St. Petersburg Camp

1) Before coming to our camp, Yelena (8) had heard that kosher food tasted bad and that it was not good for you.  Yelena knew that the food in our camp was kosher and she was afraid that her stomach would not be able to tolerate it.  Yelena further worried that if by some chance her stomach got used to the kosher food at camp, then what would happen when she went back to her home with its normal food?  Yelena's counselors responded to Yelena's fears by devoting a complete session to kosher food, providing basic information and discussing the principles and ideals of keeping kosher.   We are happy to report that in light of the session, Yelena and her stomach did just fine in our camp.

2) Grisha, 10, had been a trouble-maker for the first few days of camp.  He had gotten into several fights and had been giving his counselors a hard time.  On Friday afternoon, when all the children had gotten dressed up for Shabbat, Grisha appeared, dressed nicely and wearing a kippa and a talit.  It turned out that Grisha had an impressive knowledge of Jewish tradition, and he even said the Kiddush over the wine for the campers.  Later that evening, Grisha went over to one of the boys with whom he had quarreled and said: "I'm really sorry—I get that way sometimes."  And the other boy said: "That's okay; I get that way too."  Yes, the spirit of Shabbat was alive and well at our camp. 

3) Nika, one of the counselors at our camp, has a theory about the way children learn.  He says that it doesn't matter how impressive a teacher's presentation is, if the children are not asking questions they are not learning.  Nika's campers went on an outing to one of St. Petersburg's synagogues.  They were learning about the Jewish history of the city.  Suddenly, Pavel, 10, came up to Nika and asked him: "What is a mezuzah?" and Nika knew that the day had been successful.

Moscow Camp

1) A number of campers ages 11-13 participated in a theater group at our camp. The group worked with a professional theater director at camp, and in just two weeks the group was able to stage "Fear and Misery of the Third Reich" by Bertolt Brecht.  This is one of Brecht's most famous plays and it is his first openly anti-Nazi work.  The play uses a style of performing that Brecht called "epic theatre."  This technique distances the audience from the characters and is used to emphasize the play's message; nevertheless, when the play was performed at camp, campers and counselors openly wept. 

2) Life before and after the Holocaust was a main topic at our camp.  Through various activities, campers were encouraged to explore the Jewish life that was destroyed in the Holocaust.  One group was given the task of playing a family celebrating Shabbat after the Holocaust.  The group performed their scene in front of the whole camp, and even though the activity was on a Thursday, the group created the impression for everyone that they were in the midst of a Shabbat experience.  One of the participants, 13-year-old Margo, explained her group's enthusiasm by saying: "When you go to the museum, you go to look; but with life, you have to live it."