good morning and welcome to mosaic. i'm honored to be your host this morning. faith communities think a lot about the future and how to educate their young people to live and make the world and their community a better place. one of the ways in which that question is answered is the immersive experience of camping. we would like to invite you into a conversation with the camp director and aaron mandel the associate director of the

camp. >> let's jump in and ask, what is jewish camping? why don't you jump in? >> well, it has been around since 1925. kids come up for a few weeks of their summer and hopefully it is a good few weeks. that is an experience that they get different from the rest of the year. >> right now we are located on the campus in vallejo in the east bay just past the bridge. we have a campsite in santa rosa which was pretty

devastated by the fires last year. we are in and in between space right now. on this beautiful campus. we have many kids and staff members who join us all summer and hopefully it will be one of the best cyber -- summers they have in their life. >> who comes to camp newman and camp towango? >> a traditional summer camp program. kids ages 6 to 17. the programs change a little bit as they get older. we get kids throughout 2nd and 3rd grade up to 12th grade, the end of high school. we also run some family programs that we get campers of all ages, literally from

newborns to grandparents that come with their parents. those are four day programs that we run. we have all kinds of people at towango. >> we have summer programs . we have a one week session, a two, 3 and 4 week session. our 11th and 12th graders have an eight week session. the kids can do fundraising andd judaism and how the intersection. -- have a intersect. they can learn how to be an amazing counselor. we serve a lot of staff who come in the summer. we have about 130 staff members with us. they help us build thisfor the

summer. >> we have a community that is so diverse. both of you are jewish camps. i wonder if you can talk about hoyou are a jewish camp. >> we want to provide a low barrier to entry. one slight difference between us is we are not affiliated with a movement. we tried to make sure that there is a welcoming and accommodating meaningful experience for someone who is maybe not jewish for this may be the only jewish thing they do all year all the way through to campers where this is one of many aspects of jewish life. we tried to infuse judaism into

all the different activities playing sports, arts and crafts, music, drama and specifically, some education and learning programs that cam. we infuse that into the community where it is not just jewish at this time, a whole three weeks of being in a jewish community and feeling jewish. >> we have a reform movement affiliation. faculty members come in and help us do what we do. we play --'s say blessings before and after every meal. it is all about living in jewish community, the kids put their arms each other and close out the evening with the special prayer that we sing together. everything we do has some

element of judaism in it. for a lot of kids that is the only time they have during the year to be surrounded by people in the jewish community. it's something really special break and be back in just a moment.

these are three campers

wearing their end of the session t-shirts. as you can see, it is a bunch of different activities that they get to do it camp. one thing that is incredibly special about both of our cams and all of what we do is based on being a welcoming and open community for our kids and staff. to be able to feel at home in a jewish setting. >> wonderful. welcome back to mosaic. we are in the middle of a wonderful conversation. this is camped among the and the jewish world. >> let's talk a little bit about what and immersive experiences for a young person coming to a camp session. lots of us have an understanding of camping and a lot of us don't. what is it about this immersive experience that makes such a difference?

>> i think one of the special things about going to campus regulavities you d y ven woare buarndun community ppl and building lifelong friendships and explore new kinds of activities like different kinds of art that you may not have done before or sports or singing or slack lining or any of the different things that we offer in each of our camps and build small communities within. -- bigger communities based on how we haven't sectioned off. you can get to know different people. you can have staff members who

are your role models. they are college kids or older to help guide you through this villthe y can be difficult for things that are going on in their lives. it is a really special place where they can become their authentic self. >> from the perspective, how do you work with this diversity? we are immigrant jews, jews of color, where interreligious and international and we are in every class. where people might be in their own particular neighborhood, other than when they go on a vacation or come to camp, especially at camp here, they can be in a place where you meet jews that are different from you or maybe your next-door neighbor.

what is that experience and how does that impact the jewish community and a person developing their identity there. >> that is a good question. it is so vast. it touches on a lot of the beauty and challenge of what we are doing incamping. the first thing i think of is one of my beliefs that the solution to a lot of the challenges is harder in this era by the removed aspect of technology in our lives. there is a certain leveling aspect to camp. wherever kids come from they can -- pack one back and live in a cabin with 11 other kids. 12 kids lived together. the come from different places. they're forced to be face to

face and have conversations and confront the similarities and differences that they bring. that immersive aspect of an overnight camp is, if you join a sports team you might have a lot of different people. you're there for a few hours a week. a whole season goes a few weeks long. at camp it is 24/7. within a couple of days you have equaled a whole season of being on a sports team in terms of the amount of connections in time that could happen. you multiply that out by four weeks and you really get in deep with people. that is where a lot of amazing growth and discovery and learning happens. >> we are going to come back in just a moment and continue this conversation in just a moment. we will be right back on mosaic. [ cell phone rings ]

>> yeah, i'm watching it too. i see them every day.

>> the curtains, they're always drawn in this place. >> i know. >> that guy, it seems like he's in charge of them. i don't know, i don't feel very good about this. >> y, absoly.

this is a picture of camp towango , what are we looking at? >> these are the cabins. you can see the lake that we have in the camp. this is a big field. there are some beautiful trees in the forest of the sierras. >> wonderful. >> welcome back. we're talking about camp towango and camp newman. we were talking about of -- diversity and inclusion. talk about that from the camp newman perspective. >> all of our camps are really trying to create a welcoming environment. everything we do comes back to our philosophy of care. we are building a community and modeling acceptance and role modeling for everyone. in the

image of god. we make sure our kids know of the staff knows that this is supposed to be a community that is good for everyone. anyone who is interested in having one of these ris, wetoab to be open and the right kind of place where we can be welcoming. you might feel different from the other kids around you or the other staff aranyou. were doing as much as we can. we have talked about the future looking toward doing even more to be as inclusive and open as

possible so peanand feel like each of these places are the home at a place where they can make their home and feel comfortable.>> we spend a lot of time talking about how the next generation will feel confident and competent about taking the world a better place. they will be better human beings and being better relations and better citizens. being in close of -- inclusive is important. i wonder if you can talk about the ways in which you think about those issues and the perspective of your program. even beyond the vision, how do you see the effects of that confidence building out there in the world beyond a camp session. >> camp is supposed to be a

version of the world as we want it to be. it is a place you go way too for part of your summer. if we do our job as people in charge of running these scams, kids will get a vision of the best possible version of society. they will get a chance to feel the best possible version of themselves. when the session ends, i really take it as my responsibility to tell the kids that this was not just for them to have for these three weeks. they need to go out and experience what it felt like to be loved and accepted for who they are and to work out differences face to face with dialogue and communication. those kinds of skills starting with feeling good about yourself and competent to take a stand about who you are and who you believe in -- what you believe in and what it means to live in community and how you take that back home to your communities during the many

weeks that you are not at camp. >> i think that something really special happens at camp. you can work things out with people without screens in front of you. you can take the time to really get to know people people and accept them for who they are. i think that the goal is that home and the e all this next time they encounter one of these issues, whether it is someone who needs to be included more or someone else or at school or whatever it is, our home and the things that we se from stories that parents send in an kids send in and all the things that we hear about, things that they learned during their time at camp, they end up being directly the things that are done outside of camp.

that is a beautiful thing. they can take that and bring that into their world. >> if it is not too personal, for any of us that work in a faith community, we are role models and we give and teach. we also receive and grow. i am wondering, before we take our break, can you reflect a little bit about how actually these values have influenced you even as you do the work and how you have grown as citizens of the world? >> i think that curiosity and all are for me the things that i get to experience with these kids and staff every summer. seeing someone connected to prayer for the first time or seeing them understand the concept that they have heard

about but never internalized, being able to experience that through their eyes, that really is that's that sustains me. it is a beautiful thing that you can see in the work that we do.>> i am like a poster child wee as a kid. it was my summer job when i was in college. now i am a director there. i don't know what my life would be like without camp. i for sure know that i probably would not be as competent as i am. i also think about the experiences of going out into nature and into the wilderness and the avenue that opens up for spiritual reflection and moments. i think our planet is in need of a lot more people that spend time outdoor tesco

outdoors and they are as steward of the planet. i think being able to be with the group i know when to speak up and when to step back and empower others. those are things that i don't think i would have if it were not for camp. >> thank you very much.

good morning and welcome back to mosaic. we are in the middle of a wonderful conversation about jewish camping. let's let people know some logistic things like how do people register? when you start? all that sort of stuff. >> we started registration yesterday. that is exciting. we are open. we have many dien sessions the kids can come to.

we offer a variety of scholarships for first-time campers and returning kids. we want to make sure that anyone can get to camp, no matter what. the financial situation is not a problem. we have thigh:. we should save for people who are listening, this is november. registration has begun in november. >> yes. we will go through until we fill up. there is late, >> camp begins on june 16 this year and we go until august 7 i believe. >> all right.>> we will start registration in mid december. people who are interested can visit our website and get information about different sessions starting with rising

second graders all the way through high school. we have sessions between one and 3 weeks. just like allie said, we make sure that people are not turned away because of any financial situations. that is a huge priority for us. we give out camp scholarships. we are happy to help families cover their camp fees. we start june 16. we run through august 13. those are the dates of our summer. >> that is the diversity of the community. there's a great deal of economic diversity. in particular, our local jewish community federation of san francisco has a camper scholarship fund so no one should be shy about registering

for camp due to financial constraints. >> yes. when we are talking about camp, we always make sure that everybody knows that we don't want money to be the reason why a child can't attend summer camp. both of our camps and really all over the co -- country are dedicated to making that true. pick up the phone and call us. we will make it work no matter what it is. >> so your youngest camper is a seven-year-old, that goes all the way through to high school and college? >> we are entering third grade. >> that is eight years old. >> yes. >> can you talk about the kind of weekend theme programs you have. you have weekend and traditional summer sessions. >> yes. we have family camps.

one that i am particularly proud of is our lb gtq family camp. that is one of our pr we offer summer. >> all right. thank you so much for being with us. we encourage you to go to summer camp and check them out. thank you so much for being with us here on mosaic.

rest. check out how much of rain we got. this last storm total was pretty impressive. we need it. 2.5 inches for san francisco. more rain the further north you travel. oakland got nearly 3 inches of rain and hayward got about an inch and a r.