Camp Massad (Montreal)

Camp Massad of Canada
מחנה מסד
Formation 1947
Type Jewish summer camp
Headquarters Montreal, Quebec
Location
Coordinates 46°09′01″N 74°21′56″W / 46.1503458°N 74.3655968°WCoordinates: 46°09′01″N 74°21′56″W / 46.1503458°N 74.3655968°W
Official language
 Hebrew
Director
 Jeff Bicher
President
 Martin Sacksner
Website www.campmassad.org
Formerly called
 Massad Alef

Camp Massad (Hebrew: מחנה מסד‎; Machaneh Massad) is a Hebrew-speaking Jewish and Zionist summer camp for campers aged 7 to 16 located in Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts, Quebec in the Laurentian Mountains. It was founded in 1947, with the creation of Massad Alef on Lac Quenouille, Quebec.[1] At its peak Massad had nearly 400 campers.[2]

Camp Massad has a long tradition of Hebrew language immersion. It is Shomer Shabbat and has a kosher kitchen under the supervision of the Montreal Va'ad Ha'ir.[3] The camp runs during the summer, starting in late June, and finishing in mid-August. Massad attracts campers of various Jewish backgrounds from Montreal and other parts of Canada, various cities in the United States, Israel, and many other places throughout the world. Camp Massad is a member camp of the Foundation for Jewish Camp and the Ontario Camps Association.[4]

History

Early history

Camp Massad was founded in 1947 by the Keren Hatarbut Ha'Ivri under the leadership of Aron Horowitz and a small group of Canadian Hebraists.[5] Horowitz had previously founded Camp T'chiyah in Calgary in 1944, the first Hebrew-speaking summer camp. Massad's first president, Isaac Gold, invested three thousand dollars as a deposit for a camp-site at Lac Quenouille in the Laurentians. With the assistance of Gold and other philanthropists, Massad grew from a small camp-site with no pier, no level ground for sports, few showers, a short supply of drinking water, and one hall for both dining and activities.[6]

In its first summer, Massad had eighty campers.[7] In its second season Massad saw a 50% increase in applicants, and could only accept 150 campers.[6] Campers were divided into four age groups: Chalutsim, Olim, Bonim, and Shomrim. Following the Histadrut HaNoar Ha'Ivri's American Massad movement, the groups were soon renamed Shoresh (roots), Geza (trunk), Anaf (branch), and Tzameret (tree-top).

1950s

With the success of Massad Alef, a second Massad camp, Massad Bet, was opened by the Keren Hatarbut in 1950 in the Muskoka region north of Toronto under the directorship of David Taub, with the assistance of Massad Alef alumni. The new camp, lacking in funding and witness to constant turnovers of camp directors, was closed in 1977.[8] Massad Gimmel in Winnipeg was officially incorporated as a branch of the Hebrew Camps Massad of Canada in 1962.

In 1955, with backing from the Jewish Agency, Keren Hatarbut established a Machon L'Madrichim (Leadership Institute) program for youth leaders from Hebrew high schools across Canada in conjunction with Camp Massad and the Hebrew Youth Movement. The Machon program consisted of three summers of extensive training, along with the requirement of attending the National Leadership Institute in the city throughout the three years. Graduates served as leaders and counsellors in all three Massad camps, and at other Canadian Zionist youth movements. Originally, the first month of the summer program was held at Massad Bet, and the second at Massad Alef. The Machon program was moved to Massad Alef after its first year, primarily because of inadequate facilities at Massad Bet.[6] Registration for the second year had reached fifty.

In 1958, Massad held its first trip to Israel, becoming the first Hebrew-speaking youth group from the Diaspora to have visited Israel.[6]

In 1959, Aron Horowitz proposed the building of a second unit across the road from the original camp-site for the accommodation of Massad and Machon L'Madrichim's growth. Galil was opened in time for the 1959 season. Camps Emek and Galil were two self-sufficient camps, the former for elementary school students, the latter for high school students, who entered the Machon program at fourteen. By 1963, Emek and Galil had a total of 249 campers, 108 of whom were members of the Machon L'Madrichim. The number rose to about 370 campers in the mid-1960s.[6]

1960s and 1970s

In 1964 the Keren Hatarbut was absorbed by the United Zionist Council, and again by the Zionist Organization of Canada under the Canadian Zionist Federation in 1971. Massad, left without the aid of the Keren Hatarbut, lost its financial backing.[9] Massad Alef's enrolment had fallen to sixty children in 1971, though it had picked up to ninety-five in 1973. In 1974 the Zionist Organization of Canada resolved to close Camp Massad, to the shock of camp leadership and the Canadian Jewish community.[10] A group of Massadnik alumni led by David Finestone and Moe Bauman prevented the closure by incorporating Massad as an independent company, ensuring it would not be included in the Zionist Organization of Canada's take-over of Keren Hatarbut.

In the mid-1970s, the Galil Ulam (named after Isaac Gold) collapsed, fire had taken some bunks, and most of the facilities were in need of repair and renovation. The Canadian Zionist Federation and Allied Jewish Community rejected pleas for assistance. Nonetheless, Massad succeeded in improving its facilities and increasing enrolment. The summer of 1974 saw 143 campers and a staff of 38.[11]

Recent history

Though the camp no longer enforces total immersion of campers in Hebrew, Camp Massad remains a strongly Hebrew-speaking, Zionist camp. Along with Camp Massad in Manitoba (formerly Massad Gimmel), Camp Massad is the only remaining camp of the Massad movement and its American counterpart.

Location

Camp Massad is situated on Lac Quenouille, approximately 100 kilometres north of Montreal, in the Laurentian mountains of Quebec, Canada. The camp is surrounded by Lac Quenouille, Lac Maxime, and Lac Pierre (alternatively known as Lake Naderman).

Sections

Campers are organized into the age groups Shoresh (שורש), Geza Alef (גזע א), Geza Bet (גזע ב), Anaf Alef (ענף א), Anaf Bet (ענף ב), Tzameret Alef (צמרת א), Tzameret Bet (צמרת ב), and Tzameret Gimmel (צמרת ג) (alternatively known as Prozdor and Machon Alef), each with a banim (boys) and banot (girls) section. The Malam program (מל"ם; Machon Le'Madrichim, or Counselors in Training), is a staff training year following Tzameret Gimmel.

Massad is divided into Emek (עמק) and Galil (גליל), the younger campers residing in the former and the senior campers in the latter. Emek contains the Kikar (main field), the Ulam (gymnasium/synagogue/theatre), the Chadar Ochel (dining hall), shekem, the art room and the Agam (Lac Quenouille waterfront). Galil includes the Migrash Sport (sports field), a soccer field, and the marpeah (infirmary).

Activities

Activities in Camp Massad's program are divided up into four general sections: Agam (swim instruction, canoeing, kayaking, water skiing, tubing), Creative Arts (omanut, rikud, shira, musika, drama), Sports (kaddur basis, kaddur sal, hockey, kaddur reggel, tennis, kaddur af), and Teva (tripping, scouting, hiking).

The summer is climaxed by the Maccabiah colour war, where the camp is divided into two teams competing against each other in sport and spirit, and Ma'apilim, a night-time re-enactment of Jewish immigration during the Aliyah Bet.

Notable alumni

External links

References

  1. ↑ "About". Camp Massad. Retrieved 29 May 2014.
  2. ↑ Vivien Sharon (10 November 1988). "Camp Massad alumni renew old acquaintances". The Canadian Jewish News.
  3. ↑ "MK Certified Companies". Jewish Community Council of Montreal. Retrieved 29 May 2014.
  4. ↑ "Camp Massad". Ontario Camps Association. Retrieved 29 May 2014.
  5. ↑ "Hebrew Speaking Summer Camp Established". Jewish Western Bulletin (Vancouver). 21 February 1947. p. 1.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 Horowitz, Aron (1990). Hebrew Camps Massad: Their Impact on Canadian Life and Culture. Toronto: Aron Horowitz Publications.
  7. ↑ "Isaac Gold Named President, Hebrew Camp Massad". The Canadian Jewish Chronicle (Montreal). 27 June 1947. p. 15.
  8. ↑ "Camp Massad closes; owned by Rose Hersh". The Canadian Jewish News (Toronto). 11 November 1977. p. 10.
  9. ↑ Arnold, Janice (13 December 1974). "Camp Massad opening despite money woes". The Canadian Jewish News (Montreal). p. 6.
  10. ↑ Tucker, Helen (25 October 1974). "Enrolment drive planned as ZOC re-opens camp". The Canadian Jewish News (Montreal). p. 10.
  11. ↑ Huberman, Irwin (13 September 1974). "Quebec's Camp Massad may be forced to close doors after 30 good years". The Canadian Jewish News (Montreal). p. 3.