By Aaron Selkow

“Children are not the people of tomorrow, but people today. They are entitled to be taken seriously. They have a right to be treated by adults with tenderness and respect, as equals. They should be allowed to grow into whoever they were meant to be. The unknown person inside each of them is the hope for the future.” 

Janusz Korczak was a Polish-born educator and author, as well as an extraordinary advocate for children, who died in the early 1940s. His words resonate for me – and I’m sure for many of you – as the thoughts of someone who really understands what we try to do here at camp. How we come together here under the guise of having us, the adults, take care of and guide children, but what’s really happening is that we – the adults – are here to bear witness to the power of our campers to do and think and be, right here and now. 

    Josh, Rachel and Charlotte

I wouldn’t know who Janusz Korczak was without my friend and colleague, Josh Bomze. No, Josh was not in a bunk with Janusz 95 years ago…but with encouragement by his son, Josh’s father, Kurt, helped to bring the ideas of Janusz Korczak to camp years ago when our campers explored his history and created a beautiful project to represent him and connect to our practice at camp. Kurt and Josh’s mother, Nadine, are here today with us. And of course, Josh’s amazing wife, Rachel, who was Josh’s longtime partner in leading our arts program, is here. And yet, while I’m thrilled to welcome all of those special people to t’fillah today and am meant to be taking a moment to honor, Josh, I want to mention one more Bomze, who is with us: Charlotte. Charlotte, this is your camp now. And I want to tell you why that idea matters so much to me.

As some of you know, I grew up going to Pinemere. And to be clear, my association with Pinemere is not a passing one. As far as I know, when I left Pinemere as the Director in 2008, I had spent more summers there than every other person in the camp’s history, but one. So, imagine being there – well, don’t imagine that! – if they would do their opening night program where they ask everyone to stand for how many years they’ve been there. Here at Harlam, that’s the “Bomze, Bomze” moment. Well, at Pinemere, that would have been me. When I left in 2008, I had spent 28 summers there. The same number of years that Josh has spent here. 

This is something that Josh and I share – the experience of being that “old guy” at camp. The person that people turn to for the folklore or history, when we need to check who the General was of the Red Team, First Session, in 1989. Or when we want to hear stories of the people that were here and influenced camp in ways that most of us haven’t had the chance to see or feel. We had this parallel experience over the past 30-plus years, Josh, and I imagine that’s one of the things that has kept us so closely connected to each other.

It might also be that when I arrived here in 2011 – just three years removed from being at that other camp – no person did more to help me feel welcome than Josh. Someone was coming to your camp – the third new director in just nine years – and from no less than your rival camp…and it’s someone that you remember from playing softball on Irwin field, but for the wrong team. And while lots of people were afraid of what I might do here as the camp’s new leader, Josh modeled the values he learned at camp and represented his authentic character and the values of Acharayut and Rachamim by giving me a chance. At the end of the first summer we spent together, it was Josh’s words about our potential here at Harlam – not to only hold on to the past, but to also embrace the future – that inspired me and stayed with me more than anyone or anything else. Josh welcomed me to Harlam, and I, in turn, welcomed the possibility for this to become my new home.

But let me get back to Charlotte, and why honoring Josh as he finishes his amazing tenure here has a lot to do with her. Tomorrow, I will leave here after all your parents come and pick you up and will drive 13 miles down the road to see my daughter, Lily. She’s a CIT at Pinemere. And though she enjoyed her two summers here, she has remained there for a very simple and important reason. It’s not because it’s “my camp.” In fact, she respects that “my camp” is Harlam. It’s where I work, where I live, and the place that I believe to be the greatest camp on Earth. She isn’t there because it’s my camp…she’s there because it’s her camp. At some point – likely the day that I said goodbye to Pinemere and moved on – I had unknowingly handed over my passion and connection and sense of ownership of the camp to my child. You see where I’m going here, Charlotte? This place is yours now.

Josh Bomze has done countless things for Camp Harlam. He has given us leadership, creativity, joy…he has taught us, he has empowered us…he’s pulled a few pranks, said some outstandingly funny stuff…but in my view, the greatest gift he has made to camp is giving his child a chance to make this her own. In a way, as Korczak suggested, Josh has given all of our children the opportunity to make the world – and this camp – their own right now. Your legacy here lives through those that you’ve impacted, and while you will forever be welcome, and this will forever be your home, this camp belongs to them. It’s their camp.

Thank you, Josh, for being a version of Janusz Korczak here at Harlam. And thank you, personally, for your friendship and for your dedication to Harlam. Yasher Koach…we’ll miss you.   

Aaron Selkow is the Excutive Director of Camp Harlam. Aaron lives on he Main Line with his wife and daughter. This is Aaron’s 6th summer at Camp Harlam.