Jews Reminisce Over ‘Campfires and Color Wars’ In Summer Camp-Themed Podcast
Micah Hart (left), with his sisters during their camp days. Image by Campfires and Color Wars
Micah Hart’s summers were filled with Israeli dancing, swimming in a lake, bad food and pranks — the classic Jewish overnight camp experience. Almost two decades after his last summer away, Hart found it more difficult to catch up with his camp friends. So he made a podcast about it.
“All we do is reminisce about fun times from back in the day, and I wish I had more of an opportunity to do that,” Hart told JTA. “Camp’s hilarious. We did things that were so ridiculous without context, and we found ourselves and grew up there.”
Hart, an alumni of Jacobs Camp and Goldman Union Camp Institute, started a podcast in 2016 called “Campfires and Color Wars,” now on its 42nd episode. Topics discussed cover everything from camp food to awkward sexual encounters.
A recent episode featured an interview with David Wain, director and co-writer of the cult classic film about Jewish camp, “Wet Hot American Summer.” Wain revealed that some of the scenes were inspired by his own experiences at Camp Modin in Maine.
“[Camp] was easily my most positive and lasting Jewish experience. My favorite things about being Jewish were the way they celebrated Shabbat at camp, that they set one day in a different way. Midday Friday, people start to take a shower for the first time in a week, then we had dinner and singing; it was more relaxed, everyone was together,” Wain said.
Hart, who works in digital marketing by day, believes camp stories can have value for everyone, though some quirky tales are most relatable to fellow former campers.
“If you didn’t go to camp, I don’t know what would interest you about it,” he said. “You had to be there to understand it.”
Contact Haley Cohen at hcohen@forward.com
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and the protests on college campuses.
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
