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September 24, 1999/14 Tishri 5760, Vol. 52, No.4
Camp offers session to Jewish gay familiesABBY COHN
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 Camp Keshet and Tawonga Director Deborah Newbrun enjoys a boat ride with her son, Eli Newbrun-Mintz, in 1996. |
Called Keshet Camp, the Oct. 1-3 getaway at Tawonga's site near Yosemite National Park may be the first Jewish camp of its kind in the country. So far, directors say, the reception has been enthusiastic.
"This will be a unique opportunity to be in the majority," said Deborah Newbrun, the camp's originator and director, who is herself a lesbian and a mother. "There's something comforting about being around similar families."
Keshet, which is Hebrew for "rainbow," plans to limit enrollment to 40 families. Newbrun, who also is Tawonga's director, said more than 30 families had signed up as of late last week; she was expecting a waiting list.
Though Tawonga has run spring and fall weekend family camps for years, directors noticed that they weren't attracting as many nontraditional families as they'd hoped.
"Camp Tawonga has always been a completely inclusive camp. But in the family camp setting, we just noticed that people were self-selecting themselves out, even though we were casting the net out as far as possible," said Ken Kramarz, Tawonga's executive director.
A couple of years ago, Tawonga started a family camp for single parents. Next came a bereavement camp for families who had lost a member. Both were an immediate success.
"People say, 'We get tired of explaining ourselves to other families,' " Kramarz said. "In these specialty camps, people don't have to explain themselves. People are in the same situation. It's sort of an exciting thing to learn how you can create new experiences for people, and then they come and it becomes part of our permanent roster of programs."
Funding for the camp includes an $18,000 grant from the San Francisco-based Jewish Community Endowment Fund.
The weekend will feature Shabbat dinner and a havdallah (end of Sabbath) celebration. Keshet will offer other familiar camp activities, such as arts and crafts, archery, swimming and canoeing - along with sessions that likely will include discussions on single-gender families and ways to celebrate their lifestyles and Judaism simultaneously.
Enrollment is open, and Newbrun expects that some "straight" families will attend.
Julie Moed, Shelley Eisenman and their two preschool-aged children have already