Rabbi Jeff EisenstatLast week was Tu B'shvat, the Holiday of the Trees. As a matter of fact, I led a Tu B'shvat Seder with Rabbi Sonya Starr, Rabbi Ilyse Kramer, and our Columbia Jewish Congregation campers on the Fifteenth of Shvat. Assistant Director, Isaac Saposnik, was with our campers this past weekend for the Midwest Kallah (retreat) at our old site, Camp Henry Horner.
Waterfall at Camp JRFThe full moon of Shvat is shining brightly upon the snow and ice at Camp JRF on the Aaron and Marjorie Ziegelman Campus. There are six inches of ice over the agam (pond) and five inches of snow throughout our camp and yet we are warming up as we think about this coming summer.
We are counting the days until camp? Almost 260 campers cannot wait for the summer to arrive!
At our new Camp JRF office in Jenkintown, Pennsylvania, we are preparing for another great season. New and old staff are excited to create a wonderful programs. This summer we will have a new Teva (nature) program, as well as special days on our power boats on Lake Wallenpaupack.
We will be planting and harvesting some of our own spices and vegetables. We have also added a music education program and we look forward to teaching guitar, drums, and singing. And of course we will be playing sports, including archery and spending even more time in Etgar (challenge course), swimming, and boating. Our faculty and specialists are also getting ready to for the besthavayot (experiential educational experiences), art, nature, music, dance, drama, and much more.
As it says in the Camp JRF song Have fun day and night is what we are planning as we anticipate the wonderful coming together of new and old friends for Camp JRF in 2007.