By Ana Apter, Interim Religious School Director at Mt Zion Temple in St Paul, Minnesota and Rabbi Phyllis Sommer, Am Shalom, Glencoe, Illinois
This week in Kallah, our chanichim (campers) have been learning about the North American Jewish Experience, from entering the country through Ellis Island to our decision-making today. Together, we have had so much fun serving as the faculty for this lively and energetic group of kids! They never fail to surprise and inspire us with their wise comments and their interested opinions.
Yesterday, we focused on the strong commitment to social justice in the American Jewish community. Drawing on our community’s experience with the movement for civil rights, with the campaign to free Soviet Jewry, and the current Reform Movement’s commitment to marriage equality, we invited the chanichim to stage their own protest. Although camp has a pretty robust recycling program, we decided to encourage the campers to demand more. It was fun to “plant” the idea in their heads at breakfast, and to even see the campers take an extra interest in recycling their cereal and juice containers before we’d even started!
The campers were excited to make signs and sing songs, as well as learn more about the past experiences of the American Jewish community through protests. Then, of course, it was time to chant and march!
“Recycle! Recycle!”
“We Love Recycling!”
“Don’t be mean! Go Green!”
They marched over to the chadar ochel (dining hall) and were met by Jerry, who addressed the crowd. He was impressed with their enthusiasm and spoke about the camp’s commitment to environmental protection. And of course, he helped to yet again remind the campers of the importance of the American Jewish community’s commitment to social change.
Our campers are the leaders of tomorrow. The lessons that they’re learning here, at our Reform Jewish summer camp, will carry them through the rest of their lives. We hope that they will truly feel that they lived through the history that has made our community so strong and passionate and that they will carry the imprint of these ideals forward into their lives at home.