Shell-Shocked Israelis Head for Summer Camps in North America and Europe

SDEROT, Israel — With their hometown in tatters, and the threat of more missile attacks looming over the horizon, some 160 children from Sderot, Israel, will be able to leave the nightmare of war behind them this summer as they attend camps in North America and Europe.

It’s an opportunity, say organizers, that many dream about.

“There is not one child here that hasn’t been hurt in some way,” reports Rabbi Moshe Zeev Pizem, co-director of Chabad-Lubavitch of Sderot, the northern Negev Desert town frequently targeted by Palestinian terrorists a few kilometers away in the Gaza Strip. “The children of Sderot have been hurt mentally, some have been hurt physically, and some have had their homes destroyed.”

Last year, Pizem and Rabbi Dan Rodkin, co-director of Brighton, Mass.’s Shaloh House, teamed up to send 10 Sderot children to the suburban Boston Camp Gan Israel, a Lubavitch-run day camp that Rodkin also directs, and 10 other children to a camp in New Hampshire. The children participated in outdoor activities such as jet skiing and deep sea fishing, but most importantly, says Rodkin, they got to let loose and have some fun.

“Last year, though, wasn’t enough,” continues Rodkin. “You have to increase in goodness.”

To that end, 10 other Gan Israel camps in North America joined the effort, as did camps in Denmark and Belgium. All told, 110 Sderot children will attend four-week programs in Manalapan, N.J.; Fairfax, Va.; suburban Philadelphia; Long Beach, Calif.; Chandler, Ariz.; Swampscott, Mass.; Brighton, Mass.; Running Springs, Calif.; Los Angeles; North Potomac, Md.; and Montreal. The others will be split between the two European camps.

Article continued (Chabad.org News)