#urj camping

[notaccurateornice]

Just got an invite to a group chat for people I went to camp with, our CIT group from 2009. Apparently we’re doing a combo in person meet up/zoom call on the 30th. It’s literally been 14 years since I’ve seen any of these people. But the best part of being jewish is the community and I’m surprisingly looking forward to seeing everyone.

[vamptastic]

do people really think jewish summer camps exist to prop up zionism 😭 it's just sleepaway camps where you can still practice judaism because we have dietary restrictions, they're not even necessarily religious in nature. like i cannot emphasize how little indoctrination goes on you just play sports and do crafts.

[hindahoney]

Hi! I had my Bat Mitzvah fairly reccently and am leaving for URJ camp on Sunday. I just want to say finding such a positive blog on here has been great for feeling better about something I feel a little disconnected from

Thank you!! I love seeing more Jewish pride and positivity.

[wrestlingwithtorah]

Queer Torah Study with Rabbi Josh Gischner (he/him/הוא)

Monday, August 23 @ 7PM ET

Suggested Contribution $10

Register Here

Come join your Wrestlers' friends and Rabbi Josh (he/him/הוא) to explore some of Rabbi Josh's favorite queer Jewish texts from rabbinic tradition.  

This class will include opportunities for both large group and chevruta (paired Jewish) study.  

See below for Image Description, a biography of the Rabbi, and more information.

Image Description:  Lots of rainbow flags surrounding the large words “Queer Torah Study with Rabbi Josh Gischner (he/him/הוא). The date of the event is present, “Monday, August 23, at 7PM ET.”  A large rainbow flag (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple) is on the right side of the image, on the left side is a light gray background.  The pansexual flag (blue, yellow, and pink) is being held by a ‘floating’ hand on the lower left-hand corner.  On the top right, there are three flags:  the bisexual flag (blue, purple, red), the nonbinary flag (yellow, white, purple, yellow), and the agender flag (purple, white green).  On the bottom right, two cartoon humans (dressed in the trans colors) are holding up a transgender flag (light blue, white, and pink).

Additional Information: Please email Rabbi Josh Gischner at JoshuaGischner@gmail.com if you have any specific learning needs- I want to accommodate you as best as I can!All WWT events are open to Jews and non-Jews, those partnered to Jews and people who yearn to become Jewish, and anyone who needs a spiritual learning home.This text study will not be recorded.Class operates on a "Pay what you are able" scale. Recommended donation for attendance is $10.00 but no one will be turned away for financial reasons. Thank you for choosing to contribute to this class!You will receive a Zoom link prior to class. Financially accessible options will be available via the Wrestling with Torah Discord. Please email Rabbi Josh at JoshuaGischner@gamil.com for access to our Discord.

Biography of the Rabbi:  Rabbi Josh (he/him) is originally from Rockland County, NY where he grew up in his synagogue volunteering in the religious school and singing in the junior choir. A creative type who is passionate about inclusion, Rabbi Josh is most excited when making the Jewish canon accessible to all ages, and is known to use magic tricks, puppetry, theatre, humor, and other art forms in his work as a Jewish educator. Rabbi Josh is passionate about supporting individuals in discovering their own unique Torah that can transform and better the world.

Rabbi Josh attended the University of Hartford as an undergraduate, double majoring in Judaic Studies and History, with a minor in Gender Studies. Following graduation, he landed in Jerusalem and later New York City to continued his education at our Reform movement seminary, the Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion. While at HUC-JIR, he spent time working with children and adults of all ages and stages, working in congregations, college campuses, and Jewish camps from Massachusetts to Florida. He most recently served as the Rabbinic-Education Intern and Inclusion Coordinator at Union Temple of Brooklyn; the Education intern at Brooklyn Heights Synagogue; the rabbinic intern at Congregation Sha’are Shalom in Waldorf, MD; and as the rabbinic intern at Temple Beth Am in Monessen, PA. Rabbi Josh is a proud “Pioneer Staff Member” at URJ 6 Points Sci-Tech Academy, co-creating camp in its first year; and most recently founded Wrestling with Torah, a radically inclusive online Jewish learning community.

Rabbi Josh earned his M.A. in Hebrew Literature from HUC-JIR in 2020, his M.A. in Religious Education in 2021, and was ordained a rabbi in 2021.In Rabbi Josh’s spare time, he loves experimenting in the kitchen, likes to paint and get creative, and hang out with his pet parrot Charlie.

[pargolettasworld]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-i6zvVILN9M

Some kids prepare for bed by saying “Now I lay me down to sleep.”  Others listen to their parents read Good Night Moon or possibly Go The F*ck To Sleep.  The Jewish equivalent of this, for adults as well as for children,* is the Bedtime Shema.  We give ourselves over, trustingly, into the care of the Divine as we fall into the rest and helplessness of sleep.

This lovely setting is by Jordan Franzel and Lisa Silverstein Tzur.  The text was adapted for a URJ (Union for Reform Judaism) summer camp, and the music would work wonderfully in that setting.  A counselor with a guitar singing one last song to the kids before they go to bed . . .

And let’s be real here, Go The F*ck To Sleep is an adult bedtime story.

[jewish-privilege]

Each semester, student participants in URJ Heller High make a pilgrimage to Poland as part of their Jewish history course. During the trip, we learn about the 1,000 years of rich Jewish life, religion, and culture that existed in Poland. Students make pilgrimage to the Lopuchova Forest, Majdanek, and Auschwitz-Birkenau to bear witness to the incomprehensible number of Jewish lives extinguished during the Shoah. In each place, these Jewish students stand as proof of the ultimate failure of the Nazis to achieve their goal of annihilating the Jewish People.

...This poem by participant Ellie Sherman reflects the intensity of bearing witness at Majdanek, the Nazi extermination camp located in Lublin. The title of her poem, “Know Before Whom You Stand,” is a phrase that often appears above the Ark in the sanctuary of the synagogue; it’s based on a phrase found in the Babylonian Talmud, Berakhot 28b.

דע לפני מי אתה עומד “Know before whom you stand.”

I stand before “The Final Solution.” Before a watchtower at Majdanek. A death camp. Execution. That’s what they called it. I stand before the graves once filled with a million bodies desperately clinging to the remnants of their diminishing lives.

“Know before whom you stand.” I stand before the gas chambers encompassed by a silence so deafening I can't hear my own thoughts. I stand before the scattered souls of those were brutally robbed of their identities. I stand before the line between humanity and monstrosity.

“Know before whom you stand.” 6 million stood before a question. A question of existence. Existence of hope, of God. A God that could somehow exist and witness suffering, torture, and the death of a culture. A God that is said to exist all around. In the graves. In the camps. In the chambers. And yet 6 million thought they knew before whom they stood. Before whom they wept. Before whom they screamed. Before whom they fell.

“Know before whom you stand.” I stand within the last generation that will ever know a survivor. I stand before the threat of a forgetful world.

“Know before whom you stand.” I thought I believed in God. Now I’m not so sure. 6 million bodies and souls created in the image of God and yet the bodies were burned, the souls forgotten. God existed in each one. Or maybe God didn’t.

“Know before whom you stand.” I stand before those who remained hopeful. When they were stripped of clothing. Stripped of humanity. Stripped of life. And yet not fully stripped of hope for the existence of a future.

“Know before whom you stand.” I stand before the ashes of millions compiled into one statement, one example of the ultimate human flaw. I stand before the beaten. The tortured. The brutally murdered.

Here I stand before the memory of my people.

Here, I know before whom I stand.

Here, I do not stand before God.

[ce-monds]

Muscadines. When I first moved to Atlanta and saw these babies packaged up and prices high as hell, i was offended. They were more accessible & free in the country. These were growing in the #GeorgiaMountains, but tasted just as delicious. #SWGA #Albany #Produce #Muscadine #GrowYourOwn (at URJ Camp Coleman) https://www.instagram.com/p/BptxyoFFqzG/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1rdj41wbei387

[motownbeat]

i hate that stupid old pickup truck you never let me drive. (at URJ Kutz Camp)

[jewishandmore]

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Jonathan Freirich (@rabbijonathan)

A jellyfish song to gather everyone together for #Havdalah at #urjcampgeorge (at URJ Camp George) https://www.instagram.com/p/BmE6QLmn91V/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1cz94ezfherjt

[nasiknews]

Jewish summer camps return after year of Covid – J.

Jewish summer camps return after year of Covid – J.

“Welcome home.” That’s the message leaders of URJ Camp Newman, the Jewish overnight camp nestled in the forested hills north of Santa Rosa, are imparting to campers this year, after a long and challenging four years away from their Porter Creek campus. Starting June 18, the first batch of more than 300 campers arrived to kick off the highly anticipated 2021 season. The homecoming is momentous.…

[imsopopfly]

Not sure if you’re specifically looking for religious stuff but if you’re not I got a few suggestions -

I really like Mahapecha Shel Simcha by Lior Narkis, it’s fun and catchy

And seeing all the URJ stuff reminds me of all the times we danced to “Jessica” by Ethnix when I went to URJ summer camps as a kid. I know it’s just a silly pop song but it IS in Hebrew and I know a lot of people who grew up going to URJ camps probably associate it with dancing our hearts out after Shabbat supper. I don’t think I could ever think of it outside the context of a Jewish experience anymore.

Lastly, Yaron Hadad’s rendition of Veamok Hayam is probably one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever heard. Then again every version of Veamok Hayam I’ve heard is beautiful, no matter which tune they put it to.

hey jumblr, im putting together a playlist of jewish music, in hebrew & yiddish (im open to ladino songs, too, i just don’t know any), any recs?

[censynteens]

What are you taking home with you from this trip?

I have always known that Judaism has been a major part of my identity. I have gone to synagogue, LCLJ, and I even go to a URJ camp. This trip allowed me to further explore the Jewish aspect of myself in a critical way. Although I am not immune to antisemetic acts in New York City, I am definitely somewhat sheltered from them. Throughout this trip, I learned that this makes my Jewish identity drastically different than that of Jewish people in communities abroad. This difference mainly lies in countries where both current and prior systematic antisemitism play a major role in the Jewish community and the way Jews practice their faith. I will take this thought home, as a reminder to be thankful for the Jewish community that I am a part of, and to remember that I am also part of a larger Jewish community that has different experiences than I do. 

- Ellery 

[waynesutton]

Melinda @changecatalysts mapping out the stages of inclusion and empathy for our two workshops we were facilitating with our Google for Entrepreneurs partners earlier this week. "Really exciting to work on diversity and inclusion with tech hubs, accelerators and other startup programs from around the world 🌎 " #techinclusion #offsite @google #trailblazers #trailblazers2017 #diversity #inclusion #tech #global #techhubs #changetheworld #bias #inclusivity #🌎 #startups entrepreneurship #entrepreneurs #entrepreneur #empathy (at Urj Camp Newman)

[progressivejudaism]

[wee5macs]

First ones here! We’re a wee bit early, but we can wait to see the kids! Looking forward to hours and hours of stories 💕 So grateful for the time that John and I had, but it was the hardest 3.5 weeks. I’m so ready to be with my kids again!!Gates open in 3 hours, so I think I’ll just enjoy the silence for a little longer... #urjjacobscamp #missedmybabies #summercamp #timetogohome #gypsyfamily #txbound #wee5macs (at URJ Henry S. Jacobs Camp) https://www.instagram.com/p/BzfnhElBpSD/?igshid=1wnjl9ume9umz