Camp Gan Israel of Brooklyn Heights, directed by Rabbi Yankel And Yael Raskin, is in its second year.
The camp is located just a block away from Brooklyn Bridge Park in the school building of Brooklyn Heights Jewish academy (BHJA) at 81 Atlantic ave. Activities involved are swimming and other fun sports such as basketball and soccer, and even Kung Fu.
Akiva Free, a member of Congregation B’nai Avraham and a volunteer for the camp says “CGI camp is a loving example for children of the family concepts according to Judaism.”
This past week Head Counselor Chaya Raskin organized a wonderful Shabbaton in which the children gave out Challahs to many senior members of the community, they had a sleepover Shabbos at the Congregation B’nai Avraham synagogue, ate at the Rabbi and Shternie Raskin’s house, and participated in all sorts of games. The Shabbos ended with a wonderful Havdalah ceremony with Rabbi Raskin and other members of the community.
“Every day you see improvements in the children’s social, emotional and spiritual well being. We have campers that are in public school that come to our camp and now have a deep desire to go to a Jewish day school,” says Chaya Raskin.
She adds, “campers that don’t wear yarmulkes are now running to put them on. We have campers who walk in with frowns and at the end of the day they walk out smiling. The camp promotes a Jewish warm friendly atmosphere that makes every child feel at home and want to take all these wonderful rich life lessons and imbue it into their lives. This camp is inspired by the teachings of my parents Rabbi Aaron and Shternie Raskin and Rabbi Yankel and Yael Raskin, who started this camp with these goals in mind.”
Another of many phenomenal programs run by the Raskins!