Berel Lutsky believes that Camp Tavor has made his three daughters “really nice kids” and he’s specific about how.
“They learn the ability to get along with people. As a parent you teach it, but they get to live it at camp,” he said. Though the campers are grouped by age, they share activities with children of all ages; and that, said Lutsky, “turns you into a mensch.”
“Sometimes you have to go out of your way for a younger kid and sometimes you look up to an older kid. That’s an important thing that happens there that has good implications for later in life,” said Lutsky, who attended the camp as a child and, five years ago,
completed a five-year stint as camp manager.
Lutsky’s three daughters grew up going to Tavor. His youngest, Abigail, 10, returned last month from her second season as a camper.
Milwaukeean Shelley Goldwater is now administrative manager and director of the camp, which is located in Three Rivers, Mich. She recalled that a bus driver hired to drive the campers to an activity asked, “How come your kids are so nice?”
Founded in 1956, Camp Tavor is part of the Labor Zionist youth movement, Habonim Dror (Builders of Freedom). Habonim was born in 1935 out of the Poalei Tzion movement and is affiliated with NA’AMAT, the Labour Zionist Alliance, the Habonim Dror Foundation and the Jewish Agency for Israel.
The camp is one of seven Habonim camps in North America. All base their programming on five “pillars”: Zionism, Judaism, socialism, social justice and self-actualization.
Tavor is part of a continuum of Habonim programs that begins at age nine with camp attendance. It also includes a summer program in Israel before 11th grade and the option of spending the following season as a counselor-in-training (madatz). High school graduates can attend a ten-month work-study program in Israel. Most counselors are Habonim camp graduates.
Wisconsin has always sent a cluster of children to the camp’s two sessions (one three weeks, the other four). This season — “a low year,” according to Goldwater — brought ten kids from Madison and six from Milwaukee.
What sets Tavor apart, said Caren Goldberg — Habonim graduate, member of the camp committee and mother to two Tavor campers — is that Tavor focuses on sharing values.
“At Tavor, while they participate and engage in activities with friends, like sports … they learn that they share a value system with the counselors and kids from the Midwest and around the world,” she said.
Modeled after a kibbutz, Tavor focuses on building community, said Goldwater. To that end, campers do an hour of avodah (work) daily to maintain and improve the camp.
“It’s fun because by the end of camp, you usually accomplish something. If you’re in one of the building [groups] you usually build a bench or something,” said Jacob Goldberg, 13, who recently returned from his fifth summer at Tavor. His avodah was cleaning toilets, which he enjoyed because he finished 30 minutes earlier than other kids.
Working at camp gives the campers “a sense of ownership within a group and a sense of what it means to be part of a community,” said Caren Goldberg.
As in Israeli kibbutzim, campers also care for animals and plant a garden, the fruits of which are eaten in camp meals.
Moreover, in the spirit of kibbutz socialism, campers don’t handle money. They bring a suggested amount for a collective kitty that covers necessities. At the end of the session, campers collectively choose a charity as recipient of the extra money.
Campers also engage in social action, including programs outside the camp, which was one of Milwaukeean Lani Denny’s favorite activities. “I liked doing the tikkun olam work and helping people,” said the 11-year old of her visit to a retirement home in Three Rivers.
That is exactly what Lani’s mother hoped for her daughter. “I want [Lani] to develop and expand her practice of being Jewish, not just feel good about being Jewish,” Marsha Denny said.
“As a Jew, you have the responsibility to make the world a better place — to give tzedakah, to be compassionate and care about your fellow man. They talk about it at school but it’s different to see those things in action at camp.”
The other thing the camp delivers is Israel. Through Israeli counselors, Hebrew learning and the pillar of Zionism incorporated into many of camp activities, campers develop a love of the Jewish state.
A secular camp, Tavor observes kashrut and offers optional Shabbat services. Shabbat is marked with special celebrations and activities, including extra rest time. Campers come from various religious denominations, including Conservative, Reform, Reconstructionist and unaffiliated, said Goldwater.
One of the camp’s greatest benefits, according to Lutsky, is its non-competitive nature. “Nobody cares what you’re wearing, what kind of shoes you’ve got on. It’s a nice leveler,” he said.
Adding to that may be the rustic and simple environment of camp. All campers from sixth grade sleep in tents set on platforms. Mosquito netting covers each bunk bed.
For Jacob Goldberg, the best part is the people. His mother agrees, “My Habonim friends are still my friends,” she said.
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