Camp F.R.E.E.’s First Session a Smashing Success

Four weeks of exciting activities and trips were climaxed with the first-session Grand Trip to Six Flags – Hurricane Harbor! The campers had a great time with the water rides and slides while also making a great Kiddush Hashem by wearing their Yarmulkes and Tzitzis throughout the water park rides.

The campers then headed to the Timberland Lake camping grounds and gathered around a cozy bonfire for a BBQ and some sleep. Rabbi Mendel Okunov, the Executive Director of Camp F.R.E.E., farbrenged with them until the wee hours of the morning. Upon returning home a camper was asked what he liked most about the trip, to which he replied, “The stories told around the bonfire by Rabbi Okunov.”

For the last weekend of the session, Camp F.R.E.E. headed upstate for a most memorable Shabbaton in Monticello, NY. This event was geared mainly for the older campers and Junior Counselors.

Following the Friday night meal, the dedicated staff, including the Administrator Rabbi Dan Dashevsky, farbrenged with them long into the night, singing camp songs, telling stories and implanting in them real Jewish pride. Inspired by the farbrengen, the boys made a unanimous decision to wear their Yamulkas and Tzitzis even at home! They also made a resolution to be more careful with Tefilin and Kashrus.

The memories of camp in general and of this Shabbos in particular will stay with them forever and will surely spur them on to grow in their commitment to yiddishkeit. Spasiba Rebbe!

Camp F.R.E.E. has now begun its second session, which promises to be loaded with even more excitement, and more importantly, with a tremendous amount of Yiddishkeit, which will be imparted to these children in a most enjoyable fashion. May we march speedily out of Golus, together with our Commander-In-Chief!