Jan 22, 2025
Hey there! I’m super excited to share something really meaningful about Jewish summer camp and Israel, based on an experience I had with my family a few weeks ago.
You know how sending kids to camp seems like just a fun (and expensive) summer activity? Well, it’s actually SO much more - it’s this amazing way to help them build a deep connection with their Jewish identity and develop a real love for Israel. Pretty cool, and so much more than “just fun”, right?!
Picture this: After what felt like forever—11 hours—squeezed into a not-so-comfy seat on a packed El Al flight, my family and I finally arrived in Israel! We were there to visit my middle child, who is participating in an incredible gap year program called Young Judaea Year Course. He is truly living his best life, but that’s a story for another time.
Our 10-day adventure in Israel was absolutely fantastic. The food was delicious, we met the warmest people, and there was always something exciting to do.
Here’s where things get real though - we knew about the rockets from Gaza, Lebanon, Iran, and Yemen, but experiencing it firsthand? It’s a completely different story. Everyone in Israel gets alerts on their phones that give them just enough time to find shelter. During our trip, and to our surprise, we actually had two red alerts. The first one hit around 3:30 am in Tel Aviv - talk about a wake-up call! The Houthis had fired a rocket at Israel, and we had to scramble down three flights to the hotel’s shelter. After about 10 minutes of waiting (felt like forever!), we got the all-clear and headed back up to our room.
You know what really got me thinking? How everyone just deals with this and life continues on. I found myself running through questions like, what about families with tiny babies or older folks who can’t move quickly? It, honestly, is hard to wrap my mind around it - imagine if someone could just fire rockets anywhere in the U.S.!
I’m sharing all of this with you because it makes me, even more, convinced in the work we do and the experiences of our campers. This is why Jewish summer camps are so important; this is why CYJ-Texas is so important. In a world where this is happening, camps might be one of the last places to truly teach kids about Zionism. CYJ is proud to be a Zionist camp - Am Yisrael Chai!
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