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Our Mission
 

Starting with its first regional camp in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin (1951), the Union for Reform Judaism (then known as the Union of American Hebrew Congregations) has found that its summer camps offer their participants challenging experiences in Jewish religious living. The Union looks on its camps as extensions, in a unique setting, of the Jewish home and the synagogue.

In essence, the Camps serve as model Jewish communities, with a set of values determined by the URJ and implemented by the Camp personnel engaged to administer the program (i.e. the madrichim, Roshe Eydah, mumchim, assistant directors and camp director). In a very real sense, the Camp's tone and religious and cultural programs are made manifest by the staff.

Mission: The mission of the URJ Camping System is to enrich and transform lives by strengthening Jewish identity, teaching Jewish knowledge, instilling Jewish values and cultivating lifelong friendships within a vibrant and fun community of living Reform Judaism.

Vision: The vision of the URJ Camping System is to welcome 10-15% of camp age congregants and to increase the percentage of adult congregants in the Reform Movement that participate in our camps annually.

Core Values: URJ Camps fulfill our mission through our commitment to the following core values:

• Ruach / Spirit
• Kehilah / Community
• Talmud Torah / Lifelong Jewish Learning
• Tikkun Olam / Responsibility to repair the world
• Kavod / Respect

Aims and Objectives of the Union's Camps

  • Provide campers and staff with rewarding, challenging and pleasant experiences in a religious environment, and aid in the development of knowledgeable, believing and practicing Reform Jews.
  • Provide opportunities to study Torah at graded levels of understanding and appreciation.
  • Develop through the natural setting of a URJ Camp an awareness of the presence of God in all life.
  • Develop an appreciation and an understanding of the sacred relationships between humanity and God and between the peoples of the world.
  • Develop an understanding that life is filled with purpose and good beyond its material manifestations.
  • Provide youth and adults with opportunities to experience the fullness of Jewish life through prayer and other meaningful religious experiences.
  • Provide youth and adults with intensive training for roles in lay and professional leadership within the Reform Jewish community specifically, as well as the Jewish community at large.
  • Translate religious concepts into real experiences, developing or modifying personal character and group behavior in consonance with the ideals of Judaism.
  • Provide a creative setting for Jewish learning and living, through integrated religious camp programming, at each URJ Camp.
  • Implement the awareness of K'lal Yisrael (the People of Israel) in general and the State of Israel in particular, and to offer campers the opportunity of finding their own creative and active roles in this process.
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