Using photocopied sheets, camp counselor Heather Liebowitz leads a group of second-graders in morning prayers in the picnic grounds at the Union Y.
Photos by Elaine Durbach
August 21, 2008
Each weekday of the summer, the 200 or so children in the religious groups at the YM-YWHA of Union County’s camp gather to say their prayers, some in the dappled shade in the picnic area, others in the makeshift shul inside.
For the eight weeks of the camp season just ended, they shared a motley collection of assorted siddurim. In an effort to coordinate matters so that the worshipers would all be “on the same page,” Randi Beil and Rabbi Steve Hirschey, codirectors of the camp’s Haverim groups, provided the youngsters and their counselors with photocopied sheets of prayers. But, they said, that was still a somewhat messy solution.
So they came up with a more ambitious plan — “the epiphany of the summer,” as Beil put it: They would buy enough prayer books to provide all religious campers with the same text. Their choice was Siddur Chinuch Chaim Shlomo (ArtScroll), a prayer book for youngsters that is used at the schools of the Jewish Educational Center in Elizabeth, which many of the children attend.
There was one problem: How were they going to pay for those siddurim? The Y certainly didn’t have the funds available. So Hirschey and Beil decided to ask their campers’ parents to donate funds to cover the $10 publisher’s per-prayer book price.
Randi Beil, left, and Rabbi Steve Hirschey, codirectors of the Union Y’s religious summer camp groups, show the new prayer books purchased with help from Y members.
In a letter to the parents, they and Y president Mark Bloomberg wrote: “There is nothing more special than watching our children davening together. Unfortunately, through the years, our Siddurim have fallen into disrepair. We are asking you to participate in a unique mitzvah and help us purchase new Siddurim.”
Y program director Jani Jonas said that in just over a week, they had received enough money to cover the cost of 160 books and were well on their way to reaching the goal of 200. Some contributors gave the price of one book; others gave a sum that would pay for as many as 10.
Hirschey said he wasn’t surprised at all. “I knew they would respond that way,” he said. “This is something that is very important to them.”
Beil said the donors were invited to dedicate the books any way they chose. Some supplied dedications in memory of a loved one, others in gratitude to a friend in recognition of a kindness done, still others to mark a special life-cycle event.
Big boxes of the books arrived and were stacked in the office storeroom. With just a few more days left to this year’s camp season, and given that the children were already accustomed to using their stapled sheets, Beil and Hirschey decided not to unpack the boxes yet. They said next year’s campers will use the new books, each one with a dedication page pasted inside.
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