ELISE BARNATHAN

Being raised Jewish enriched my childhood by giving me a culture and an important facet of my identity. In my early Religious School curriculum, I learned about Jewish traditions and holidays, how to read and write Hebrew, the history of Israel, and how to chant many basic blessings. As I got older, my Jewish education continually gained depth. I studied the Holocaust, the torah, and memorized the more difficult prayers. As part of my Bat Mitzvah, I led a Friday night Shabbat service as well as the service Saturday morning during which I read and chanted the Torah and Haftarah. My junior year of high school was the year I was eligible to be confirmed as a Reform Jew and that class primarily consisted of interpreting and relating the works of Jewish scholars to our own lives, with an added emphasis on social justice and our duty as Jewish Americans of Tikkun Olam, or "to fix the world." Participating in an advocacy trip to Washington D.C. was part of this unit. I stayed involved in my synagogue after Confirmation by working as a Bar/Bat Mitzvah tutor. I was also on the board of our youth group "TASTY" for 3 years.

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Going to a Jewish sleep-away camp also helped to establish my Jewish identity through my childhood. Shabbats at camp are very special. Everyone is required to wear all white, which provides a beautiful visual. We attend a community service and then a special dinner, followed by a song session and Israeli dancing the night away.

I began going to camp when I was 10 years old and I loved it so much I continued on until I became a counselor. I was a counselor for Gan Alonim, the day camp on site, the summer of 2018. I was a counselor for the 3-5 year olds, the youngest at camp, and I was also the Performing Arts Counselor for all ages. This was especially fun because I got to lead the campers in theatre games and the like and get to know nearly all of the campers and not only my specific age group.