Tonight’s Hanukkah blog post was written by Rabbi Todd Doctor, our Summer 2021 Session 2 Jewish Life Director.
GFC has become a place where I see and experience great miracles happening each and every summer. I have come to treasure the experience of spending time at camp, working as both Faculty and Staff! Growing up, I was only able to spend one summer attending GFC. As an adult, trying to make up for lost time, I look forward to the opportunity to spend part of my summer at GFC for many years to come. Thinking of the miracle of Hanukkah and the Maccabees’ rededication of the Temple reminds me of the way camp provides me the environment to rededicate (pun intended) and reJEWvinate myself each summer. I witness the miracles in my own children as the grow in their Judaism. I am also fortunate to watch as I work with other campers who discover who they are as individuals and as Jews. The rededication that I see each summer gives me hope for the generations of the Jewish people to come.
By the time camp comes to a close and we say “l’hit raot”, I can deeply feel and see the power of the transformative experience of GFC – not only for the campers, but for myself as well. It always leaves me looking forward to and counting down the days until I can return to camp the following summer.
A great miracle happened and continues to happen at GFC!