For two weeks during the summer, campers at Camp Gan Israel Harford get to spend their days making crafts, cooking, playing sports and going on field trips.
While the Harford Chabad-run summer camp is small, having started out last year with only 15 campers, it provides a fun and educational experience for children after Hebrew school has let out for the summer.
2023 marks the camp’s second year of operation. Fraida Schusterman, the camp director and wife of Harford Chabad Director Rabbi Kushi Schusterman, first got the idea to open a summer camp in order to provide continued education for the Chabad’s Hebrew school students. Bel Air, where the Chabad center is located, has a fairly small Jewish community and few Jewish programs that extend over the summer.
“We thought it was a great idea to start a camp,” she said. “We had 15 kids in Hebrew school, and we thought it would be great for them to continue their education into the summer.”
The camp enjoyed a short but successful run in 2022 and was well-received enough for Schusterman to plan a session for summer of 2023, which kicked off on June 26.
“Throughout the summer, my kids are enrolled in a lot of different camps,” said Susan Urrego, whose children are campers at Camp Gan Israel Harford. “But this is one of their favorite ones because the activities are so varied, and they do a lot of trips around town. It’s nice for them to have so many different experiences, and they always request to go back.”
Camp Gan Israel Harford provides typical summer camp activities such as arts and crafts, sports and aquatic play. But its small size and the fact that it’s run out of a Chabad center provides Schusterman and her counselors with a fair amount of flexibility, allowing them to plan field trips and community-oriented activities for campers.
“Today was twin day, so the kids dressed in matching outfits,” Schusterman said of the camp’s July 7 activities. “We used it to teach the concept of appreciating others and saying thank you. They made cookies and walked over to the fire station to hand them out, thanking them for what they do.”
The wide range of potential activities and trips that the camp offers is a boon to parents, according to Urrego.
“They keep it interesting. … [My children] come home with new places they’ve gone to, new crafts they’ve made and new things they’ve learned,” she said. “Every day is a special day.”
Jewish values are baked into much of the camp’s programming. Each day, the camp’s staff conducts a short lesson after morning prayers, focusing on a different Jewish value every time. While some of the ensuing activities are “just for fun,” in Schusterman’s words, many of them incorporate Jewish teachings. For example, campers bake challah for Shabbat on Fridays.
“Everything is done within the Jewish spirit,” Schusterman added.
The camp is fairly small, with most campers being Harford Chabad Hebrew school students during the year. But its small size creates a sense of community and intimacy unlike other, larger camps. Urrego noted that her children enjoy being able to spend the summer with their Hebrew school friends, and the insular nature of the program is also helpful to parents.
“They all know me,” she said. “I can just text Fraida if I’m going to be late picking [the kids] up, and if there are any special requests, she’s always happy to accommodate. The sense of community is nice.”
Schusterman said that she hopes campers are able to experience Judaism in a more hands-on way than simple book learning, and that the camp’s activities and how it espouses Jewish teachings will leave an impression on them.
“Judaism is not only in the synagogue, it’s not just services,” she said. “It’s at home and wherever you are, and you can have fun being Jewish.”
