The teen Spring Kallah track at Spring Camp will feature the very best our region has to offer with spirited and musical Shabbat celebrations, fun and interactive teen-led mixers and programs, and an unforgettable NFTY Prom and “After Prom” Kikar Party that will feature a glow-in-the-dark silent disco, a foam tent, and interactive video game truck as well as a food truck and Steel City Pops. Amid great programming and enjoying time on camp, we will be celebrating the senior class and welcoming 8th graders into our NFTY-TOR community.

The weekend of March 1st, teens from GFC joined with teens from across the United States for the L’Taken Seminar, a social justice weekend in Washington DC hosted by the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism. The social justice weekends combine hands-on Jewish learning and advocacy in our nation’s capitol. Throughout the weekend, teens visit the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, they join together with over 400 participants for a spiritual Havdalah experience at the Jefferson Memorial, and they learn about the Jewish Reform movement’s stance on social justice issues.

Michaela began her journey with GFC in 2001 as a Bonim camper, and over the last 18 years has grown through each unit and worked as a counselor and Leadership Team member. She will begin working as the Assistant Director of Marketing and Communications at the end of the month.

What a difference a month makes! The incredible year of building and renovation at GFC started with a LOT of rain and nasty weather, but the skies have cleared and work on many of our buildings is proceeding at a furious pace. Here’s just a taste of what you can expect to see this summer, if not sooner!

NFTY TOR’s Winter Conclave & Nashir Weekend 2019 was much more than just another NFTY event. It was, for some, closure. Originally Houston Congregation for Reform Judaism was supposed to host the weekend in Houston Texas in October of 2017. However, Hurricane Harvey had a different idea for our city, our community and our congregation. While our synagogue was spared the majority of our participants and housing families were not.

Five years ago, on the last night of first session, a group of counselors gathered their campers and led them on a late-night hike into the woods. “Where are we going?” they asked. “You’ll see,” said their counselors.

We want to open the gates of camp to as many different people as possible through summer and year round programs. Rabbi Andrew Terkel likes to say that “camp is for everybody,” and the growth of our Year Round programs seems to bolster that fact. Families, men, women, young adults, and veteran staff members have all come to camp for weekend retreats over the last couple years and leave refreshed, renewed, and reinvigorated.