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Camps Beckon Our Children
Date: 05.07
Peals of laughter rolling through the hills. Children roaming the open fields, exploring the mountains and swimming the lakes. It's sleep-away camp, and young people revel in this special habitat. Liberated from the rigors of school, they are free for the summer. Their health is invigorated, their energy refreshed. But is it really good for their souls?
The Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, thought so. Here's why.
The daily routine of a classroom can grow tedious. Cooped up day after day, children are forced to stifle massive amounts of energy. But the summer affords an opportunity to unleash these energies and let spirits soar.
Time in the quiet countryside and fresh mountain air does children good. With their spirits refreshed, they can direct new vitality toward their Jewish commitments. A healthy body translates into a healthy soul.
It's lovely to see children's robust enthusiasm, bright smiles and eyes brimming with fun. But as parents, we're naturally concerned that this energy release be directed and constructive.
In a Jewish summer camp, spiritual growth continues even as children enjoy summer fun. Torah messages, colored by the joy and spontaneity of a camp environment, are readily absorbed by highly impressionable minds. These are the formative years, and such experiences create exciting memories that last a lifetime.
The campers are told stories with Jewish morals, and they play games with Jewish lessons. For younger children, "Hide and Go Seek" becomes a way to discuss searching for treasures hidden in the soul. For older children, baseball becomes a forum to explore fair play and honesty. Long after they forget their counselors' names, these children will cherish the values they learned.
At school, young people are taught Judaism, but every day they go home -- and in their minds, the school hours are differentiated from the home hours. School represents learning, and home represents play.
Sleepaway camp provides continuity. Campers play as they study, and study as they play. They learn that Judaism is relevant in all places and at all times. Its lessons are as compelling at school as they are at home, as meaningful on the baseball diamond as in the Synagogue.
G-d has entrusted us with His little gems. As parents, we're charged with the awesome responsibility of polishing these gems and raising them into thoughtful, contributing Jews. To succeed, we must inculcate them with genuine Torah values. Sleep-away camp provides an environment where Torah values are positively reinforced at all times. And those lessons are infused with so much fun and excitement that they endure for many summers to follow.
This essay is based on a number of talks given by Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson to campers and counselors (see Toras Menachem, 5742 p.1710, 5743 p. 1670, 5746 p. 280 and p. 618).
Rabbi Lazer Gurkow is pulpit rabbi of Congregation Beth Tefilah in London, Ontario. A syndicated columnist, he has penned hundreds of essays on Torah topics. His work has been compiled at www.innerstream.org.
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