“Camp has always been a huge part of my life and has been a source of my identity. I’m the associate director of Camp Kinneret Biluim. It’s a Jewish camp and I see myself as a Jewish educator. I’m definitely more connected to my Judaism and Israel now through my involvement.”

“What kind of Jewish values did the camp instill in you?”

“The idea of tikun olam, helping the world, helping others, kindness, respect, passion, understanding… There are a lot of values that we don’t necessarily recognize as Jewish, but they are. I think the idea of being optimistic and enthusiastic about everything is something I particularly embrace. It’s important to stay positive and excited about things and hopefully that will be contagious. Whenever I have one of those really good days when I’m with friends and we go to the park, we’re at Tams, we’re hanging out, we have a picnic, and then we come here and get Dairy Queen, my friends make fun of me because I’ll say ‘guys this is the best day ever’ like every ten minutes.”

“How is positivity particular to Judaism?”

“I think that Jews have been through a lot of negativity in their lives so it just makes sense that having a positive outlook on things and being excited and enthusiastic is how many Jewish people to look at life. It’s hard to stay positive sometimes, but it’s definitely worth it.”

Category: People