Jason, 14, of Vacaville, Calif., went to L’man Achai this summer. What happened there changed his life.
In a heartfelt message to his counselor, 14-year-old Jason, of Vacaville, Calif., expressed his thanks to Camp L’man Achai for an opportunity that meant so much to him.
“Do you remember when we wrote those letters to the Rebbe on Thursday night? You didn’t know this, but around February of this year, my aunt was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer. The doctors gave her a year to live. In the letter to the Rebbe, I asked that she should have a speedy recovery if I were to do the Shema every night. I did the Shema every night since then.
“I didn’t know this at the time, but my aunt had a checkup on her cancer Shabbat morning, two days after we wrote the letters. The doctor came up to her and he said: ‘We can’t find your cancer anymore; it’s gone.’ I think that’s obviously a miracle, thank G-d.”
“I just want to thank you for giving me the opportunity to write to the Rebbe because I really feel like it saved my aunt’s life.”
Jason is one of the hundreds of campers whose lives were transformed over the summer at L’man Achai.
“I have sent my son Jason to Camp L’man Achai for the past two summers to experience Judaism from a totally different perspective,” says Jason’s mother, Alyson.
“Living Judaism, daily study with the rabbis, recreation with his peers and counselors, and the independence from his family are powerful experiences for a young man entering adulthood. Jason loves going and looks forward to next year!”
From all over the country, campers of all backgrounds come to L’man Achai. They learn to enjoy mitzvot, appreciate davening, to be a mensch.
“I must say that each time I sent children there, they came back so excited about Yiddishkeit,” says Rabbi Dovid Labkowski of Chabad of Briarcliff-Ossining, N.Y. “It really was a good move for each of the children we sent there.”
“It’s a genuinely Jewish camp experience and a genuinely American one as well,” says camp director Rabbi Yitzchok Steinmetz. “Campers play baseball and football; they go canoeing and fishing. They craft pottery and learn outdoor survival skills. There are bivouacs and bonfires and Color War and talent shows; in short, it offers everything an American kid loves about camp.”
And everything a Jewish kid will learn to love.
“We have had great experiences with them, especially when it came to kids who are completely not frum and don’t have the funds to attend a camp away from home,” says Rabbi Nachum Kurinsky of Chabad at the Beaches in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., “It literally changes some kids’ lives. The camp staff also work closely with shluchim, so there is nice follow-up and continuity.”
The camp makes every effort to ensure the spiritual growth of its campers while catering to campers who aren’t necessarily frum. L’man Achai spares no expense in ensuring that campers have the best summer of their lives and goes out of its way to ensure that boys from homes with limited means can join.
Eric Schneider sent his son to Camp L’man Achai and says the place is an absolute gem. “The campers’ spirits are fed with fun and adventure, and their souls are nurtured with amazing learning and goodness.”
The staff at L’man Achai, Schneider relates, are phenomenal and caring. “Words cannot adequately express our gratitude for the profound impact this summer had on our camper.”
Amazing bochur, tremendous inspiration to everyone who meets him!
Inspiring! Ashreinu.
The lman Achei staff are incredibly devoted and caring.
Jason and his family have been cared for inspired by Rabbi Chaim and Aidel Zaklos of Vacaville CA.
Staff In L’man Achai are the most phenomenal staff.
They give themselves over totally to the Shlichus and make sure that each camper is taken care of.
The campers come from all sorts of backgrounds, from barely knowing the basics to more traditional and the camp gears the program to the needs of each campers, so that way each camper can grow in his Yidishkeit at his own pace.
Lman Achai is highly recommended for any Shliach looking to give boys in their Chabad Houses an amazing summer experience full of Yidishkeit and Fun.
The most chasidish staff, with a common goal, feeding into achdus at the top which gives the camp an amazing sense of direction.
It’s amazing to watch this camp in action
I’ve sent children to this camp a few times and they always came back very happy and grew a lot and not only did it changed their physical and spiritual life but it had a major positive impact in their whole family and the whole community
Thank you rabbi yitzchok and camp lman achai!
I wish there was a book that would list not only such miracles but with specific names of doctors and other people involved so that when atheists claim that G-d supposedly does not exist, they can be shown such evidence, like this.
I think that would help spread the Rebbe’s teachings, as well.
The campers experience true yiddishkait catered in a way unimaginably fitted to their level in observance.
The fun that transpires there shows them that yiddishkait and regular life are truly one thing.
The warmth of the staff to the campers is a role model unmatched in other frum camps, they genuinely care for the well-being and growth of both the manners and yiddishkait of everything child.
This camp is truly amazing!!!!
Very well run and lots of choices of activities…
Camp lman achai is such an amazing experience! All the staff there care so much about each child and give them an awesome time!