After the storm has passed, looking forward to camp — Summer 2021
Image by iStock
Image by iStock
While we are not the first to compare the challenges of Jewish institutions during the COVID-19 pandemic to the story of Noah’s Ark, the analogy is too apt to be ignored. The world as we’ve known it has been “washed away,” and we navigate strange waters in hopes of finding dry land once more. We aren’t sure when the storm will pass and we’ll find this new land, but we do know that we will return to a world that has been forever changed. And just as Noah saved the animals by bringing them on the ark, we must decide which aspects of our communal institutions we want to save to populate this “new world” – and where we can make room for innovation.
At the Foundation for Jewish Camp (FJC), our focus for the past few months has been helping camps navigate the immediate crisis. With many camps closed and pivoting to virtual programming this summer, we begin to turn our attention to the new and evolving reality for Summer 2021. We and our camp partners are aligned in understanding that re-creation alone won’t help us rebuild camp better than before. We must be open to re-imagining as well, and open to hard, complex questions that galvanize innovation and adaptation.
The Jewish people have a long and proud history of questioning and re-interpreting. Our tradition shows us that nothing is so “settled” and “decided” that it’s beyond questioning or discussion – not even the Torah. Reviewing the same text with new eyes each year allows us to grow and evolve our understanding. Who are we, then, if we simply jump back into our familiar summer camp ways without examining them? Shouldn’t we take a cue from our tradition and help camp grow and evolve as well?
FJC intends to help the field reopen with intentionality in 2021 by convening va’adim (committees) made up of camp professionals, lay leaders, funders, and FJC staff to re-evaluate many aspects of camp. By coming together to question all assumptions, we can adapt and innovate toward an even better camp experience for campers, families, counselors, and staff. The questions and topics we most urgently wish to discuss/form our va’adim around are:
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Financial Health. To offset the financial losses from closures this summer, we must adjust our thinking about camps’ financial resources, reserves, and endowments. We must also re-evaluate the correct financial model for families. Exploring ways to keep camp affordable is a challenge FJC had taken on prior to COVID-19, and the issue is even more urgent and sensitive in the wake of the pandemic.
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Rethinking camp itself. What would camp look like if sessions were shorter, the number of attendees was smaller, the programs simpler, and the cost cheaper? How can we leverage virtual gatherings to support this process? If we wish to engage entire families in immersive Jewish experiences, should family camps be hosted at traditional camps, or in central communally-based locations – or could it be some combination?
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Year-round engagement. How do we leverage the virtual model to reach our camp community outside of the summer season? What sort of on-site camp gatherings could we plan at certain times throughout the year to shape an ongoing camp community? How do we most effectively engage alumni, community partners, and donors in year-round convenings? How do we take everything good about camp – the meaningful communal connections, the character-building experiences, and the inspiration for continuous Jewish engagement – and integrate it into the lives of people of all ages year-round?
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Community Care Model. How do we make Jewish camps even more inclusive, diverse and caring? We need to look at creating and supporting our camp community through societal and individual mental health challenges. For campers with disabilities, how do we provide an inclusive model not just in person, but virtually – giving all campers the benefit of a year-round and lifelong camp experience? In addition, we still have much work to do to ensure that our own community recognizes and includes Jews of color in every aspect of Jewish communal life – including camp. We must prioritize building camp communities based on integrity, dignity, compassion, and inclusion for all.
Of course, when all is said and done, the field may decide that continuing previous courses of action in one or more of these areas is in fact the best way to proceed. But camps will still benefit from the questions and discussions that led to this conclusion, secure in the knowledge that their decisions were made as a result of thoughtful consideration, and not due to blind adherence to tradition. We must ensure that the 2021 camp comeback is intentional in every way.
These are incredibly difficult times, in which we all feel adrift in strange and stormy seas. As a field, we need to be like the dove in Noah’s Ark – actively continuing our search for a new world. And when the Jewish camp community finally sets foot on dry land in 2021, may we have the courage not to rebuild everything as it was, but to re-imagine a better world for the generations to come.
Jeremy J. Fingerman, CEO and Marina W. Lewin, COO, lead the professional team at Foundation for Jewish Camp
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