Visiting Day Weekend at Oorah’s Camp, TheZone

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visiting-day-oorah-campLike everything else at Oorah’s camp TheZone Girls Division, Visiting Day this past Sunday was anything but typical. The tantalizing aroma of barbecues filled the air and families of camper were treated to the full array of activities available to campers all summer long, from boating and ATVing to horseback riding and Zip-line.

But there were other ways that TheZone’s Visiting Day is unique. There were the dozens of parents who stopped at the TorahMates booth to sign up for a learning partner. Many had heard from their children how much they loved TorahMates in camp and wanted to try it out for themselves. There were the families who stopped to talk to Rabbi Tzvi Yoffe, Oorah tuition coordinator and Rabbi Avi Davidowitz, camp rabbi, about switching their children from public school to yeshiva.

But perhaps most of all, what made TheZone’s Visiting Day really different than most camps was the Shabbos that preceded it. Families of campers and staff alike spent an uplifting and inspiring Shabbat with Oorah at TheZone’s Boys Division campus, giving parents a taste of what their children had been experiencing in the weeks since they’d left home.

As at all Oorah events, people with diverse backgrounds and varying levels of observance of Yiddishkeit interacted freely, creating relationships that will hopefully be long-lasting. From the Carlebach-style Kabbalas Shabbos led by Rabbi Moshe Rockove to the sephardi mussaf, the schedule included something for everyone to feel at home. Ask the Rabbi and Dueling Rabbis sparked lively discussions and Rabbi Mordechai Finkelman’s speech provided much food for thought. TheZone’s signature MadZone game and Yalili contest made the Shabbos seudos truly enjoyable.

“It’s amazing how so many families from different walks of life can come together and enjoy a spiritual weekend in unison like one big family, learning and growing in a very enjoyable way,” says Simon Goldstein, a first-time attendee at an Oorah event.

For Rabbi Shmuli Rosenberg, Oorah’s Director of Marketing, the aspect of the Shabbos that was most beautiful was having “parents of the staff who are dedicating their summer to kiruv spending a Shabbos with parents of their daughters’ campers.” Because that is what Oorah is about: changing the entire family through the children, whether it is involving a camper’s parents in Oorah’s programs or giving a staff member’s family the chance to be involved in the kiruv that their daughter is doing.

{Andy Heller-Matzav.com Newscenter}


2 COMMENTS

  1. I was there and was generally impressed. There was one issue though that one should be aware of- there was music blasting throughout the grounds with women singing and a lot of girls dancing on the roads and by the BBQ. As it IS a girls camp it makes sense but men should know this before going.

  2. He is absolutely right. You should get to the children first. It is much easier to change their mindset than their parents who’s convictions might already be set. It is much easier to change the mindset of young adults than their parents. You can convince them of the ways of switching them to our lifestyle.

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