Boys to Meet Again in 2 Years

By COLlive reporter

The Arizona Shluchim Camp, an annual winter program in the commuter town of Oracle, has ended on a high note and a long farewell this past Thursday.

70 campers hailing from small Jewish communities around the United States and the world dined and sang during a festive banquet before heading home.

Head Counselors Shmulik Greenberg, Henoch Rosenfeld and Avremi Wolf presided over the festivities which included a full course meal, reviewing camp songs and sharing their best experiences in the camp.

“I know that in order to be a proper role model for others I need to have great role models myself,” said Dovid Tzvi Lifshitz, a young Shliach from Boise, Idaho, during his keynote address.

“That’s why I am so happy to be able to spend these last 10 days at Camp Gan Yisroel, learning chassidus, davening and farbrenging with all of you,” noting that each year he and his brother Zali return home with renewed strength.

The camp indeed fills a void, says its Director Rabbi Moshe Pinson of the Shluchim Office. “It is here that they can spend time with like-minded frum children who they are not in contact with on a daily basis.”

Running the camp, in addition to Pinson and his wife Chani Pinson, was Benzion Shemtov of Crown Heights. R’ Sholom Katz helped with the coordination.

Reactions the camp administration have already received has showed how much the parents appreciated this short yet impactful experience.

Rabbi Avi Rubenfeld, Director of Chabad of Chesterfield in Missouri, said in an email that his son was “developing life-long friendships, gaining inspiration from older chassidishe bochurim and learning to overcome his fear of being away from home in just a short 10 day stint.”

He said it is also a preparation for these 7 to 13 year-old boys to attend 2-month summer camps and possibly a Yeshiva “since many of them have to leave home at way too young an age just to be able to have a quality Yeshiva/high school experience.”

Before heading to the buses to the airports in Tucson and Phoenix or the vans to California, awards were given to the best campers, urging them all to keep their exemplary behavior.

And whether or not they will meet during the summer or in yeshiva, the boys division of the shluchim camp will be held again in 2014. The 2013 winter break will be the chance of the young Shluchos to come to Arizona.