Swimming is one of the many offerings for children at Camp J each summer.
The Tucson Jewish Community Center will offer its Camp J this summer from May 26-Aug. 27, with a variety of programs for kids of all ages. Camp activities include arts and crafts, archery, STEM, swimming, field trips, and a variety of electives. Christy Ball has been sending her sons,… Read more »
During an exercise at the Jewish community’s “From #MeToo to #WeToo” event May 21, audience members wrote reflections on banners marked “I Learned,” “I Feel,” and “I Commit to.” Colored stickers indicate “likes” from other attendees. (Maya S. Horowitz/JCF)
It is our collective responsibility as members of this community to examine the part that we play in these frameworks,” Graham Hoffman, president and CEO of the Jewish Community Foundation of Southern Arizona, told the audience at a recent community event addressing sexual harassment in the Jewish communal world.… Read more »
Josh Shenker, lower right, as young camp counselor
Playing “Ga-Ga ball” is a camp tradition that Josh Shenker, the Tucson Jewish Community Center’s director of child, youth and camping services, looked forward to every year he returned to summer camp at the JCC in Houston. The game starts with a ball thrown into the “pit,” a ringed… Read more »
The Tucson Jewish Community Center’s Camp J — the only day camp in town accredited by the American Camping Association — is gearing up for summer with a new director, Josh Shenker; 11 specialty camps, including a new junior robotics camp; traditional camps that cater to four age groups;… Read more »
Campers from the Tucson Jewish Community Center's Camp J enjoy a field trip at Breakers Water Park in 2016. (Courtesy Tucson Jewish Community Center)
At the Tucson J Summer Camp, this year’s theme is “Lights, Camera, Camp J.” Each camp week will celebrate a different genre of movie history, from the silent film era to fantasy and sci-fi, and everything in between. Programming will connect campers to the energy of the world of… Read more »
Camp J time capsules Summer campers at the J traveled through time to visit Old Tucson Studios and learn about the Jewish History Museum time capsule that was opened by Gabrielle Giffords in 2010. They decided to make their own time capsules and stuffed them with a penny, recent… Read more »
Israel Biton and Danit Yona, camp counselors from Israel, at the Tucson Jewish Community Center (Courtesy Weintraub Israel Center0
Danit Yona, 22, one of two Israelis working as counselors at the Tucson Jewish Community Center’s Camp J this summer, says she learned her nearly flawless, American-accented English from watching TV shows like “Full House,” “Family Matters” and “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” after school. “I also had a… Read more »
Dar Katz (left) and Shachaf Shahar with Camp J campers at the Tucson Jewish Community Center.
(Julie Zorn/TJCC)
As Camp J shlichot (Israeli emissaries), Shachaf Shahar and Dar Katz are here to share their love and knowledge of Israel and Jewish culture with the campers at the Tucson Jewish Community Center this summer. Shahar, 22, is from Yad Mordechai, a kibbutz in Tucson’s Partnership2Gether region in southern… Read more »
Omri Margalit, an Israeli serving as a counselor at Tucson’s Camp J, with Tucsonan and fellow counselor Rachel Fox in 2009 (Courtesy Rachel Margalit) For the Margalit family, the Tucson Jewish Community Center was the setting for a true camp love story: a Tucson camp counselor meets and falls for a visiting Israeli. Rachel Fox and Omri Margalit met at the JCC’s summer camp as teenagers serving as counselors. Rachel, a University of… Read more »
Sara, Katie and Dylan Bluth (Courtesy Jeff Bluth) For two local families, the Bluths and the Smiths, the summer camps at Tucson’s Jewish Community Center, fondly known as Camp J, mean much more than just fun for the kids. Their stories reveal the profound impact camp can make. For Jeff Bluth, it is exciting to see the… Read more »
Avi Szychter rallies campers during the Camp J Maccabiah games in July. (Julie Zorn/TJCC) Sitting in the Tucson Jewish Community Center, surrounded by Jewish children and adolescents, French teenager Avi Szychter feels right at home. For the 18-year-old, spending the summer in the Camp J Bonim Leaders-in-Training program has been the perfect opportunity to escape the growing anti-Semitism in France and relax before… Read more »
Ella Vaturi and Noa Berman On August 2, Noa Berman and Ella Vaturi wrapped up two months as shlichot (Israeli emissaries) with the Tucson Jewish Community Center’s day camp. Every year, the Jewish Agency for Israel sends two Israelis in their early 20s to share knowledge and love for Israel and Jewish culture with… Read more »
Jane Hiller (left) enjoys a creative movement class at Congregation Anshei Israel’s summer camp. Seeking an enriching day camp environment for your kids this summer? Tucson offers several Jewish day camp options. Congregation Anshei Israel’s summer camp, which serves children ages 2-6, runs through July 27. Along with water play, arts and crafts, songs and stories, the camp offers two areas of special… Read more »
Lt. Lipaz Ela, Shelly Silverman and 1st Sgt. Tomer Bucher at the Birthright Israel reception
In my 20 years of writing this monthly column from September through May, the Rosh Hashanah issue has traditionally highlighted Israel summer travel. This article is no exception. Enjoy! • • • • • Another year, another Tucson Hebrew Academy eighth-grade Israel Discovery trip before middle school graduation. This… Read more »
