Last week, Yeshivat Frisch was honored to host the Friendship Circle of Bergen County’s Winter Camp, a camp for Jewish children with special needs who attend local public schools. All Frisch juniors and seniors had the opportunity to volunteer with the campers on a rotational basis, exemplifying what it means to be a community of kindness, one of Frisch’s four core values.

“This is one the best weeks of the year because we get to interact with kids that we don’t interact with every day,” said junior Sarah Schechter. “It’s really nice to see how similar we all are and it gives us great bonding opportunities.”

This year, 40 children were enrolled in the camp—the largest number to date. Frisch Director of Chesed Programming Rabbi Joshua Schulman explained how hosting the camp is central to the values and mission of Yeshivat Frisch. “Our students emerge from this experience feeling like they have received much more than they give,” he said. “The warmth, energy, compassion and excitement is contagious and our students go through this experience and create more of it.”

First-year Frisch history teacher Elana Lefkowitz, who has a child that attended the camp, got a unique perspective this year. “I have always been grateful to both The Friendship Circle and Yeshivat Frisch for providing my daughter, Kayla, with the wonderful opportunity to spend her winter break in a happy and safe environment,” she said. “This year, having joined the Frisch faculty in August, I was given a front row seat to the warmth and kindness that the Frisch students bring to their interactions with the children with special needs who spend a week at Frisch. It was incredibly special for me to see my students confidently walking through the hallways with Kayla, singing songs with her and showering her with love and attention.”

The camp is sponsored by the Hartman family in memory of Bonnie Hartman.