I was doing it because I wanted to. Being around friends who meet each summer at camp and being immersed in a environment where everyone is Jewish heightens the experience, Winer said. I think being surrounded by people my age and people I've known for awhile and other Jews, it makes it holier, almost. Ruben Arquilevich, executivedirector of the Reform movement's UAHC Camp Institutes for Living Judaism, considers summer camp as important religiously for counselors as it is for campers. Our goal is to live a Jewish life 24 hours a day.
Counselors are in the lead role.
Counselors, he said, may not be immediately aware of the lasting effects they get from a summer of living Jewishly. But it's no coincidence, Arquilevich said, that many of Camp Swig and Camp Newman's former staff members have gone on to become Jewish educators, lay leaders and even rabbis. She started going to Swig as a camper the summer before she started the fourth grade. This summer, she's going to camp as a paid counselor. She was energized by helping Jewish children learn about their religion and become more independent themselves.