Grantmaking for Jewish Overnight Summer Camps in Washington State
July 17, 2023
Jewish Day School Collaboration Initiatives
September 5, 2023
| This speech was given by Jessica Brumer, URJ Camp Kalsman Assistant Director, at the July 9, 2023 camp soiree event held in Seattle, Washington. This morning, we welcomed 200 very excited campers to Kalsman for our second session of the summer. The energy that was felt this morning was like nothing else. And now I am here with the people who really help make sure camp happens. I want to start off by saying thank you. Thank you for having me, thank you for all you do. If it was not for FJC, SAMIS, the Federation, I would not be here talking to you. Every summer, we have a Jewish theme. This summer our education theme is Olam Chesed Yibaneh, creating a kind and just world. Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg said, “Chesed is the Jewish practice of loving kindness or caring for someone else. It is voluntary and individual. That means that we choose to give something over to someone else out of personal connection.” Chesed is what leads all of you in this room to give to the programs that shaped me, and Chesed is what leads me to give to camp. Although I went to the Jewish day school and was very involved in my temple youth group in high school, camp is really what shaped me into the person I am today. Summer 2007 was Kalsman’s inaugural summer, and I was so excited to go. I heard the words “Welcome Home” and I immediately knew how true that sentiment is. Ever since 2007, I have been at camp every summer. This is my 10th summer on staff, and I would not have it any other way. The May before my second summer on staff, I was a cornerstone fellow. Cornerstone was a pivotal point in my staff career because the programming taught me so much about how to lead and bring my passions to camp. It has come full circle because this year’s Kalsman cornerstone supervisor was my cornerstone supervisor 9 years ago and as the Kalsman lead we get to work together to help the next generation of Kalsman staff. Back at the beginning of March, Camp Kalsman had our annual leadership team weekend where our leadership team came to camp to spend the weekend planning and visioning what the summer would look like. Our camp director Rabbi Ilana taught us an acronym (she invented) for what she thinks and hopes the vision and future of camp will be: BORRFF. Belonging, Ownership, Reality and Resilience, and Fun and Freedom. These words are another reason why I am standing here today talking to you all and I want to tell you why. The first word: Belonging. As far back as I can remember, the Jewish world and community is where I’ve felt most at home and where I could be my full self. When I was younger, camp was my fun and happy place. It was where I could see my old friends and meet new ones. The next word in the acronym BORRFF is Ownership. In 2018, I was asked to be Temple B’nai Torah’s youth group advisor. I grew up in TBTs youth group and was so excited about the opportunity. This is where I finally felt like I started to take ownership of my life and what I wanted to do with my career. One program that helped me with this was the YP 101 Fellowship through FJC. For those who do not know what YP 101 is, it is for 1st or 2nd year youth professionals to be able to learn from each other and from mentors who have been in the field for a long time. This was the first time I had ever been to a professional conference, and I was excited to meet and learn from other youth professionals from around the country. This past December, I went to my first Leaders Assembly put on by FJC. It was so cool to be there with so many other Jewish camp professionals. It was surreal to see Briana Holtzman who was the first assistant director at Kalsman and someone I have always looked up to on stage leading this big organization and group of camp leaders. At Leaders assembly, we were able to choose different sessions and learn from different camps about their best practices. Not only did the sessions teach me a lot, but also it was a perfect opportunity to network with other camp professionals. It was so nice to be in a room full of people who understood what being a full-time camp professional really means. Its both fun and hard but we all are there for a reason. Passion is my reason. The next part of BORRFF is Reality and Resilience. Summer 2021 was the summer of reality and resilience. First off, it was the summer of peak covid, staff were not allowed to leave camp for time off, and this was the first time many of the staff and campers were together with a mass amount of people. Summer 2021 was also the summer of the heat wave and we had to figure out a way for all our campers to sleep somewhere other than the piping hot cabins. As the program director, I was in charge of making a new schedule every day because of either heat, covid scares or other normal camp hiccups. Covid restrictions and heat was our reality for a while. Luckily this summer we don’t have as many covid restrictions, but heat is still our reality, and we have to figure out how to keep on going even when there are stumbling blocks in front of us. In early 2019, before graduating, I applied to two different jobs, Director of Youth Engagement at Temple B’nai Torah and an assistant director/NFTY NW advisor with Camp Kalsman. My dream since I started on staff at camp was to work full-time for Kalsman. I applied for both jobs, believing my dream was to work on the camp team and help support NFTY-NW and the teens who I had seen grow up through the years. I did not get the camp job. That is when I realized that sometimes there is a different path that will get you to where you want to be. I started the full-time job at TBT in the fall of 2019. Then March 2020 came, and I started working from home out of necessity. At first, it was easy to feel discouraged by how Covid impacted myself and the world, but looking back at that time now, I can understand how those experiences shaped my perspective. I now feel more capable of thinking out of the box, quickly pivoting and of being able to support others while also going through the same situations. The last part of the acronym is Fun and Freedom. Fast forward to October 2021. One of the assistant directors at camp was leaving and they were hiring a new one. I knew that this was my time. I had been working at TBT and loving it, but I knew I wanted a change, and this had been a dream of mine. I started working full-time for camp in November 2021. Although camp is a job and it is hard work, at many points, it is the most fun job I can imagine. I don’t always have to be professional because its camp! This is my kind of job! I have had the best time working with my best friends and working with kids who I have been able to see grow from campers to staff. During the summer, I get dunked in the dunk tank, get messy during messy night, and catch chickens as part of my job! As someone who has been to camp every summer, I have seen how camp has grown and changed and now as an assistant director I am grateful for the freedom to take my experiences and make camp the very best that I can. The Jewish community and specifically camp Kalsman gave me a place where I feel I belong, I hold ownership over what I do and want, where reality and resilience are allowed and fun and freedom encapsulates every part of it. I will forever be grateful for all these organizations represented here and especially for Camp Kalsman, Rabbi Ilana, David Berkman and my parents for helping me get to where I am and teaching me that I am where I am supposed to be. Thank you! |
