As we warmly em­brace summer vaca­tion and the first hints of those smoldering July days, many of our family members and friends are settling in at camp. While many of us are famil­iar with the local and even some of the out-of-town camp programs for children and teens, one camp made the headlines more than oth­ers over the past few weeks. Eden Village in Putnam Valley, NY, has made the news based on its “No Body Talk” policy.

The rule at Eden Village is that campers are not to discuss appearance, whether it be a com­pliment or an insult. The mirrors are covered with affirmations reminding campers to “Check Their Souls” rather than their bodies. The inten­tion is to shift focus away from body talk and preoccupation with one’s body, as well as to al­low the campers to be more daring and let their personalities and souls shine without appear­ance or self-consciousness getting in the way.

When I first read about this camp I was in­trigued. The idea of teaching boys and girls that there is something greater than appear­ance and implementing that kind of thinking over the summer seems ideal. All too often chil­dren and teenagers—as well as adults—are in­fluenced by the media and feed into the body talk that seems to infect our society. When we see a friend we say, “You look great!” rather than “It’s so nice to see you!” While this may not be detrimental, it reinforces the focus of appear­ance, looks, style, and weight.

Appearance has become central and we each make innate judgments based on ap­pearance. I oftentimes overhear individu­als having conversations like the follow­ing: “Did you see X? She’s gained so much weight, when did that happen?” “Y just started a new diet, he’s lost 25 pounds, it’s amazing!” We greet each other with body talk and we also use it to be hurtful. I recall feeling self-conscious as a teenager when I didn’t have all the fashion trends of my friends and feeling as if I was being judged for simply not wearing the “in” clothes. For these reasons I believe that more action needs to be placed against body-shaming and excessive body talk.

At the same time, I find it important to pro­cess body talk and to not place it as taboo. I can only imagine that being told not to speak about something like one’s body can create discomfort and curiosity about what may be wrong with doing so; why is my body bad? I would imagine that the rules are explained to campers at Eden Village, but I believe it should be noted that simply telling a child or teenag­er not to talk about the body at all may cause more harm than good. Children and adults should not think of their bodies as shameful. It can feel wonderful to receive compliments or to try out a new outfit. Still, there should be an understanding of the hierarchy of values and knowing that appearance is not an indicator of success or happiness. Nor should self-con­sciousness hold someone back from express­ing his/her true self.

We are each blessed with a body to house our souls. Within mainstream society there is currently a “thin ideal”—a notion that to be com­fortable with our bodies we must look a certain way. This ideal has permeated even some of the Jewish culture, as it appears to be a criterion for a “good Shidduch” (match). Halachic texts dic­tate not a focus on our appearance, but an ob­ligation to keep our bodies healthy and strong. This is one reason why when I speak at schools. I ask the students to speak about their percep­tions of body image and how it affects them. It would be counter-productive to ignore the fact that there is body-consciousness within our so­ciety. Eden Village works to address this issue by eliminating the focus.

We each have a responsibility to ex­amine and process our own actions and behaviors regarding body talk. Do I focus on my body often? Do I compliment oth­ers’ appearance rather than their charac­ter? Do I find myself judging people based on their clothes and weight before I get to know who they are? While completely cut­ting out body talk may seem difficult, it is recommended to create a goal to diminish these conversations. Rather than compli­ment a friend on his/her body, use the com­pliment to describe character. Notice how you are affected by a decrease in body talk and how it brings us back to remind us of what we have to be proud of: not our body sizes but our hearts, minds, and souls.

The aim of Eden Village is to create a di­alogue on something more than the body and superficiality for both staff and camp­ers. Perhaps, while our loved ones are away at various camps, we can take on this mis­sion within ourselves.

By Temimah Zucker