School Bells Silent, Jewish Camps Near and Far Entice With Outdoor Fun

SOUTH PADRE ISLAND, TX — Those long sultry days are back, and with school out for the season, millions of American children are fully enmeshed in summer fun. But aside from the outings to the arcade or neighborhood pool, more and more, children and parents are rediscovering camp – that quintessential youth activity of yesteryear – to be just the place to spend the summer.

According to the American Camp Association, which tracks some 12,000 summer camps throughout the United States, recent years have seen a sizable increase in camp enrollment. The organization’s 2006 Camper Enrollment Survey demonstrated a four to 10 percent surge in attendance at a full 40 percent of established institutions.

Further attesting to the growth is Camp Gan Israel, a worldwide network of Chabad-Lubavitch day camps and sleep-away camps that began with a center in Ellenville, N.Y., in 1956. Today, more than 1,000 Gan Israel branches operate worldwide, with close to 500 in the United States. The majority offer day-camp programs in which campers return home after a full day of activity, but 55 operate traditional sleep-away camps tucked away in natural settings.

But what sets Gan Israel apart, say staff members and counselors, is its focus on strengthening the Jewish identities of its campers. Named after Rabbi Israel Baal Shem Tov, the 17th-century founder of the Chasidic movement, Gan Israel camps embrace the openness and dedication to children that was a hallmark of his life. The camp system was founded by the Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, of righteous memory, whose care for children and devotion to their education is legendary.

In a public address on the benefits of summer camp, the Rebbe told parents that Gan Israel provides “a healthy summer, for it makes children healthier physically and spiritually.”

Article Continued (Chabad.org)