We were amazed to hear that two of our "Shomrim," campers and members of our year-round programs, wrote a letter to the editor of a Newspaper in Albany. We were even more amazed that it was so beautifully written, that it was written entirely on their own without any help, and that it truly came from the heart.
Here is what they wrote:
Editor:
We are writing to you as two young
members of the greater Albany
Jewish community. We are both 14 years old and even though we are young, we
feel strongly about our special connection with Israel. We also feel very
strongly about social justice, and peace between Israel
and her neighbors.
We have spent the last 6 years of
our lives cultivating our Jewish identities in the warm and welcoming environment of Camp Shomria a summer camp and year round program, that is part
of the world wide progressive Labor Zionist youth movement, Hashomer Hatzair.
For us, this camp started as a fun place to be in nature, and with our friends,
but slowly, as we became older, we realized that the lessons and ideals that we
have and continue to learn here are what make us unique individuals. That,
above all other things, is of the utmost importance in a world where it is all
too easy to fall in with the wrong crowd or lose yourself in who society wants
you to be. Along our path of discovering who we are, we have found our greatest
friends from different parts of the world, and from all sides of the social
spectrum. We have spent time speaking to individuals who grew up immersed in
the Israeli conflict, and are beginning to understand that the world is not
black and white, there are many sides to every story.
Along with coming into ourselves,
we come back from every Shomria activity with a sense of pride, great memories,
and determination to be part of something bigger than ourselves. Every year is
filled with singing, dancing, exploring new things, and learning about our
history, holidays, ideals, and goals. It is these small, yet important things
that define us as a youth movement, and shape our everyday lives.
In many ways, Shomria is like any
other Jewish summer camp. We do Teva (nature) activities, sing songs, do rikud
(Israeli Dancing), play a variety of sports, and do arts and crafts. Unlike other camps however, Shomria prides
itself in bringing real life issues to its Chanichim (campers), and focuses on
the building of strong communal relationships, and bonds between individuals.
Chanichim and madrichim (counselors) take responsibility for taking care of our
camp. Everyday we clean dishes, and pick up garbage. This isn’t just to share
the workload. It is an expression of how youth are seen as valuable and how we
can build our own culture within society. We'd like to invite other young
people to join us. For more information, visit www.hashomerhatzair.org. And
look us up here in Albany,
Last summer I sent my oldest son, Adam, to Camp
Shomria. Four weeks later, I picked
up Snappy - a happy, smiling, blissful kid.
Shomria was wonderful for Adam in many ways, but fundamentally, it is a great
and rare opportunity, for a kid to "re-invent" himself. He boarded the
bus as Adam and came back as Snappy, with a separate set of friends, behaviors, values, jokes, you-name-it.
Adam decided to go to Shomria two years ago, when he was just seven. When he finally
boarded the camp bus, Adam did it cold turkey, knowing no-one, expecting much. The
best testament I can give to Shomria, is that when we came to pick him up four
weeks later, the first thing he asked was whether he could stay on for an
additional two weeks!
Piecing together what I could from his stories from camp, I came up with a
laundry list of what Shomria gave Adam:
Independence
- knowing to care for his own stuff, to be responsible for his time, and
to make his own friends and choices.
Confidence - a by-product of
independence - the knowledge that he can face change, new things, challenges,
and come out on top.
Space - being free from his siblings
and family commitments.
Nature - being outdoors for a
month.
Practical skills - how to build a
fire, how to pack for a trip, how to organize and care for his things.
Another social forum - Adam meets
people from Shomria through the year through seminars and private events -
and thus - his world has expanded.
And last - but by no means least - he had a very good time!
From my own early days in the Viennese Zionist youth
movement, I greet you with Chazak Ve’Ematz.
The staff of Shomria, a HaShomer HaTza'ir summer camp which
my son Yotam attended as a child and adolescent, recently contacted me, saying
that they'd like to attract kids from the Jewish Renewal community.
I want to share with you some of what Yotam gained from attending Camp
Shomria.
First of all, a great deal of good socialization took place. The campers were
initiated into participating in a mutually dependant community, learning to put
communal needs before their own, and deriving satisfaction from the collective
good. All the things that used to give us a joyous hope for a better way of
living, those elements that created the early kibutz movement, were scaled to
the imagination of the campers. They learn to take responsibility for others.
They were able to emulate models of counselors, and later served in that
capacity, as my son Yotam did.
I remember also the wonderful conversations I had with him
afterwards when he shared some of the values for a better world from the
perspective of what he learned in camp, learning to think critically about
problems in the world and our own role in solving or exacerbating them.
It wasn’t just an indoctrination camp. The kids had a
lot of fun. They played win-win collaborative games, ran around, went canoeing,
bowling, and horse-back riding. They used creative activities to learn lessons
about social justice, eco-friendliness, peace in the Middle-East, Jewish
history and identity.
Yotam tells me that “we developed an enduring Jewish
identity around nationhood and culture, as well as religion. We sang Israeli
folk songs, danced Israeli dances and learned about this history of Israel.
I learned scouting techniques for safe and careful building of fires and tying
knots.”
When people ask me how to proceed with bar mitzvah education
I keep pointing out that it is not enough to learn to parrot the Torah reading
and the Haftarah. If bar mitzvah is to mean something, the young person must be
learning life skills. The camping experience at Shomria might be a good
parallel program to the rest of the bar mitzvah instruction.
So if you have a child of camping age you might consider this camp.
Camp Shomria
has a number of programs coming up soon and over the summer. You can read more
about them at www.hashomerhatzair.org,
or look at their Eco Camp, b'nei mitzvah program, or Lag Ba'Omer spring camp.
Since my first summer there, Camp Shomria has been my model of community. My kvutzah (age-group) and I came
to trust and depend on each other, work together, and feel personally
responsible for our collective needs. In an atmosphere of fun and
excitement, we were held to a higher standard of thoughtfulness and
generosity than I had experienced before, and which many wouldn't have thought
such young children could meet. I didn't understand that difference between
Shomria and the rest of the world at the time, but I knew that everyone in this
place was important. Our friendships and games were made richer because we knew
we were participating together in a mutually supportive, mutually dependant
community together.
We used our own little society as
a springboard for discussions of social justice on a global level.
Conversations about democracy, environmentalism, peace, and equality were taken
seriously, and made personal through the creative activities our counselors
led. When I became a counselor myself, I also challenged my own chanichim (campers)
to think critically about the problems of the world, and not divorce themselves
from the need for solutions.
That sense of social
justice was doubly emphasized in our discussions of Israel. In frank conversations about history and politics, I learned about
the importance of a Jewish homeland. This was my first secular exposure to the
State of Israel, and a major influence on my Jewish identity. But we were
equally frank about the need for peace with our neighbors, and the need for a
letting-go of history for the sake of forgiveness. As the situation in Israel changed with time, we struggled as a community to find a vision for
our homeland which matched our dedication to peace and others' well-being.
Leaving Shomria at the end of the
summer was often heartbreaking. But I was always changed by the experiences I
had there, and returned to school with an enhanced sense of purpose in the
world which has continued to serve me well.
I was a counselor
at Camp Shomria
from 1966-68 and my daughter Alyssa has recently been both a camper and a
counselor. Forty years later, I can
fondly look back at my experiences and how that still affects my life today.
Camp Shomria
showed me that there were ways of being
Jewish other than religion, that were based on ties to the Jewish people
through tradition, history, culture and
a positive connection to Israel. I also
believe that I learned my sense of social justice from Camp
Shomria through identification with
the Kibbutz movement and progressive politics and civil rights both in Israel
and here in the U.S.
Being a counselor
also meant taking on a great deal of responsibility. I
learned and honed skills that have served me quite well throughout my professional
life. As a college teacher, I took my educational philosophy and methodology
from Camp Shomria. The camp was and still creates a very
intellectual and thought provoking atmosphere.
Of course, I well
remember spending the summer in a beautiful location. I remember hikes in the Catskills, softball
games, Shabbat dinner, rafting on the lake, building things with your own
hands, learning to work and cooperate, Israeli singing and dancing, and serious
discussions about Israel,
politics and growing up. However, the most lasting gift that I’ve gotten from Camp
Shomria is the lifetime friendships
that I have made with people who have become “family” to me. Forty years later, my best friends are the
ones that I made at Camp Shomria.
Camp
Shomria is still the same. When my
daughter first attended as a camper a few years ago, she was very apprehensive
because she did not know anyone. Even
before she got on the bus, she was warmly accepted and welcomed by her new
friends.
"Camp Shomria is a place where one can not only discover the value and rewards of
working together, but also offers individuals the chance to explore
their own beliefs and principles in a supportive environment.”
Amit Wehle
“Hashomer Hatzair
taught me how to excel as an individual and as part of a community.
It played a huge role in shaping who I am, and I am forever grateful
for all that it has given me.”
Alex Dubin
"My life has been shaped by Hashomer Hatzair to the deepest core of everything that is important to me. The
career I have chosen, the way I raise my children, my activism on
social and political issues, my never-ending quest for hagshama atmit
[self-realization], all have flowed from my involvement in Hashomer." Efrat Levy
“Hashomer Hatzair
taught me what it meant to be Jewish. I came from a totally
unaffiliated family. Though my involvement with Hashomer, I learned
about and became actively involved with my people, my community and
Israel. Even today, my best friends are those individuals who I grew
up with in the Movement.”
David Dormont
“Hashomer Hatzair
has influenced every aspect of my life. It has made me an educator,
an activist, an engaged citizen, a Jewish with understanding, a
supporter of peace...”
David Berkal
“Hashomer Hatzair empowered me
to see my Jewish identity as a call to action. It gave me faith in my
ability to change the world.”
Ariel Beery
“Without Hashomer
Hatzair the world would seem a dull place: without the possibility to
dream, make real, imagine, and romanticize. It is like imagining an
adult without childhood.”
Aaron Wolfe
“Hashomer gives
you the tools you need to build your path, including the most crucial
tool: the community that lends its unwavering support.”
Eyal Rosenblum
“Hashomer shaped
me into who I am today. I’m not sure who I would have been
without it. It made me believe in the power and goodness of people
working together, of Chevra and community. It taught me how to
work collaboratively. It made me care about others less fortunate
than myself and have a sense of responsibility to others and the
world. It gave me a sense of healthy rebellion, of questioning
authority and the status quo. It made me realize my own power to
affect change, lead, take responsibility, mentor others. It made me
feel proud of being Jewish.”
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