By: Inbal Marcovitch, alumna
In 2002 together with five other Shlichim (שליחים), I was assigned to spend the summer at Camp George. My role was the Head of Photography- operating the photography lab (where we developed black & white pictures!), teaching campers about photography, and documenting and showcasing the life in camp. The six of us went through extensive training sessions in Israel organized by The Jewish Agency. We learned about what it was like to work in a North American summer camp; we also learned strategies to share the things we loved about Israel with campers and staff. We got together, planned lessons, and collected pictures, to bring with us to camp.
While I had visited Canada a few times before, the concept of a North-American-over-night-Jewish summer camp was new to me. I also did not know much about Reform Judaism. It was the first summer camp experience for most of us. We were full of excitement of the unknown: How would the people be? Would we sleep in tents? Would the food be edible or would it be based on a maple syrup diet? Would staff and campers be open to hear our messages about Israel? We heard horrific stories about the Canadian mosquitos, would we survive them?!
We arrived in Canada early on a Sunday morning. We were greeted by two friendly senior staff of Camp, who treated us to a Tim Hortons iced capp for breakfast (we thought it was the most delicious thing in the world!). We then quickly found ourselves hopping on the bus with many other counselors headed to Camp George. I remember the beautiful views from the bus, lakes, rocks, trees and more trees. We started to get to know our fellow counselors, the people with whom we would spend our next few weeks with. When we arrived to camp and had our first tour, I fell in love with Maple Lake.
My favorite place became the Beit T’fillah (בית תפילה), which felt more sacred than many places of worship I had been to. When the camp, filled with campers and I, experienced the first service, I felt a special sense of connection, to the place, the people, and the diverse experiences we all brought. Growing up in Israel, in a secular-orthodox environment, I had never experienced t’fillot (תפילות) led by women, met female rabbis, or had an equal part in religious ceremonies. Before camp, I had never thought that I could have an Aliya La’tora (עליה לתורה). This was an empowering experience for me, which I cherish to this day.
Observing the strong connection between Camp George’s community and Israel also taught me the power of respectful dialogue and the “Canadian way” to debate. It was beautiful to see how the Canadian counselors debated politics; very different than the ways politics were (and are) debated in Israel. While there was a wide range of opinions about the politics of Israel among counselors, when song leaders played the song “im tirtzu” (אם תרצו), the whole camp danced with joy celebrating their connection with Israel.
Throughout the summer we discovered a very welcoming, generous, creative (I loved the Beit Kafè בית קפה nights, what a blast of imagination and talents!) and inclusive community. Very fast, I realized the huge influence counselors had on shaping the ways campers were growing as human beings. My shlichut (שליחות, role) wasn’t only about teaching photography and teaching about Israel, it was about how to develop campers’ life skills, their self-esteem, and confidence in the world.
I had such a good experience the first summer that I came back in 2003 for another summer and celebrated the 5th year of Camp George. And after that summer, I decided to stay and went to university in Canada. And then, I stayed longer. Now, I’m still here. In 2010, when I worked at Osgoode Hall Law School, one of the law students approached me from a crowd and said ‘Hey, I thought you’d be in Israel! You taught me photography! I was a camper at Camp George! My favourite part of camp was the darkroom!’. It was lovely to discover, I was not the only one who had fond memories of the darkroom!
Camp George connections and STORIES have been popping up throughout the years, across cities, and countries. Now, I can finally say that I understand what it means to go to a North-American-over-night-Jewish summer camp.
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