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Jan. 19, 2007
A camp with a social conscience
Miriam, part of the Habonim Dror movement, prides itself on independent
thinkers.
KELLEY KORBIN
Children who attend Camp Miriam are getting more than just swimming,
canoeing and songs by the camp fire. By attending Miriam, they become
part of Habonim Dror, an international labor Zionist Jewish youth
movement that has its roots in 1920s Eastern Europe.
Habonim Dror was a driving force in the creation of the state of
Israel and established many kibbutzim there, as well as numerous
summer camps all over the world. There are seven Habonim Dror camps
in North America, including Miriam. They also have camps in countries
as diverse as New Zealand, Argentina, Turkey and South Africa. But
are the socialist labour Zionist goals of 90 years ago relevant
today?
The Independent spoke with Camp Miriam's shlichah
(emissary from Israel) to discuss camp and the evolution of Habonim
Dror.
Naomi Kassel has been working with Vancouver Habonim Dror for the
past two-and-a-half years. In the summer, she helps the senior programming
staff run the camp. During the rest of the year, she helps co-ordinate
youth group activities and promote Miriam.
Kassel said that Miriam is a very special place, where Jewish kids
have an opportunity to learn and grow and stretch themselves. "I
think that it provides a safe place," she said, "a place
where they feel a part of something. It provides a place where they
can be themselves and say what they think and ask questions and
it makes them think about many, many subjects to help them make
their own identity and their own opinions about their Jewish identity
and connection to Israel."
Kids tell Kassel that with their camp friends, and even with kids
they meet from other Habonim Dror camps, they can very comfortably
discuss topics and ideas like social justice issues, what makes
them Jews and problems in the world – topics they say they
would never broach with their school friends.
Kassel credits Camp Miriam's unique educational programming and
its focus on inclusiveness with creating a safe environment where
kids feel empowered to explore their ideas and speak their minds.
Every summer, Miriam employs an educational director, whose job
it is to build an education program for each session. Last year,
one session's theme was Judaism, socialism and social justice and
how they relate to one another. Every day, counsellors planned fun,
educational activities on this theme.
For the youngest campers (grades 3 and 4), one activity centred
around their ice cream being stolen by a senior staff member. The
kids made petitions and held protests in an effort to recoup their
dessert. Kassel explained that this was a great exercise in social
activism brought down to a very simple level. "They had fun
learning that they have the power to change things," she noted.
Kassel explained that while, at one time, Habonim Dror's main focus
was on building Israel, as a result of years of discussion among
the movement's youth leaders, that focus has changed.
"It's not any more about going and establishing kibbutzim in
Israel and establishing more places to create a bigger Israel,"
she said. "It's now about how we can improve the social situation
in Israel and how we can improve social justice and what's going
on in Israel today."
For example, instead of working to develop new kibbutzim, Habonim
Dror has recently established two "urban kvutozot" - groups
of people living together in Israeli cities with common goals towards
education and social justice in Israel.
Habonim Dror members who take part in the movement's Israel programs,
like Machaneh Bonim Israel when they're 16 or Workshop when they've
graduated high school, have an opportunity to see the changes in
kibbutz life and Israeli society firsthand. But kids who go to camp
on Gabriola Island in the summer still get an experience modelled
on kibbutz life. Kassel said Miriam keeps up the principles of the
kibbutz to "bring a sense of community and sharing" to
camp.
She acknowledged that Habonim Dror is a left-wing youth movement
and explained that last summer, during the war in Lebanon, the staff
tried to provide campers with a host of different perspectives on
the war. "We are a youth movement with a political opinion
and a political agenda for sure," she admitted. "We try
to promote a humanistic, pluralistic way to view things. I think
that, as the kids get older, they understand it more and get more
of the feeling that we are a left-wing youth movement, but we don't
only have kids from families in this place in the political spectrum."
Clearly included in Miriam's agenda is the promotion of independent
thought and questioning.
"I think any kid can benefit [from Camp Miriam] ... but I think
they need to be ready for the experience," said Kassel, "ready
to be away from home for three weeks, ready to live with other kids
and be open to the experience.... For our madrichim [counsellors],
one of the most important things before the educational program,
before everything, is building the kvutza [the group], making
the kids feel a part of the group."
Further information about Camp Miriam is available from the registrar
at 604-266-2825.
Kelley Korbin is a freelance writer living in West Vancouver.
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