Trust Should Be a Given to Our Summer Camps

By a fellow parent

As the school year winds down and we flip the calendar toward summer, a familiar wave of conversations begins to circulate in our communities—about summer plans, packing lists, and the ever-important decision of which camp to send our children to.

This time of year also tends to bring a resurgence of a particular concern, one that has been expressed in past op-eds on COLlive and other platforms: Can we really trust young counselors with the care and chinuch of our children? As a parent who has read these pieces year after year—and as someone who has sent children to “the Rebbe’s camp”—I believe it’s time to reframe the discussion.

I speak not only from personal experience but also from a place of communal trust and memory. Many of us grew up in the Rebbe’s camp system, in Gan Yisroel, or any of the many shlichus-based camps worldwide. We remember those summers not just for the fun and sun, but for the growth, the inspiration, and the identity-forming experiences that came from being part of something rooted deeply in the Rebbe’s vision.

Past op-eds on COLlive, such as “Let the Counselors Lead” and “Camp Counselors are Not Babysitters,” have passionately defended our young leaders, and rightly so. Yes, many counselors are teenagers. Yes, many are only a few years older than the campers themselves. But what we often forget is what stands behind these young men and women: a system, a structure, and most importantly, a mission. These aren’t just teens passing time until yeshiva resumes; they are committed chassidim in training, stepping into real-life leadership for the first time.

I’ve watched my own sons return from camp with a stronger davening, a deeper pride in Yiddishkeit, and a new sense of achrayus—because a 17-year-old bochur took the time to care, to connect, and to uplift. I’ve seen my daughters model their midos after devoted madrichos who gave them love and laughter in equal measure.

Of course, as parents, we carry a responsibility. Sending our children to camp is not a passive act—it’s a deliberate choice to entrust them into the hands of a system built with heart, with experience, and with a higher calling. We have every right to ask questions, to voice our needs, and to partner with camp leadership. But that partnership must be built on trust, not suspicion.

Let’s remember: this is the Rebbe’s camp. That phrase should mean something. It means a place where a child is immersed in an atmosphere of chassidishkeit, mentchlichkeit, and joy. It means a space where young counselors aren’t just staff—they’re role models, handpicked by directors who understand their potential, supported by head staff who guide and mentor them, and driven by the mission to inspire.

To the new parents sending a child for the first time: your nerves are natural. But know this—camp is not a break from chinuch; it’s an extension of it. If anything, it’s where your child might grow in ways school cannot always reach. And to the veteran parents who’ve been through the ropes: we must be the ones to reassure, not undermine. Share your stories. Highlight the transformations. Uplift the program, not pick it apart.

The Rebbe once said that camp is a place where “one good hour can affect the rest of a child’s life.” That hour might come during a spirited niggun at a farbrengen, during a hike when a counselor speaks heart-to-heart, or during a quiet moment in bunk time when a child realizes they are safe, seen, and loved.

Let’s give our camps the benefit of the doubt. More than that—let’s give them our full support. Let’s empower the counselors, uplift the staff, and approach this summer not with fear, but with faith.

In the Rebbe’s camp, trust should be a given. Let’s make sure our children feel that from us first.