FOLLOWING IN THEIR FOOTSTEPS:
RACHEL KURLAND | JE STAFF
Continuing the Camp Tradition
What makes summer camp so special? Is it the camaraderie? The feeling of an elongated slumber party?
The bug juice? (Probably not that one.)
It’s not just the s’mores and color wars that make people nostalgic.

There’s something about Jewish summer camps that just keep bring-
ing campers — and parents — back.

Even in movies like Wet Hot American Summer or Indian
Summer, Jewish summer camps are perceived as a more significant
coming-of-age experience than their own B’nai Mitzvah.

So why do Jews — especially in the Philadelphia area where sur-
rounding summer camps nest on serene lakes with the backdrop of
the Pocono Mountains — love sending their kids to camp so much?
How has the tradition of Jewish summer become more common
than attending Sunday school or lighting candles on Shabbat?
I talked to some Jewish mothers — because, ya know, mothers
know best — about what they hope their children learn from those
lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer.

When campers write home for the first time — (Do kids write
letters anymore? That’s a story for another time) — begging to be
picked up and taken home, parents know that if they just stick it
out, it’ll be worthwhile.

6 JUNE 2, 2016
And let’s be real — mothers really do know best.

Take Ivy Frajerman, who has three children involved with Camp
Ramah — Noah, 14, Brett, 11, and Alana, 9.

Noah and Alana spend their summers at Ramah at the Poconos
in Lakewood, while Brett prefers day camp in Philadelphia.

But whichever type of camp involvement they prefer, Frajerman
is just glad they’re getting a Jewish background.

“They do all the typical camp experiences — swimming, arts,
sports — and yet are totally immersed in Judaism throughout their
day. Without them even thinking about it, they are,” she said.

Although she misses the kids when they’re gone, “I know that
the friendships they’ve developed and the wonderful time that they’re
having is what’s important,” she added. “They still really make a
point of seeing their friends throughout the year, and they’ve really
made some wonderful friends through Ramah.”
The Frajermans, who belong to Ohev Shalom of Bucks County,
don’t send their kids to a Jewish day school during the rest of the
year. THIS SUMMER
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM



Ivy went to a JCC day camp growing up, so
she’s shared a lot of the moments that her kids are
discovering now.

“Since my children do not go to a day school, I
feel like at Ramah they really get the experiences that
they’re not getting because they’re not at a day school,”
Frajerman noted.

Both Noah and Alana have told Frajerman that they love cele-
brating Shabbat and Havdalah by the lake at Ramah.

“When they’re young is really when their love for Judaism de-
velops and will take them throughout their life,” she continued.

“They will always have those experiences to look back on, and I
think because it’s such a natural part of their life, part of their sum-
mer, part of their year-long experience, it’s just like second nature
to them and it’s important to them.”
Ali Reich, a mother of two who attend Camp Harlam in Kun-
kletown and an alumna herself, volunteers with Camp Harlam as
“They do all the typical camp experiences —
swimming, arts, sports — and yet are totally
immersed in Judaism throughout their day.

Without them even thinking about it, they are.”
— IVY FRAJERMAN —
the vice chair of the Camp Counsel board.

This will be her 18-year-old son’s 10th summer and her 12-year-
old daughter’s fifth, but Camp Harlam has a deeper family history
than that.

“Harlam is the same camp where my husband and I grew up, and
we actually met there,” she said. “So, they’re second-generation ‘Har-
Ali Reich's children at Camp Harlam
lamites.’ It really is their home. It’s where they feel most comfortable.”
She doesn’t see them often during the summer — as a lay leader,
she’s only there for a few days for work — but she’s met a lot of camp
connections as an adult in her volunteer capacity.

“Some of my oldest friends are from my camp days,” she said. “I
guess you’re never too old to go back to camp.”
Reich added that camp gives her kids the opportunity to meet
both staff and other campers who they might not run into in every-
day life at home, like international staff members or campers from
different states.

They get to bond with other Jewish kids over their shared religion,
but grow and expand from their differences.

“All of that makes them feel like they’re a part of something big-
ger,” she said. “I hope that they take away lifelong memories, great
friends, a feeling of really being connected to Judaism and a feeling
that they want to stay connected to Judaism as they grow into adults.

“I know that both my kids wish that camp was 10 months of the
year,” she laughed. “It really is their happy place.”
See CAMPS , Page 8
Name: Renaissance Craftables
Width: 7.5"
Depth: 4.75"
Color: Black plus one
Comment: JE/ This Summer
Ad Number: 00067308
 
   
The 24th annual
     
         
         
 

in downtown
do wnt o wn
    
      
+%#$(  
 % ($# 
$$ ) $$      )    
     
$#%#$(   #$  % ($# 
'        '   
         
" "    
    
   
"           
"     
     
              
 
*'(!%$(!)%'& '*
&'%)!($%! JEWISHEXPONENT.COM
THIS SUMMER
JUNE 2, 2016
7