This past Shabbat, all across camp we had an Israel-themed Shabbat infused in camper and staff programming.
“The idea was that we had a real opportunity to talk about our role as Jews and our connection to one another, but also our connection to Israel and Israelis, the person to person relationship.
“When we open up space for dialogue about Israel, there’s a subtle anxiety not knowing how much or how deep other people want to talk about it. Also people are so afraid of talking about Israel if they don’t feel like they know the facts. And one of the things we saw this Shabbat is that everyone can talk about it from their own personal place,” shares Natalie Blitt who helped plan the programming for this Shabbat’s theme.
Every eidah had their own age appropriate stations that campers could rotate between. Some examples of the stations included talking about favorite places in Israel, what it’s like spending a gap year in Israel, hostages they know personally, their experience in the army, being an American in Israel this past year, and Israeli heroes.
One piece that was given careful thought was that even though we live in a post-October-7th world, programming included general things about Israel as well as post-October-7th topics. It was done in a way where it wasn’t focused solely on October 7th but also wasn’t shying away from it. The tzevet (staff) really rose to the occasion and the campers participated with genuine interest.
