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Camp has been a huge part of my life for the past 10+ years. It’s something that I have looked forward to every year, as most camp people do! Throughout my school years and to this day the big question has always been how do I fill my “camp fix”. Every the years my answer has always been reunions and keeping in touch with friends. This past March I was able to find a new way to experience camp during the off-season. The American Camping Association held the Tri-State Camp Conference in Atlantic City where several hundred camps and camping professionals came together to talk about camp. 

As a first time attendee, I was a bit overwhelmed. There are so many different aspects of camp to consider. Yes, there were the basics and what comes to mind when you think of camp. I got to go to sessions on programing, new games, and plenty of sessions on why camp is so important to our youth. The range of camps almost seemed limitless; day camps, residential camps, sport camps, gender-specific camps, for profit, not for profit, and religious-specific camps. Each camp is unique in its own way and is run a specific way. Getting the opportunity to collaborate with other camp professionals that share my passion for camping was eye opening because camping is such a creative field. There is so much room for growth and innovation, the conference allowed everyone to come together and share.

What was really spectacular was the vendor hall. Imagine a massive room filled with everything needed to run a camp. That may be a bit overwhelming so let me break it down for you. For those of you that go second session, think about the exhibition hall at the Wisconsin State fair filled with basketball courts, gaga pits, buses, waterfront blowups and tons paddleboards. Aisles were filled with booths for a hundreds of different products. Companies were selling peanut butter alternatives, camp medication systems, photography systems, walkie talkies, beds and mattresses, games, games, and more games.

As we all grow up we move ourselves into niche’s and career paths that we hopefully love. Whatever field you choose to go into, conferences like Tri-States are what help the industry move forward. Not necessarily because of the things you can buy or the sessions available. What keeps the industry moving forward is the act of bringing professionals together to connect with one another. Whether you are still in school or in the workplace, communication and connectivity is so crucial to your own personal success. Conferences are just used as a platform to make it easier for everyone in a specific field to connect. So Tri-States Camp Conference was camp for the camping professional, but wouldn’t all conferences be “camp” for every professional? A conference consists of a group of people coming together for a shared cause and to better themselves and the field. Every summer staff and campers come together to connect with one another, better themselves, and build relationships that continue for a lifetime.   

The Beber Camp community is one that thrives on relationship building. Being a Jewish camp, Beber also serves as a platform for campers, staff, and alumni to find their Jewish Identity. In late February Joel and I had the opportunity to explore Jewish identity and come together with a large Jewish community at Limmud New York. Over the course of four days 850 Jews came together from across the world to create an immersive Jewish learning experience. Limmud (לימוד) or study in Hebrew breaks down to lamad (למד) at its most simple form, which means learn. Every participant was a student as well as a teacher in some form. Whether it was from leading a session on Jewish parenting, explaining what it means to be Jewish in this day and age, or having a conversation with your neighbor at dinner.

Let me give you a bit of history on the organization. Limmud began in 1980 in the UK and became a cultural phenomenon across the globe. 18 different conferences have started in Jewish communities across the world including Israel, Poland, Australia, New Zealand, Moscow, Stockholm, Italy, Colorado, Los Angeles, New York, and Chicago to name a few. Each conference is volunteer-run which allows the conference to be catered to the Jewish community that it represents. For example, the New York conference would probably be much different than the Los Angeles conference because different types of Jews populate the cities.

Attending Limmud got me thinking about what it means to be Jewish and how I define my own “Jewishness”. A common question was, what’s your level of observance or what type of household did you grow up in? There were so many groups of Jews being represented at the conference and it was hard to place myself in a category; reform, conservative, traditional, orthodox, modern orthodox, or haredi. Even before the conference I had a hard time placing myself because I have been exposed to so many different types of Judaism. I had grown up in a conservative household, attended Solomon Schechter, and worked at reform synagogues throughout high school. I still find myself having a hard time choosing between reform and conservative services when Shabbat rolls around each week because I enjoy the rituals and traditions of both forms of observance. What I took away from Limmud is that being Jewish is great which ever way you choose. Grouping our community based on levels of observance is not necessarily the right thing to do because people will participate in customs and rituals that make them feel most comfortable. Our Jewish community is rich and vibrant because of the diversity between religious Jews, cultural Jews, traditional Jews, and you and me! We all have lessons to learn from one another so we must join together to help our “Jewishness” thrive!

It is now almost three weeks since the conference ended and I can see how my takeaway could not be any better for camp. As a non-denominational camp, Beber attracts a diverse group of campers and staff both religiously and culturally. Each summer we get the opportunity to learn from one another, gain perspective, and become a tight knit community. I’ve seen it happen year after year and it will continue to happen because of the open culture that is set from the start. Although everyone is different, we find commonalities and learn from differences to become the best individuals and community we can be!