Riga Camp, Latvia

A note about the camp: This camp emphasizes crafts, art workshops, and Judaica.  Children were encouraged, for example, to build a synagogue, a huppa, to draw cartoons based on the Book of Jonah, etc.  The camp also stressed the necessity of building human relationships in order to be productive, successful, and happy. 

1) The group was sitting and studying Hebrew.  One of the boys in the group, 8-year-old Rennik, had a kippa on his head with the Hebrew words "yeled tov" ("good boy") on it.  Misha, the counselor, suggested that the children learn the letters on the kippa so they could read it.  Hugo, one of the other boys said: "Now that I know what it is, I will definitely wear a kippa on Shabbat because I am Jewish."

2) Marik, 7, was in a quandary.  He had arrived with his two best friends and the 3 were inseparable for the duration of the camp.  But his friends' parents had come to pick them up early and Marik was left without his friends.  Marik's mother learned of the situation and came to camp a half-day early in order to take Marik home.  Marik, though, said that he wanted to stay on for the siyyum (concluding session) because it's important to finish the process of saying goodbye--even without his friends.  At the risk of disappointing his mother (something that is definitely not encouraged in Russian culture), Marik stayed until the very end of camp.

3) The 7-year-olds were quite rowdy at the beginning of camp.  They didn’t listen to each other, they interrupted each other, and they didn't seem to be getting along particularly well.  But during the course of their first few days of camp, there were several sessions devoted to Jewish identity and Jewish values, including the Talmudic value of dialogue.  By the fourth day of camp the counselors were noticing that the children were trying hard not to interrupt each other and showing more respect for each other. 

4) Friday afternoon there was a session on Shabbat.  For most of the campers, this was their first time experiencing a Shabbat.  The children learned about Shabbat candles, wine, challah, etc.  Since the campers were 7-year-olds, their counselors had been afraid that they would not be able to sit through the hour-long session.  However, not only did the children show no signs of boredom during the hour, but they wanted it to continue on, peppering their counselors with questions.  And during the silent amidah prayer, they all waited quietly until everyone had finished, creating that special Shabbat mood on their very first try.