Summer Hebrew immersion

REBECA KUROPATWA

Manitoba's Camp Massad is in its 54th year. It started out as a "habonim" camp in 1953, built from scratch by the first Massadnicks.

What is unique about the Massad experience is that Hebrew is the camp's working language, that Israel is integrated into the camp programming and that it is located in an area that has a private forest, just north of Winnipeg Beach. Campers get to learn and use Hebrew at their own pace. Massad is the only Hebrew-immersion summer camp in Western Canada.

Campers and staffers alike come to Massad not only from the Winnipeg area, but also from as far away as Illinois, Alaska, New York, Vancouver and Toronto. Both Jewish and non-Jewish people attend the camp.

Aviya Kones, who lives in Vancouver, was at Camp Massad as a camper from 1999-2001. In 2001, she was a counsellor-in-training and, from 2003-2006, she worked as a counsellor.

What Kones loved as a camper was "spending time with friends, being part of a team and being creative." As a counsellor, she enjoyed being "able to help to make the kids' summer more pleasurable and the camaraderie of the staff."

Massad, said Kones, is "a place for children of all types of personalities. The summers I spent there were the best of my life. I grew as a person and formed lifelong relationships."

Winnipeg-born Bryan Borzy-kowski has been assistant director, staffer and camper at Camp Massad. Now living in Toronto, he described Massad as an "artsy camp. It has drama and music – not as much outdoor zealousness as other camps. It is a great place to find the extrovert in you. Who doesn't like getting to have fun, hanging out with their friends and being away from home?"

Borzykowski, a writer by profession, said his experience as a counsellor, writing plays and songs, really helped him, as he got "to use practical skills in a creative way."

In his first year as a camper, Borzykowski performed in the Televisia program with a group of his friends, as the "New Kids on the Block."

"We were all being kind of nuts," he said. "It was a very new experience for me – you couldn't be shy doing this. It's funny learning how goofy you can be in front of a crowd."

"When I became a counsellor," said Borzykowski, "I got to watch shy campers come completely out of their shells on the stage. When you do this, you feel like you can do anything. Many Massaders have actually gone on to become successful performers, like Jonas Chornick, an actor in Toronto."

Borzykowski added that "Massad has a kibbutz-like feeling to it because everyone works together – so it has a communal sort of feel."

Michelle Perrin, also from Winnipeg, went to Massad as a camper for several years. In the summer of 2004, she went back as the camp nurse – and brought her daughter, Mackenzie, as well.

"What I liked about Massad," said Perrin, "is that it feels like your own small community, or town, if you will. I like the spirit of it – you really feel like you can be yourself. I enjoyed the Jewish aspect of it as well, as I had been out of that world for a while."

Campers at Massad range from Grade 2 (seven-year-olds) to Grade 9/10 (16-year-olds). The youngest campers are called "bisseleh," meaning, "little bit," in Yiddish. The oldest group is called "ma'alit," which is Hebrew for "elevator."

Camp Massad program director Hart Jacob, who lives in Winnipeg, started out as a camp counsellor in 1999. As a Jewish camp, Massad "is accommodating, but pretty non-affiliated," he said. "All of the meals are Va'ad kosher and we celebrate Shabbat and the chaggim [holidays]. It is not a religious camp, though."

Some young Israelis, just before starting out their army service, come to Massad as participants in a partnership program.

"In this way, 16- and 17-year-old Israelis can meet North Americans their age, and vice versa," said Jacob. "They learn a lot about each other and the world. This year is the first year that Massad will have post-army Israelis, as well, coming to the camp."

Marilyn Ingram has been the Camp Massad cook since 1989. Jacob explained that the camp "wanted to do something special for her, as she is never really involved in the programming. So, during Maccabia, we brought her out into one of the productions, where she read out Hebrew lines from a script, and everyone just loved it.

"Another time, a nine-year-old camper, who was nick-named 'Jersey' (being from New Jersey), came to Massad all by himself," continued Jacob. "He was pretty shy at first, but, at the final dance, he surprised everyone. He came up to where the DJ was, took the mic and made a speech in Hebrew, saying that the when he first arrived he felt scared and alone, but that he loves it now and he plans on coming back, and bringing his sister."

In recent years, Massad has had a steady increase of American campers, since, in the last few years, the camp has participated in camp fairs across the United States. Jacob said, "about 10-12 per cent of campers are from outside of the local area, but that is on the rise. Massad gets about 150 campers coming out each year."

Rebeca Kuropatwa is a Winnipeg freelance writer.

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