New traditions and timeless pride shine at EKC’s annual Israel Day

Israel Day at Emma Kaufmann Camp, in Morgantown, West Virginia, is a long-standing tradition allowing campers and staff to show off their pride for the Jewish homeland, as well as learn new things about Israel.

“Israel Day is one of the most fun and energy-filled days of the summer,” Emma Kaufmann Camp Director Aaron Cantor said. “Through music, food, games and storytelling, campers get to experience Israeli culture in fun and hands-on ways. It’s the highlight of the summer that helps deepen our campers’ connection to Jewish identity and community.”

Preparing for Israel day — which was held twice this summer, on June 25 and July 23 — is a collaborative effort that requires insight from seasonal Israeli staff members as well as logistical planning from the full-time EKC team. Pippa McGinley, EKC’s director of camp programming, leads the charge to make this day as special as possible every summer.

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“I think the really unique part about our Israel Day programming is that we use the strength of our Israeli delegation, who visit every summer, to make it different every single year,” McGinley said.

The overall structure of Israel Day has remained the same over the years. In the morning, campers don their blue and white attire to show their Israel pride. After that, rotations around camp begin, where campers have the opportunity to participate in different Israel-related activities. Kids ages 7-14 play Israeli children’s games. There is a pita-making station and Israeli line dancing, a crowd favorite.

“My favorite part is Israeli line dancing,” McGinley said. “I think it’s my favorite because the whole point of Israel Day for us is to share the love of Israeli culture and the love of Israel, and I think that’s a time when everybody just lets loose. … I’ve never gone up to that station and not seen a smile on somebody’s face.”

The Israeli line dancing activity has seen changes over the years. For example, this year, there is an Israeli staff member who has danced the hora for most of her life. With her help, the activity was less “Americanized” than it may have been in the past.

“The campers loved it,’ McGinley said. “She got to teach all about why they dance hora, not only in Judaism, but in Israel, and what it means to her,” McGinley said.

This year, EKC tried out a new activity for Israel Day: crumple questions. In this activity, some of the older campers get a chance to ask Israeli staff members anonymous questions. The goal is to spark deeper conversation and allow older campers to get a better understanding of how Israelis live.

Another new activity is letter writing to Israeli soldiers. Campers can design and write letters, which are sent to Israel and delivered to soldiers.

Planning for Israel Day starts as early as December. Then, when the Israeli staff arrive at camp, multiple meetings take place to ensure that Israel Day is truly representative of Israeli culture.

“We could just teach it ourselves during the year, but it’s really wonderful that we have such a large and strong Israeli delegation to give us the first-hand experiences of culture, life in Israel and what it means to be Israeli,” McGinely said.

Israel Day serves a special purpose at EKC, she explained.

“We always say we’re trying to make better humans,” McGinley said. “The connection to Israel is really important, and to see [the campers] enter a new layer of self-discovery, and feeling an even deeper sense of belonging than we already promote at camp, is just so heartwarming to watch. It makes all the hard work worth it.” PJC

Andrew Rich can be reached at arich@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.