Do you think your kid has to stay tethered to the computer? How about connected to a fishing line, with a live fish on the other end. Glued to his smart phone? Not when he’s gluing the final touches on his Pinewood Derby racecar or organizing his peers for a boy scout event. Cub Scout Pack 613 and Boy Scout Troop 226 are shomer Shabbat scout groups located in Teaneck that are looking to entertain and inspire our children with a robust program of outdoor, wholesome and healthy activities for boys grades kindergarten to 11th grade. Cubs Scouts are K-4 and Boy Scouts are from 5-11th grade. The program is filled with activities like hiking, biking, boating, fishing, camping and indoor team-building events.
Scouting has classic values, as it says in the Scout Law: “A Scout is Trustworthy, Loyal, Helpful, Friendly, Courteous, Kind, Obedient, Cheerful, Thrifty, Brave, Clean, and Reverent.” Those sound like menschlichkeit Jewish values—because they are Jewish values. Scouts visit the police, fire, and ambulance departments to express their hakarat hatov (while getting great photo ops!). They visit CareOne, clean local parks and experience the outdoors—living true chesed, kavod habriyot, areyvut to each other and the greater community. “Scouting affords our boys so many opportunities to develop refined middos tovos, to find Hakadosh Baruch Hu through the beauty of his creation,” said Rabbi Tanchum Cohen of Bergenfield.
Scouts have a strong sense of personal accomplishment when they earn through their diligence a badge or a rank. In Scouts, the uniform is each boy’s own and every badge he earns gets sewn on; the boys literally wear their pride on their sleeves. When your son learns to build a fire, he wins. When he can cook a meal over that fire he’s built, he wins again. And when he can teach a younger Scout how to do it, they both win. “Both as a parent of former Cub and Boy Scouts, and as a former Webelos [Cub Scout] leader, I’ve seen the sense of accomplishment that boys feel when they learn a new skill,” said Rabbi Cohen. “That cultivates a healthy confidence.”
Come see what scouting is all about at the free Teaneck Scouting Open House Barbecue at Phelps Park (east side near Wilson Ave.) from 4-6 p.m. on Sunday, September 8. They will have many scouting activities: tent building, whittling, Pinewood Derby demonstration, fire building, hiking preparation, fishing and roasting delicious marshmallows. For more information,
contact [email protected].
By Uri Gutfreund and Ari Jacobson
