good morning, we're about to have a wonderful conversation about jewish camping. religious communities have conversations about how to educate their youth to a jewish or religious identity and camping is one of the biggest ways this happens. we're honored to welcome the camp director at urban which means what? >> earth. >> so urban earth as the name

of your organization. >> yes, we're hoping to remind people we're still on earth when we're in the city. >> let's ask the basic question of what is jewish camping? ? >> well it secures the jewish future. when children go to jewish summer camp and get grounded in a jewish community in that part of their identity, they're more likely to want to grow up and participate in jewish life as an adult. for me growing up i did not live in a big jewish community and summer camp was the first place i felt surrounded by other jews and where it's normal to be jewish and cool and fun. so summer camp gave that toe me and i see it given to so many children today -- where they feel comfortable and positive about their identity.

>> so it's a residential summer camp experience. >> yes, it's a sleep away camp residential experience outside of yosemite in the sierra nevada mountains. >> so between the two of you, the ways in which you go about your programming, how is it you understand the way somebody might belong to a synagogue and be involved in their local community and then come for a more focused experience whether it's residential at camp twang a ga or one of the programs. >> we have a broad spectrum of how people identify with being jewish. we have campers who are not jewish. we have some who like to eat

bagels but that's the only jewish thing they do and then some keep conscientiouser at home or celebrate every week and we have everything in between. when people come we try to meet them where they're at. we're flur illistic and nondenominational so some people connect with the food or prayers and other traditions and some people with the values. -- -- pleuralistic. there's a lot of ways to connect with judaism and that's a strength, something for everyone. >> we have an interesting model, we're in an urban area so it's a camp that is accessible to many kids. we see that kids who have different kinds of backgrounds and levels of observance can focus on what connection is at camp.

because we're on a farm we have more of a bio cent trick centric focus so kids can have an experience that is not designed by someone else. they can let their guard down and connect through farming and building with mud. that experience of being a child is a foundation to a positive jewish experience. >> we're going to take a quick break and come back in just a moment back to mosaic. please join us in just a moment.

good morning, welcome back to mosaic. i'm ra buybbi eric weiss.

become back to ariella and beck becka. we were talking about your voirs programs. it seems nature is in the context of jewish life. i'm wondering if you can talk about that. nature is a central part of our experience on a farm. it allows us to re waveweave the earth based elements. one sixth about the jewish cannon is about farming and sharing the harvest so we get to relive those pieces that urban jews have forgotten about. we get to experience jewish tradition and values and it's fun and works for kids to create community and it's a

powerful positive experience that you're doing really things that are meaningful when you work with the earth and help others and see your efforts have a product that benefits those you care for. >> how does it work with camp twanga? . >> we really highlight nba chaur. we are totally unplugged -- -- nature. the kids see the stars at night. they hold the frogs in the lake. we have a farm as well. and going to yosemite national park on their backpacking trips. our hope is for kwidz to fall in love with nature and be better stewards of the world and make the connection. >> let's get down to basics. how does somebody contact camp

twanga and how to register and what are the choices people have? >> sure. we would encourage people to visit our website twanga.org and you will see our range of summer programs that are one week up to two and a half weeks and then programs on the road called quest where our teams go on a car camping road trip and do multi sport adventures like rock climbing and backpacking and we also family camp with our four day weekend programs in the spring and fall for camlies to come experience together. they can visit our website or call us at our office. we're always there to answer our questions about the best fit for their child. >> before we get to urban and

the basics there, what's the youngest age camper you take? >> sure, for summer camp programs we take children who are entering second grade all the way through entering 12th grade. so roughly 7-17. for family camps all ages are welcome from little babies to grandparents. >> wonderful. . >> we have a camp season that runs for nine weeks every summer. the first three are for ages 3- 5. the next six weeks are ages 5-12. we also have a teen program this summer that's excite k and something that's unique about our program is that kwidz live where that camp is so they get to come back year round for community celebrations and group programs. they can bring their school to the camp to the farm if they would like for a field trip. so their experience at camp

extends and helps them have a place based experience. >> i know each website has different things about costs and the different ways in which somebody enters the experience. talk about the different options. >> we give away half a million dollars every year in camper ship which are scholarships for camp. that's need based. we ask families to provide us with house-hold income and other information to figure out how much aid we can award. there's need blind options such as one happy camper and pj goes to camp and other programs like that. as well, some synagogues have partnerships where they will help families. so we list all those options as well as making monthly payment plans on our website.

>> wonderful. something to keep in mind about urban we don't have as many numbers. we about 60 campers per week so we give away about $9,000 every summer which is more proportional to our campers. we also help people see other opportunities in the community. >> we have come to the end of our time together. we're going to welcome two new people when we come back.

welcome back. we're joined in these next two

segments by the rabbi who is the camp director and program manager at another camp. welcome. >> thank you. >> let's just jump in and tell us about your respective camps and what you start out. >> camp newman is one of 16 camps. we're a residential summer camp and offer a number of programs throughout the year for elementary school up through high school and everything we do is based around our mission of inspiring a love of judaism through a philosophy of care creating a holy community through accepting every person who comes through our gates and learning to love our neighbors as ourself. finding many friends and seeing each and every person who comes through our gates as made in the image of god unique and

special. >> in the jewish community we might think of as a corporate distinction there's different movements and one is the reform movement and camp newman is affiliated nationally with that. >> correct. >> and lindsey, sure. >> sure we're based in marin county and we are a place for jews of racially and ethnic diverse backgrounds to come together as jews and teach about jewish communities around the world through education. each day we're traveling to a new country and learning about the jewish community there through art, cooking, dance and the like and it's also a place to explore identity both jewish and otherwise. >> so there's this big word that is out there in the community calls intersection

alty. we understand that people have diverse identities and not sure if this is the current language but in the jewish community we are not just white -- we are of many different ethnic cultures. so is that part of the experience when you say that it's jewish and? >> sure, bohlish means in every tongue and that is central to everything we do. we are recognizing people along with their jewish identities have other identities racially and ethnically and otherwise and we strive to create a space for people to bring themselves to the table. >> wonderful. and rabbi arn, getting down to

concrete details, how do people contact camp newman? >> we are a traditional summer camp with arts and sports and nature and hiking and all those things. during the summer we welcome campers entering third grade through 12th. all of our staff is in college and older. during the year we run camps for three different weekend programs for elementary school kids and a couple for middle school as well and a number of high school as well. we're running our first early childhood family camp this october. you can find out about that and more at our website, camp newman.org. you can call and talk to someone about financial aid and race and dates and best placement for campers during our summer sessions and more. >> you mentioned one program we should let people know about

which is pj library meaning pa pajamas and a reading book program people can sign up for newborn babies throughd to lers. >> actually through 6-7 years old. pj goes to camp is also a scholarship program run through the same organization and we also were a number of grants we got a grant for pj our way and the mission is to open up the world of jewish books to families who may not know about jewish books that xus. >> wonderful example of the different collaborations and corporations they have. so lindsey, can you give us a sense of the range of campers and who comes and how all that works. >> sure. we have campers that range in age from 8-18.

we are slightly smaller than some others here today. we are also much more of a family feel where all 8-18-year olds are living together and doing activities together. so a lot of times for younger campers that helps them feel more comfortable. so you can sign up at our website or call us and we would love to talk to you and get to know families who may be interested. we also work with families to find resources help them come to camp.

. >> wonderful. we're going to take a quick break and come back in a moment here on mosaic. [piano playing slow tune]

make your emergency plan today.

welcome back. we have the camp director at camp newman and then the program manager at camp boholish. the jewish community is so diverse and we have so many ways in which we have both. we have different kinds of experiences certainly in the camping world for lgbtq families and at the same time the youth comes to camp newman and bo holiholish so is that an

example how you see the ways in which the multi culturism exists around the community and jewish camping and also very particular ways in which folks who identify in a particular way also come here. i'm wondering if you can talk about your perspective how you see jewish identity evolving and functioning in your respective arenas? >> sure. so we welcome around 1200 campers every summer and our campers come from all walks of life and all denominations and all levels of faith and observance. our hope and goal when they come to camp newman is they will find a place where they feel at home and they can be their best selves without outside pressure and they feel like they found a place where

they have a family. and we have groups of all the ones you mentioned -- we have different races at camp and different family make-ups at camp newman and when you're at camp all of that combines to form this different family we have at camp. we also hear from campers who also go to camp twanga and ot ma to find different families and how they connect to the jewish xunt in that way. >> from your per speck tiff. >> i would say similarly we have campered and families of many different backgrounds both jewish from boholish might be the only jewish thing they do to families involves in other jewish communities as well as a broad range of diversity in terms of racial and ethnic make- up and families formed by adoption and lgbtq families so

for a lot of our kids who are of color, especially this camp, it's one of their only experiences where they are around a majority of people who look like them and have similar experiences to them. so we also think of our camp as a sup le mental camp. we are three weeks during the summer and kids do other camps like the camps here today. so we really feel like we offer an opportunity for kids to see others who look like themselves and also role models who look like them and develop their comfort in expressing their jewish identity. >> it makes me think that jewish camping is one of the very few places where different kinds of people can come together and really form family and relationships and deepen what it means to be a jew and human being and that's an

extraordinary deliberate world that gets created and because it's residential and continue al, that impact on the way a person understands themselves as well as their community with such great diversity must give a lot of confidence to a jewish community's sense of place in the world that everybody is really welcome and even if somebody is different than you, it doesn't make them an "other". they're still part of the family. from your per speck tiff, we don't have that much time but just from your perspective what's the impact you think you have on people once they're not at camp or once they leave camp back out in the world and the other worlds they live i would

say for a lot of our jewish kids of color they're experiencing both an invisibility of their experience as well as highly visible in their communities so we really try to see our camp as also a leadership development camp that we're helping kids to figure out how to tell their own stories and know when people are looking at them as leaders that they know how to embrace that or put up boundaries. how would you respond? >> i would say we have made a real push in response to needs of our families of inclusion and whether that's things you can see and can't see and supporting all the emotional, social physical needs of our campers to make them feel like they have this home and give them the tools to take it back to their community and take the

pride back home with them. >> lindsey, thank you so much. please get on the westbound and look up camp newman and make a wonderful choice for yourself this coming summer. thank you so much for being here with us on mosaic.

spring is upon us, and if you're like me... you're gearing up for some cycling. to show us some of the spring is upon us and if you're like me, you're gearing up for some cycling. we have rob from echoes communications. >> thank you . >> what do we have here? >> if your a cyclists you need to be comfortable and safe. the first thing is eyewear. this is from adidas sport. what's interesting about this is the lens that transitions from lightness to darkness depending on the level of sun. it has adjustable bows as well as a detachable sweat band.