foundation for Jewish Camp