What I learn about community at Crane Lake Camp

For the Temple Israel Dover Kesher Newsletter for August, 2009
• The natural setting at camp builds community by reminding everyone that they are, individually and together, a part of creation.This realization has the potential to enhance worship, study and all programming.
• A sense of community is strengthened by active participation by group members based in personal motivation, a desire to immerse oneself in a culture or tradition, or a hope to get out of an experience as much benefit as can possibly be gained.
• Campers see Jewish values through their own stories. When they are at camp, their own narratives about how they started friendships, overcame being homesick, helped one of their peers in a significant way, and chose to return to camp each year are very powerful and meaningful. Our own stories about how we see ourselves as part of a community are just as important and poignant.
• Every member of the community—campers, unit heads, specialists, counselors and support staff - has something significant to offer to the well-being of the camp.
• Services and song sessions are lively and spirited when leaders and participants are willing partners in preserving familiar words and music from the past and welcoming new presentations and expressions of those same texts and values.
• There is a Jewish way to be a member of a community based on universal principles stated in Jewish texts. People of all ages know that teachings like “love your neighbor as yourself” (Leviticus) and “what is hateful to you, don’t do to someone else” (Hillel) stress the value of consideration that should permeate all behavior and serve as a basis for resolving conflicts.
• The presence in one place of members of two or three generations allows for a broadening of experiences, noting differences and similarities between
• the past and present. Teaching my “God on my iPod” mini-course allowed me to learn new music while I discovered how much of “my music” was familiar to the campers. Teaching guitar each day gave me the chance, one day, to play and sing Beatles songs with a talented 8 year-old camper!
• A sense of being a part of one community can continue, even when you arenot physically present with members of that group, through telephone conversations, letters, emails and social networking on the internet.
• Creating community is a sacred task, defining space, time, and memories as special, unique and holy unto themselves.
• Most, if not all, of the aspects of community in camp can, in some way, be a part of congregational life. Let us see what we can do at Temple Israel to engender a sense of being part of a holy community together!
L’shalom,
Rabbi Larry