Camp Moshava marks 75 years with Israel reunion

TORONTO — Old friends reunited in Israel last month to celebrate 75 years of Camp Moshava, a Zionist overnight camp with locations throughout North America.

Ilana Weiss, left, who attended the reunion with her mother Toby Weiss, spent two summers on staff at Camp Moshava.

More than 2,000 former campers, staff and their families gathered on Yom Ha’atzmaut at the Naot Kedumin Nature Reserve near the city of Modi’in.

“It was exciting to see people who I haven’t seen in years,” said Dov Gilor, a volunteer at the reunion and a former head of the Moshava camp in Gelatt, Penn., which closed in 1962.

Bnei Akiva, an Orthodox Zionist youth movement, runs the camps, including the Canadian one in Ennismore, Ont., which celebrated its 50th anniversary at the reunion.

Part of the approximately 2,000 people at the event

Avraham Weiss, who went to the Canadian location in 1966, said that he ran into people he knew from outside of camp at the reunion, and thanks to the event, learned that they had a Moshava background.

The day consisted of lectures, nature walks, food and inflatable toys for the children.

Despite the many activities available, the real treat was re-connecting with old friends after many years, Gilor said.

“Most of the time, the people who actually were at Moshava were sitting around talking to their friends,” he said.

Robbie Sassoon, one of the organizers of the event, works for Moshava on special alumni projects and has been a part of the organization, particularly with the Indian Orchard camp in Pennsylvania, for the past 25 years.

He said although he hadn’t lost touch with too many old camp friends, it was especially nice to reinforce the idea of bringing people to Israel.

Weiss agreed, noting that his time at camp brought him into the world of Zionism, which played a major role in his decision to move to Israel.

Until recently, people didn’t realize the significant educational influence of Jewish camps, he said, adding that the effect of camp has been shown to be sometimes greater than formal Jewish education.

There were lots of hikes throughout the Camp Moshava reunion

“There’s a lot of education happening,” he said. “You go away with a very, very intense experience.”

About 1,000 of the participants were alumni, primarily former campers and participants in Moshava’s leadership courses. The rest were their children and grandchildren.

Jewish companies also made presentations, including one by Machon Tzomet that demonstrated new technology designed to make it easier to follow some of the rules of Shabbat, such as halachic wheelchairs.

Gilor said he was pleased with the number of participants, especially considering that the event was on Israel’s Independence Day, when there are many other celebrations all over the country.

However, Sassoon said there couldn’t have been a better day to hold the reunion, since the camp’s promotion of a love for Israel is what brought so many of the alumni to Israel.

“It just really shows solidarity with Israel,” Gilor said.