Posted on August 17, 2026
Camp and the many doors into Judaism
I am currently going through a phase where I am obsessed with wearable technology. Between the Apple Watch on my wrist and the oura ring on my finger I have devices that are tracking my movements, my sleep, my heart rate, and a whole host of other things that I’m not entirely sure I need to know.
In honesty, the obsession may have gotten slightly out of hand. The other night, at about 11:00 p.m., I found myself pacing around the house, swinging my arms, just so that I could hit my daily move target before going to sleep. Because apparently I am now incapable of going to bed knowing that a little digital ring remains unclosed.
The funny thing about this technology is that sometimes it tells you what is happening with your body before you even notice it yourself.
During my two weeks at summer camp, I would arrive at the outdoor sanctuary for services already partway toward my move and exercise goals. Thirty minutes later, at the end of the service, my watch would flash to tell me that I had completed my daily move target.
As you can imagine, services at camp do not involve sitting down for very long — especially not the way that I participate in them.
In fact, sometimes it feels as though the camp prayer experience was designed for someone exactly like me.
First of all, you are welcome to stand up and walk around throughout the service. During the prayers, I would move around, praying and singing with different groups of campers and counselors, never sitting still for more than a few minutes. And then, so many of the prayers have dance moves associated with them, so you really can’t sit still. The song leader will announce Elohai Neshama or another prayer and everyone will jump up because they know the words comma, the tune, and the movements that accompany it. In these services you rise for the standing prayers – but you also rise just so that you can move your body in prayer.
And finally, this summer I discovered that I was high-fiving my way through services. We didn’t just clap to the music; we high-fived to the beat. And at the end, rather than simply wishing everyone a good day as they left the sanctuary, there were more high fives.
All of which probably explains why my Apple Watch concluded that morning services at camp constituted a workout.
Now before you get worried, I am not planning on instituting dancing and high-fives as part of our regular Shabbat experience here at Temple Shir Tikva.
But I do want to put a plug in that two weeks from today we will be hosting one of those camp song leaders with Omri Shklar returning to our community and allowing us to get a taste of that camp spirit – dance moves included.
I’ve been reflecting on that camp experience and what might be some of the lessons we can take away from it. The learning isn’t that prayer needs to be a cardio experience, instead I think there is a message about embracing and encouraging different ways of connecting with Judaism – what works in one place, for one person, at one moment in their life, might not work for someone else.
I love our services here at Shir Tikva. But I am not sure that this exact form of worship would work for hundreds of campers sitting outside at Crane Lake. And vice versa.
And that is okay.
Judaism has never been about a one-size-fits-all approach to community, to religion, or even to finding a connection with God.
In the pages of the Talmud we always read about a multiplicity of approaches, of ideas, of ways of “doing Judaism.” While I do not love the passage in the Passover Haggadah about the four children. I do appreciate the Seder’s recognition that there will be a variety of people around the table and that they will require a variety of answers and insights to connect with the ritual.
I actually believe that the absence of a central authority within Judaism is one of our greatest strengths. It is part of a long tradition of allowing multiple voices, interpretations, and approaches to exist side-by-side.
There are many doors through which to enter and find a Jewish connection. Our responsibility is to make sure that there are enough doorways for everyone to find one through which they can enter.
In this week’s Torah portion of Shoftim we have Moses sharing with the community details of the legal system that the Israelites are supposed to establish. Importantly, it does not start with one supreme judge, or a specific hierarchy of leadership. Instead the opening words of the portion say:
שֹׁפְטִ֣ים וְשֹֽׁטְרִ֗ים תִּֽתֶּן־לְךָ֙ בְּכׇל־שְׁעָרֶ֔יךָ
You shall appoint for yourself judges and officials in all of your tribes.
The specifics of the language used offer insight into the legal system with authority spread throughout the community. It first of all stresses that there will be a plurality of judges and officials, not just one voice and not just one way. It also makes clear that these positions of authority should be established for all of the tribes, recognizing that the Israelite community was not a single homogeneous group, but was instead made up of 12 different and unique tribes, coming together in their diversity to form a single united entity.
There is something powerful in that image: one people does not have to mean one way. The Israelites can be united without being uniform. They can share a covenant while still making room for different tribes, different leaders, and different communities.
And then, there is one more crucial detail in the text – it says תִּֽתֶּן־לְךָ֙ “appoint for yourself.” I do not think that this means we get to choose the judge that we like to adjudicate our personal cases. But perhaps we might hear in those words a reminder that different people will gravitate toward different leaders and different approaches. One size does not fit all; people need to find the size that fits them.
All too often in our society and our world, there are attempts to divide us into homogeneous groups and then build walls to keep people in and exclude others. It can often feel like we are moving away from broad tents where a variety of views can be welcomed and embraced. And instead emerging into a new reality where there is simply one way of believing, affiliating, of belonging.
I hope that the Jewish community as a whole and Temple Shir Tikva in particular can remain places where we recognize that there is beauty in diversity, that we can grow through our differences, that there is more than one way to be Jewish and more than one way to connect with God.
People who are temple shopping we’ll sometimes ask me or my colleagues about what the community believes in relation to this or that issue. My response is always to suggest that our community does not uniformly believe anything, but rather reflects the wider American Jewish community with a diversity of opinions, approaches, and ideas. It is one of the strengths of our community.
Yesterday evening, we began the month of Elul, which is the final month in the Jewish calendar and really represents that we are moving towards Rosh Hashanah and our new year. Just saying those words probably caused my wearable technology to detect a spike in my heart rate.
But this month is supposed to provide an opportunity for reflection and preparation for the year that lies ahead. It is our opportunity to consider who we have been and who we want to become.
In thinking about the summer and my Camp experience, I am reflecting on the variety of ways that people can connect with their Jewish identity. I am conscious that Camp is a real example of trying to meet people where they are, to connect with them on their terms and in ways that are meaningful for them, rather than expecting them to move to connect in ways that we might require.
It is a reminder that there are so many ways to practice our Judaism and to be part of the Jewish community. And that includes a connection with Judaism, at least in our community, for many who may not practice it as their own religion. TST offers a way for them to belong and connect in this community, to be embraced and welcomed.
As we prepare for the new year, I hope that we will be able to offer a wide variety of ways for people to connect with their Judaism. I hope that we will continue to be a community that reflects a diversity of opinions, a diversity of beliefs, and a diversity of ways of being Jewish. And I hope that everyone will find their way, their place, their community here at Temple Shir Tikva. It might involve dancing along to prayers, it might involve high fives with a rabbi, it might involve prayer, study, spirituality, or social justice. Whatever it involves I hope that we will be able to offer a Jewish home for everyone who is seeking one, with enough doors so that everyone can find their way inside.
