Szarvas Camp

Jewish children and youth can experience what it’s same to be a part of a group while getting to know themselves, opening up to others, and developing mutual respect with their peers at Szarvas Camp, which combines the development of a sense of community with individual growth for each participant through exciting and interesting activities, adventures, and programs. Their programs are built on an acceptance of Jewish traditions and values that are shared interactively through talks, debates, the arts, games, and, most importantly, the concept of free will.

Szarvas Camp’s Rregulations And SAuggestions

They are steadfastly committed to keeping Szarvas a wholesome, secure, and safe environment for their staff and campers. All parents, staff members, and campers agree to abide by the stated code of conduct as well as all of the camp’s rules and regulations when they register for or submit an application to Szarvas Camp.

Unacceptable Conduct and Expulsion from Camp

The following actions are absolutely forbidden, and anyone caught engaging in them will be kicked out of camp immediately:

Drinking alcohol or using drugs while in possession or in consumption. The following actions are also taken very seriously, and any infractions may lead to instant removal from camp or other grave repercussions:

Smoking is completely prohibited throughout the whole camp, including on trips. The camp is a non-smoking environment. Leaving without authorization from the campsite.

Acting in a way that gravely disturbs the neighborhood and/or endangers their own or others’ safety.

The participant’s family or the community must pay for all travel costs in the event of dismissal from camp.

If the parents are unable to pick up the child in person to bring them home, they must designate another adult or adults to look after the child in certain situations.

Unless participants have signed their personal things into the camp safe, which we strongly advise them to do, Szarvas Camp does not assume any responsibility for them while they are on site.

Campers are financially liable for any intentional harm to the property they cause through their actions.

Only campers are permitted to use the camp’s services.

Bringing animals into the camp is prohibited, per the medical officer’s rules.

It is not permitted to bring non-kosher food into the camp’s kitchen or dining hall because these areas are kosher. It is only possible to take food from the dining hall in plastic dishes.

Going to Camp

Only the Camp Director may provide permission for a visit on any day that the camp is in session. Only those visitors who have been granted permission may enter the campground; they must present an official visitor’s card, which they will obtain from security when they check in upon arrival.

For the duration of the camp, all campers and staff are covered by general and accident insurance. This includes any accident or damage that takes place inside the campsite as well as at all activities that are overseen by the camp leadership that takes place outside of camp. Anything not covered by the aforementioned framework is not the responsibility of Szarvas.

The camp follows the guidelines set forth by the HACCP and the (Hungarian) NTSZ (llama Népegészségügyi és Tisztiorvosi Szolgálat – National Public Health Service) (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points).

They require all campers to visit their GP for a week before the start of the session and ask for a medical certificate that confirms the camper is healthy and can go to public places in order that everyone can arrive at and depart from the camp in good health. Each camper should bring their insurance card or a duplicate of it, and upon arrival, they should give it to the group or unit leaders.

Reasons For Choosing Szarvas Camp

Camp Szarvas, funded by the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee and the Ronald S. Lauder Foundation, hosts around 1500 Jewish campers each summer from more than 20 countries (AJJDC). At the camp, each summer, 70 to 75 Szarvas Fellows are chosen to represent North America. They get the exceptional chance to interact with their Jewish student peers from around the world and celebrate, explore, and share experiences with them as American Ambassadors. A location that fosters discovery, leadership development, and Jewish identity formation, Camp Szarvas brings together the many diverse ways Jews practice their religion. It is at the forefront of what it means to interact with and understand what being a member of the Jewish people worldwide entails. The Szarvas Fellowship program offers a once-in-a-lifetime chance to outstanding North American high school student leaders! The Fellowships give the participants an exceptional chance to learn firsthand about their own origins as well as the backgrounds and experiences of their international peers. The Fellowship investigates a variety of subjects, including Jewish identity, social justice, pluralism, Israel, the Diaspora’s function, and more. These issues acquire new depths and complexity within the global setting of Camp Szarvas. Additionally, each day the fellows participate in a mifgash/encounter with a different nation, where they talk about Jewish life and identity there.

What is the Szarvas Camp Life?

Campers are housed in contemporary homes in a posh, well-equipped, and secure setting. Three main types of lodging are available. Their campers are housed in groups of 4-6-8-12 individuals. The number of age groups, gender distribution, and preferred locations of the countries/age groups all affect where children are placed. The style of lodging is unaffected by the cost of participation or the participant’s place of origin because we want to offer the highest standard of care to everyone. Four kosher meals are served to kids each day in our non-coed rooms (three in the dining room and a snack, which may be cake, fruit, etc., outside). With them, no one goes without food; they have a meal! Please be sure to check the relevant option on the application form if your child has a special diet so that they can make accommodations. In the restaurant, outside (non-kosher) food is not permitted. Additionally, there is a snack bar on the camping grounds where you may buy snacks, drinks, and essential toiletries. One hour prior to meals, the snack bar closes, and it doesn’t reopen until later. They are unable to provide you with specific pricing guidance, but they would estimate that the upper limit should be about the cost of one or two daily snacks; a total of 5,000–7,000 HUF is a safe bet. You should prepare to pay more if the child is purchasing gifts or souvenirs. At both kiosks, card payments are accepted! They cannot assume liability for the card, as they cannot with larger things. They attempt to live in a way that is ecologically responsible and teach our campers to do the same. There is a lockable safe in the camp where the camper can deposit valuables at any time with the use of his or her master key. Materials are handled with environmental consideration during storage and recycling. The camp now has a separate waste collection system, and there is a swimming pool that groups of campers can use. A lifeguard and youth leaders keep an eye on the pool to maintain safety and order. Four sports fields (tennis, basketball, volleyball, and football) are available to campers at the facility, along with a ping-pong area and a sports hall, all of which are professionally supervised. During the camp, sports equipment can be borrowed at no cost, and kids can participate in age-appropriate sports and recreational activities (e.g., canoeing, cycling, adventure park, arboretum, excursions, and boat trips for younger children). Their campers in Szarvas will learn songs and dances over the 12 days they spend together, as parents can see for themselves in the images and mood films produced during the camp. These services are included in the participation cost. At the camp, birthdays are shared with one another. Sometimes we simultaneously sing “Happy birthday!” in 10 different languages. To ensure that memories of the summer don’t dwindle over the course of the year, each youngster brings a camp T-shirt home.

Structure Of Camp Szarvas

Housing The campers are accommodated in modern homes that are continually being improved in a superior setting that is fully furnished and secure.

Food Kosher food is served to campers four times each day. At Szarvas, they take pride in saying that no one goes without food since they can always get more! Additionally, there is a snack stand inside the camp that is closed on Shabbat and at all mealtimes.

They offer a variety of learning opportunities that are delivered in a casual and informal way, such as Jewish Bookshelf, Resource Center, etc. They also offer team-building exercises and games that encourage learning of a different kind.

Sports events

In accordance with the campers’ age groups, we provide a variety of sports and leisure activities, such as canoeing, cycling, basic and advanced challenge parks, climbing walls, zip lines, trips to botanic gardens, hiking, and boat cruises for the youngest age groups.

Sporting events

The campground offers a variety of sports facilities, including tennis, basketball, and volleyball courts, as well as a ping-pong room and an indoor sports court, which campers can use under the guidance of trained staff. For use during downtime, sports equipment can also be borrowed.

Watering hole

Campers may use the swimming pool at the campsite during scheduled program times in groups. The group leaders and a lifeguard are always on duty to maintain safety and order.

Experience With The Szarvas Camp Fellowship

An exceptional chance to associate with a multicultural group of high school kids from North America at the biggest international Jewish camp in Szarvas, Hungary

The Szarvas Fellowship program offers a once-in-a-lifetime chance to outstanding high school student leaders! The Fellows will have the chance to connect with a wide range of peers from Jewish communities in over 25 countries at Camp Szarvas, where they will all learn about the various ways Jews around the world practice their religion. A location where discovery, leadership, and the development of Jewish identity are fostered is Camp Szarvas. It is at the forefront of what it means to interact with and understand what being a member of the Jewish people worldwide entails.

After Communism was overthrown, the JDC-Lauder Szarvas camp was established in the summer of 1990 with the intention of reviving Jewish identity among young people in Hungary and in the greater region of Eastern/Central Europe and the Former Soviet Union. Hungary was the ideal location to open the camp since it had the greatest Jewish population in the area and was geographically the most central. Eastern and Central Europe’s scenery has changed dramatically over the past 30 years thanks to Camp Szarvas. Create is the main goal of the program, a framework that enables every participant, regardless of their Jewish background, to feel comfortable expressing who they are. This is where many of the young leaders in the area developed their strong Jewish identity and passion for Jewish communal leadership. The camp’s goal is to make Judaism it represents inclusive and welcoming to all. We support and encourage campers as they discover and live out their unique Jewish identities within the framework of the Jewish community. Exploration, leadership development, and the formation of Jewish identity are all fostered at Szarvas.

Camp Szarvas’s schedule and cost

Each session in 2023 runs for twelve days, from Sunday to Friday.

Dates for SZARVAS 2023: Session 1: June 25–July 7, 2023

Session: 9.21.2023

Third session: July 23–August 4, 2023

Session: 6.-18.08. 2023

Szarvas 2023 price

The whole cost for us to run a camp for one person is more than US $1,000, but thanks to the generosity of our donors, the majority of our communities pay much less. For further information about what you must pay, please get in touch with your neighborhood coordinator(s). However, if you can, we do ask that you cover the entire fee or at least a portion of it so that additional underprivileged youth can attend (for more information, please approach the local coordinator).

Camp Szarvas’s Vision, Mission, And Objectives

The mission of the camp is to make Judaism it represents inclusive and welcoming to all. We support and encourage campers to discover a sense of belonging as well as help them live out their Jewish identity. Everyone can advance in their Jewish journey via shared experiences, education, and the chance to experience Judaism.

The International Jewish Youth Camp in Szarvas fosters and strengthens a community by offering engaging education in a secure, supportive, and diversified setting under the direction of capable leaders and exceptional and skilled experts. By illustrating the different possibilities of cultural, religious, traditional, and community ways of identifying with their Judaism, we provide a variety of opportunities to explore and enhance identity. However, we leave it up to each individual to determine their own path.

The following are some of our main objectives for all of our campers and educational staff: to be an active and positive part of our community; to be open to the world, to Judaism, and to their environment; to learn about Jewish traditions; to experience what it is same to be a part of a group; to open up and get to know themselves and learn to respect themselves and others; to push themselves out of their comfort zone in order to learn and develop; to make new friends and deepen their already existing relationships.

F.A.Q.

How long do sessions last?

Our 12-day sessions in 2023 will help each stretch from Sunday to Tuesday.

How many kids attend each session? In a group? In a space?

Each international conference includes 400–450 kids. Age groupings and country/unit are used to divide people into groups. The overall population of the unit or nation determines how many people are in each group. Children are housed in 4-6-8-12 child groupings.

What about the lodgings?

We have three distinct types of housing that can accommodate anywhere from 4 to 12 kids. The children are assigned to homes based on the size of the unit, their gender, and the nations’ or units’ desired locations. We work hard to ensure that everyone receives the same level of care and service, and these are the only variables that affect the type of home that participants are in.

Who keeps an eye on my kid all day?

Campers and their madrichim spend most of the time together (group leaders). Madrichim receive training in their home towns. The children are also under the supervision of senior JDC employees with extensive experience, Unit Heads, coordinators, qualified facilitators, doctors, nurses, and a lifeguard.

What is the ratio of rich to children?

The campers’ ages determine the madrich-child ratio. Because a camper’s group will be smaller as they get younger, the ratio of adults to children is higher for the younger age groups. For instance, two leaders are responsible for eight to ten youngsters in the Negev group (7 to 10 years old), while two madrichim are in charge of up to twenty-five campers in the Hermon group (17 to 18 years old).

Does the camp have a doctor on staff?

Yes. Around-the-clock medical attention is offered in the camp. On camp, we have a fully functional medical facility. On the registration form, you can provide the camp doctor with some feedback (comment section).

How often do kids eat throughout the day?

We make sure kids eat four meals a day—three in the dining hall and one-afternoon snack (cake, fruit, etc.)—in addition to their afternoon snack.

My child follows a particular diet. What ought I do?

Please let us know by including information in the relevant registration form column so that we can adequately prepare and inform the camp personnel. Additionally, we urge you to inform your regional coordinator (s).

What should each camper bring with them to camp?

Your insurance card (or a copy), personal toiletries, a towel, a swimming suit, clothing for outdoor (evening) activities (closed sweater, trousers), nice Shabbat attire (white shirt, suit pants for boys, skirt for girls), a kippah for the boys, hat and sunscreen, and you might need insect repellent even though it’s summer camp. The weather can be unpredictable, and it might suddenly start to rain.

List of things not to pack?

It is advised against bringing valuables like cell phones or electronic gaming consoles to camp because we cannot be held accountable for them. However, campers can store their belongings in a safe with the assistance of their madrich.

Exists a kiosk exist at the camp? What amount of cash should I give my kid?

There is a kiosk at the camp where customers may purchase snacks, beverages, and essential toiletries. An hour before each lunchtime, the kiosk closes, and it opens again once the meal is finished. The Szarvas Shop, which is next to the Dining Hall, sells camp mementos. We are unable to provide specific recommendations regarding the amount of money they should bring, but based on our experience, you should likely set a limit of one or two snacks per day in addition to the price of a camp sweater, if desired. We are unable to accept liability for any valuables or cash that are not deposited in the camp safe. With the aid of their madrich, campers may always place stuff in the safe.

How can I get ahold of my kid?

We strongly advise against allowing your child to bring a cell phone to camp. However, if you so desire, you can speak with him or her in the brief period following meals.

Can I go see my kids?

Only the camp director may provide permission for a visit on any camp day. For early approval, kindly email him at info (at) scarves. Camp. You can access the campsite with this approval and receive a visitor’s card, which you must carry with you at all times until you leave.
They are not religious, and my child has no knowledge of or experience with Jews.
This is completely irrelevant. Many of our international campers learn the fundamentals of Judaism at Szarvas, and many of them also spend a Shabbat for the first time ever at camp. Teaching the campers about Jewish customs and culture allows them to begin forming their own Jewish identities, which is one of our key objectives.

What does a normal day entail?

Wake up at 7:30 and MiFi (mini mifkad) in units or groups at 8:20.

Mika at 8:30

Breakfast at 8:45; Paula at 9:30

Sport at 10:30 and Madrich Time at 11:30

lunch at 12:30, singing at 15:30 and dancing at 16:30

17:00 – Decorative arts

19:00 – Dinner; 20:30 – An evening program

The bedtimes for children aged 6 to 10 are 22:00, 23:00, and 23:30, respectively.

Additional activities include a challenge park, cycling (for older age groups), swimming pool, midrashim, project, Pardes, trip to the synagogue, canoeing, wall climbing, zip-lining, cruises, historical research excursions, a trip to the botanic garden, exhibitions (on camp), museums (on camp), bonfires, and pita-baking.