Jewish camps navigate the COVID-19 surge

Two Camp Gan Shalom counselors and four campers lower their masks for a selfie. Photo courtesy Benjamin Phelps.

During the height of the pandemic last year, summer camps were closed. But as California slowly emerged from the devastating COVID-19 surge in the winter of 2020-21 and things started to reopen at the beginning of June, parents and children looked forward to returning to appropriately supervised camps.

Sleepaway Camp Ramah in Ojai in Ventura County hosted approximately 800 campers ages 8-16 this year (down from its usual 1,300), beginning June 21. 

Rabbi Mitch Cohen, director of the national Ramah commission, said direct interactions had been limited to camper pods; everyone was masked when encountering other groups and virtually all activities were being conducted outdoors. In addition, all staff members were required to be vaccinated. Other camps followed suit, diligently adhering to county and state health guidelines, Centers for Disease Control (CDC) guidelines and American Camp Association guidelines.

Camp Gan Shalom campers on a field trip to the Cabrillo Marine Aquarium in San Pedro. Photo courtesy Benjamin Phelps

“We know that a lot of camps started the summer with really strict policies even if the CDC had changed their guidance,” said Margalit Rosenthal, foundation for Jewish camp director of the West Coast region.

But then the Delta variant hit, and on July 15, upon returning from Camp Ramah’s session break, two fully vaccinated staff members tested positive after returning to camp for COVID-19 testing. At the direction of Ventura County public health officials, Cohen said Ramah delayed the opening of its second session from July 21 to July 23.  

And at Camp Keshet day camp at Temple Beth Am in the Pico-Robertson neighborhood of Los Angeles, two campers tested positive, even though Keshet reduced its usual number of campers from 260 to 130 this year (with 24 staff members).

However, because they chose to divide the campers (ages 8-11) into pods of 12 to 15, Camp Director Reut Sklar said when the first camper tested positive, they had to close down only one pod group. When the second camper tested positive a few weeks later, they had to close three pods because of pod interaction during water play. Both campers are now well and the pods returned to regular programming later that week. However, the pods are now being separated during water activities. 

“Overall it’s been a challenging but fantastic summer,” Sklar said, adding, “I think kids are the ones feeling it the least. … They are still enjoying the programs and activities and they are just happy going down huge water slides, and playing sports outside with their friends.”

“I can only keep [my daughter] so safe. I can’t keep her locked up inside and I can’t keep her from living.”
— Shoshana Lewin Fisher

In San Diego, Fran Forman, senior director of Early Childhood Education and programs at Camp Jaycee  day camp, implemented strict guidelines and reduced the number of its campers from 700 to 200 at the Lawrence Family JCC campus. Yet the facility still encountered two COVID-19 cases. With the support of the community, they were able to quarantine the isolated families and resume camp. One of the camp’s biggest adaptations was its Shabbat programming. Rather than one big celebration, they have five scheduled Shabbat events throughout the day on Fridays.

“It’s kind of wonderful,” Forman said. “We know the parents are depending on us. We really wanted to be there for families and [the] community who need safe, developmentally appropriate places [for their kids].”

At Camp Gan Shalom, operated by the Jewish Federation of Greater San Gabriel and Pomona Valleys, Camp Director Benjamin Phelps said of his 90 campers and nine staff members, “We got lucky.” To date, nobody has tested positive. Although he’s concerned about the Delta variant, “Our biggest sessions were in Pasadena and now we are in week two out of three in Pomona and we only have [eight] campers  [this session]. If one kid tests positive, then everyone has to stay home for 10 days. We have to shut down. That’s not how I want to end the summer.”

Camp Jaycee counselors and campers enjoy Shabbat activities. Photo courtesy Fran Forman.

Neither do many parents or their children. 

“We currently have our [7-year-old-daughter] at Gan Alonim day camp,” operated through American Jewish University’s Camp Alonim Summer Programs in Simi Valley, Rebecca Fitch said. “Which feels safe because it’s outdoors and they are good about masks. [My daughter] is fine about masking. I do think when she is around other kids her age … that’s when she’s the happiest.”

Shoshana Lewin Fisher has been sending her 8-year-old daughter to camp at the YMCA in Simi Valley five days a week. She finds comfort in the knowledge that counselors are masked at all times, including wearing face shields over their masks. 

“I can only keep [my daughter] so safe,” Lewin Fisher said. “I can’t keep her locked up inside and I can’t keep her from living. I hope being outside helps.”

Miriam Yussman at camp Temple Menorah. Photo courtesy Rabbi Rebecca Yussman.

The Silverlake Independent Jewish Community Center (SIJCC) will complete its inaugural summer camp on Aug. 13. Manda Graizel, director of youth and family programs, said so far there have been no COVID-19 cases. The camp operates through the SIJCC and has a COVID-19 testing lab facility. The 75 campers from pre-kindergarten to fifth grade get tested on Mondays and Thursdays. 

“We treat it like a normal thing,” Graizel said. “I greet you. I check you in. You’re given a tube and you’re asked to spit in it. For so many of our campers, this is their first thing with other kids in 16 months. [We’re] just trying to keep the sense of, ‘This is camp and it needs to feel like camp.’”

Temple Menorah in Redondo Beach currently is operating its summer day camp with seven fully vaccinated staff members and 53 campers and counselors-in-training, split into pod groups each week. 

“Because a lot of things were lifted in the beginning of June, somehow people processed that [as] the pandemic is over, but it’s not,” said Rabbi Rebeccah Yussman, Temple Menorah’s director of Jewish Learning and Living. With one week left of camp, there has not yet been a single positive COVID-19 case. “That’s why we chose to continue operating under stricter guidelines so we wouldn’t have to shift during the summer,” she said. “We want to be sure we are doing everything in our power to keep our community safe.”

Despite the setbacks, camps are learning to adjust to the ongoing COVID-19 challenges, including the Delta variant, to ensure that children are able to find joy and thrive during this much-loved rite of passage. 

Said Cohen, “The magic of camp — perhaps more crucial in the lives of our children and teens now than ever before — can be seen in the campers’ smiles. We continue to work hard every minute to keep camp safe, and look forward to completing the season in good health while everyone has tons of fun.”