Friendships Forged: The Importance of Jewish Sleepaway Camp

Part of becoming a Bar or Bat Mitzvah at Marlboro Jewish Center is doing an act of chesed, or kindness, for those less fortunate than you are. Every year, our 7th graders find new and exciting projects that are special to them and use those projects to give back to their community.  

This week Rabbi Pont gave our 7th graders the chance to tell you, the For the Love of Judaism audience, about their projects. 

What is the best way to leave a legacy?  Inspired by wanting to make sure that his daughter always knew the family from which she came, Jeff started writing down the memories of his childhood and the family myths that had been passed down through the generations. Those stories turned into a great new book, The Black Hole Pastrami and Other Short Stories, released last summer. 

This week, Jeff joins Rabbi Pont to talk about his stories and how he went from a career in finance and accounting to an award-winning author.

In the Conservative Jewish world, few Rabbis have their fingers on pulse like Rabbi Jacob Blumenthal. Rabbi Blumenthal serves concurrently as the CEO of the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism and the Rabbinical Assembly through a strategic alignment between the two organizations. 

This week, Rabbis Pont and Blumenthal have a wide ranging organization on everything from the laws that govern conservative Judaism, interfaith marriage, the war in Israel and much more. Most importantly, they share their vision for the bright future of the movement that both of them have helped lead in their communities.

For more than three months, the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) has been engaged in a war with Hamas that feels like a defining moment for the present and future of the state of Israel. Few can offer the perspective of today's guest Aaron Cooper, an American who made moved to Israel after high school, joined the IDF, was in the West Bank on October 7th and has been fighting with his fellow soldiers in Gaza since.

Aaron and Rabbi Pont touch on all things related to the war and the IDF including Aaron's perspective on what might come on the day after. This is an episode not to be missed.

By day, Sam Levine is a music teacher at Lloyd Road School in Matawan, New Jersey. At Marlboro Jewish Center, Sam Levine is a talented musician who leads Tot Shabbat and plays in the Shabbat Unplugged Band. On October 2023 he added another title to his name, Wheel of Fortune contestant.  

On this episode Rabbi Pont explores what led Sam to the Wheel of Fortune stage and what it was like to walk away the big winner! They discuss how years of watching gameshows with family and doing word puzzles with friends turned into an appearance on the 41st season of Wheel of Fortune and a dream come true for this talented musician and puzzle master!

What is the best gift you've ever given? It probably doesn't top what Chrissy Esptein, a young mother of two beautiful daughters, gave to her friend Kieran this past September when she donated her left kidney to save his life.

Shaped by the loss of her father on September 11th, 2001, Chrissy always knew that organ donation was something she wanted to explore. And when her friend's husband faced a sudden life or death emergency, it was Chrissy who answered the call and gave her friend the greatest gift one can ever receive...the gift of life.

Rabbi Pont had the chance to chat with Chrissy last week about organ donation, losing her father and the process she went through for making this life-changing decision. 

This week Rabbi Pont is joined by Rabbis Lindsey Healey-Pollack and Andrew Pepperstone, hosts of the podcast Sacred Realms. Sacred Realms  discusses the intersection between Judaism and a wide range of sci-fi and fantasy books, movies, and television shows. Each episode, Rabbi Lindsey and Rabbi Andrew discuss what they have been watching or reading recently, do a deep dive into a main topic, bring out from "the Geniza," something from the not-that-distant past, and more.

Whether Sci-Fi is your thing or not, you are sure to enjoy this conversation about the many overlaps between a popular genre and Judaism.

Few movements in the Jewish religion have been as successful as that of Jewish camping. Each year thousands of Jewish children participate in an immersive Jewish experience that brings them closer to their religion and builds a lasting Jewish identity that is unmatched by any other youth program.

This week Rabbi Pont talks to Rachel Wisniewski, a photo journalist whose article on Jewish summer camp appeared in the Washington Post this summer. They are joined by mother-daughter duos Sarah and Carly Kreisler and Susie and Nili Suissa who experiences at Camp Nah-Jee-Wah Rachel followed for her article.

On this week's episode, Rabbi Pont welcomes Dr. Stacy Gallin back to the podcast. Dr. Gallin is the founder of The Ferencz Institute for Human Rights, Ethics and the Holocaust, a non-profit organization doing the important work of using the lessons of the Holocaust to rid our world of hate of all kinds. Dr. Gallin's current projects include Athletes Against Antisemitism and Discrimination, a program focused on helping college athletes use their platforms to give back to local, national and international communities.

This summer, Dr. Gallin and Rabbi Pont led Marlboro Jewish Center's Journey of Remembrance to Poland and Greece. On this episode, they are joined by Micah Spero, the youngest participant on the journey, whose presence helped create a unique bond between him and congregants fifty years his senior. 

Six days ago our world was shattered. For nearly a week we have all tried to make sense of the horror that Hamas brought upon Israel last Shabbat.

In the wake of the deadliest day for the Jewish people since the Holocaust, this week's episode couldn't be more prescient. In an interview recorded prior to October 7th, Rabbi Pont speaks with Dan Rozett, former IDF soldier and Director of Community Relations and Israel Engagement with the Jewish Federation in the Heart of New Jersey, and Shmuel Varod, a former IDF soldier who fought in the Yom Kippur War in 1973. 

Hear from Dan and Shmuel about their experiences in the IDF and about the lessons Israel should learn in this, the 50th anniversary of its deadliest war...until now.