Contemplating Camp... Past, Present and Future

(Our son Saul's Bar Mitzvah at URJ Camp Newman)

I’ve been following a few recent threads on social media with a bunch of us reminiscing about the great, old days of Camp Swig, the Reform Movement’s camp for the west.

Yes, I agree.  We had amazing summers at camp that solidified my dedication to Jewish life and I know I’m only one of many who went on from there to professional Jewish leadership… my wife included.

Eventually, the Reform Movement acquired another property in Northern California.  We ran Camp Swig and the new site, Camp Newman together for several summers until the decision was made to sell the Swig property.  Yes, I wish we could have kept the property in Saratoga.  I’m not going to get into the politics of it and I take on face value what we were told that the camp leadership really did try to maintain both.  I saw an earthquake map of Swig which showed that 90% was earthquake red zone and could not be built upon.  Newman can now handle the capacity that both held at first and the site is more conducive for further development 

Camp Newman does not have the same natural beauty.  I do appreciate the camp administration continually planting trees that are bringing the site closer to that iconic Swig look.

When we first dedicated the property in Santa Rosa, I looked around and saw nothing Jewish.  Over the years, Swig had become a living exhibit of Jewish folk art, created by the campers under the guidance of amazingly talented artists.  I turned to one of those artists, now a rabbi in our region, as we took over this new site and said, “You sure have a lot of work to do.”  Without hesitation, that rabbi responded, “No, it’s time for the next generation.”  Sure enough, in almost twenty years since we started developing Camp Newman, it now feels very Jewish with this generation’s artistry filling the site and countless Jewish memories flowing from it.

(David & Michelle Plachte-Zuieback, glass artists, at the Camp Swig decommissioning event.)

Our children feel like Camp Newman is their Jewish home away from home.  They’ve grown up there with many other faculty children and I see many of my Camp Swig friends dropping off their children as we begin each summer.

Losing Camp Swig was like the death of an old friend and I’m so glad that my wife, Rabbi Laura Novak Winer, orchestrated with a few key helpers, the decommissioning of Swig which functioned like a funeral, helping us begin to heal.

(Rabbi Laura & Michelle November at the Swig Decommissioning - both continue on faculty at Camp Newman.)

Life goes on and should flourish.  Today, this generation of Jewish youth is absolutely flourishing at URJ’s Camp Newman.  Many of the great Camp Swig traditions continue while the staff and campers at Newman have created new ones.  My family is blessed to be a part of both with my wife’s first summer at Swig in 1979, through our years on staff, to our first summer on faculty at Newman and, next week to our twentieth summer on faculty for our regional camps.

Come visit and see how Jewish life continues to flourish in the hills of Northern California.

Camp is life, the rest is just details.

(Our son Max under the Swig woodcut with his uncle Rich's name)

 

(Max & Saul checking out dad's name in the Swig CIT cabin with the CIT class of 1987 - I was the advisor that year.)

(New art at Camp Newman commemorating the Swine Flu epidemic of '09)

(The Temple Beth Israel crew in front of a series of murals in the center of Camp Newman)

(More new art at Newman. Quote from Madras... "A torch is not diminished though it kindles a million candles, a person does not lose by giving to those in need."

 

Comments

[Lisa Tzur]

A beautiful and honest telling, Rick...