This year’s session of Sephardic Adventure Camp was better than ever before! For three weeks, nearly 100 kids between the ages of 8 and 16 joined us in the scenic Clu Elm campsite in Washington State, about 90 minutes away from Seattle for an extraordinary summer of sports, Jewish learning, Sephardic songs, Ladino language, culture, and so much more. Sephardic kids from throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico, Spain, Israel, and even Turkey come together for an amazing 3 and a half weeks every summer to enjoy the outdoors together and make friends that last a lifetime.
Special Sephardic educational programming includes Ladino words of the day, Solitreo writing, Ladino 101, Djoha riddles and stories, Sephardic Tefillah and Shabbat services, Sephardic song learning and pizmonim, and so much more.This year’s theme, Adio Kerida - Goodbye my beloved, highlights the history of our Sephardic communities in Spain and Portugal, the great Torah scholars, culture, and history of the Golden Age of Spain, along with the Expulsion of our communities from these historic lands. Here are just a few of this year’s amazing highlights:
Incredible Shabbat Experience – Shabbat at SAC is a special experience, and this year was no exception. We had a nice mix of meaningful Tefilah, Jewish learning and Pizmonim - Sephardic Hebrew and Ladino songs, activities, and supervised free time. I want to give a special shout out to community members Judy Maimon, Lulu Maimon, Joy Maimon, Rinah Benoliel, Cynthia Gamel and Leora Alhadeff for doing lots of baking for our first Shabbat of camp.
Fun SACtivities and Sports – On our first Sunday at camp, our older kids and Counselors in Training (CITs) went on their overnight camping trip along with our younger bunks, who went on their first overnight trip ever. Our campers also experienced all that our beautiful host site has to offer. From Swimming, Kayaking, Fishing, Sports, Archery, and Art, our campers had an action-packed week of activities. One of our newest activities this year is Rock Climbing. This wasn’t your typical camp rock wall; this was a real 40-foot rock! Of course, our campers were safely secured by harnesses and ropes, and carefully supervised by Josh, our rock climbing specialist.
Israel Day – In the middle of our 3 week session, we celebrated our annual Israel Day featuring nine different activities and learning stations highlighting cities from all over Israel. Campers and Staff enjoyed Aroma Coffee in Tel Aviv, Fresh Pita in Bet Shemesh, Shesh Besh and Matkot in Eilat, Army training in Jerusalem, Candle making in Tzfat, and more. The night was capped off by the Eight Great Rishonim Debate, where the campers made Refranes - Ladino Sayings Style Skits based on famous sayings from great Sephardic Rabbis like Maimonidies, Rabbi Bension Uziel, and Ibn Ezra.
Visiting Sephardic Scholars – One of the highlights of SAC is our visiting Sephardic Scholars program, where prominent Rabbis from our community, and other Sephardic specialists, come to SAC and teach our children. This year, we were fortunate to have many special guests visit us at SAC, including the Brotherhood’s Managing Director Ethan Marcus, who made a special visit for the second Shabbat to Sephardic Adventure Camp, helping to teach some Ladino words of the day, Sephardic identity sessions, and pulling some Shakás (jokes) with the amazing campers!
A new addition this year included a Sephardic Poetry Slam led by the amazing Sarah Aroeste, where bunks had to go head to head with one another in creating their own unique poems effusing Ladino words and phrases, Jewish ideas, Sephardic history, and a whole lot more. We welcomed Rabbi Yehuda Gabay, Head of School of Northwest Yeshiva High School and his wife Haya Gabay, and Rabbi Daniel Hadar of Temple Moses, Miami. We also had a strong representation from the Owen family spend the last Shabbat with us: Rabbi Owen, Head of School of Seattle Hebrew Academy, together with Jeffrey Owen and Julia Owen, long-time SAC staff members. Rabbi Owen helped judge a Ladino Refranes event on Shabbat as well as participate in a beautiful post-Havdalah bonfire. Finally, Rabbi & Rubissa Hassan of Sephardic Bikur Holim joined us to spend a few days at camp learning with our kids, along with Rabbi David and Rubisa Tirtza Benchlouch of Congregation Ezra Bessaroth.
Coca en la Boca – Hazzan Aryeh Greenberg (Haham) has been leading our early-waking campers again this year for this popular activity which includes mind puzzles, Djoha stories, hot cocoa, and more!
Sephardic Biscocho Bakeoff – This year's session also featured a special Biscocho Bakeoff, where campers had to compete to create the best and tastiest biscochos, led by the amazing Joy Maimon and a number of Seattle Sephardic Community members, along with a camp wide Moroccan Mimouna Celebration. Special thanks to Hadar & Micah Cohen and to Eli & Kelly Mizrachi for sponsoring our Great Biscocho Bake-off. Thank you to Dave & Terry Azose, David Maimon, Judy & Menachem Maimon, Janet Jassen, Ilya & Cynthia Gamel, Leah & Rob Gladstein, Michael & Rinah Benoliel, for coming up to help with the event.
As you can see, this summer’s camp session was busy, and full of fun and meaningful activities. I am personally so grateful for our hardworking staff, amazing campers, parents, board members, and community supporters. Together, we are teaching the next generation of Sephardic leaders in America and around the world, and I hope you’ll consider sending your kids or grandkids to Sephardic Adventure Camp in Summer 2024!
To learn more about Sephardic Adventure Camp, including first year discounts and discounts especially for Sephardic Brotherhood members, go to sephardicadventurecamp.org
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