Moments of MESH: The Impact of Spirituality

By Rabbi Stacy Rigler

Spring has sprung…and with it, the excitement we feel as camp families, though me may also feel anxiety, anticipation, and perhaps even fear of the upcoming summer. In the Jewish cycle of the year, we are counting from Passover to Shavuot, a traditional counting of the 49 days. The counting was a way to harness our feelings of anxiety and anticipation, a way to “feel all the feels.” Sometimes I marvel at the way Judaism’s ancient rituals seem to anticipate modern mental and emotional health needs.

This month in our Mental, Emotional, and Social Health (MESH) Moment of the Month blog, I wanted to share some research that supports the connection between religious rituals and practices and MESH. Dr. Lisa Miller (foremost scientist on spirituality across the lifespan and  Professor of Psychology and Education at Columbia University, Teachers College). In her book The Spiritual Child, Miller explains her research on spirituality/religion and MESH. She finds that children who have a positive, active relationship to spirituality:

• have significantly more positive markers for thriving including an increased sense of meaning and purpose and high levels of academic success;
• are 40% less likely to use and abuse substances; and
• are 60% less likely to be depressed as teenagers.

Her research helps us understand the critical need for a place where kids can practice their religion, where they can be co-creators of their own worship and prayer experiences, where they can ask big questions and explore ideas of God and theology. These religious experiences have strong correlations with positive mental, emotional, and social health.

Sometimes we think about the Jewish part of camp as the background – it’s what brings us all together, what unites the community. The research on thriving reminds us that Judaism is not simply a common denominator, but at camps like Harlam, Judaism is a source of communal thriving.

As we prepare for camp, we, as parents, can reactivate these Jewish muscles if they have been dormant or reignite Jewish camp rituals. We might talk with our kids about the value of weekly Shabbat rituals to reflect on the week or even introduce them if they aren’t part of our family tradition. We can explore what it means to our kids to be in a Jewish community “bubble.” We can ask how they understand the idea of God or what they might have learned about God at camp or in synagogue that might relate to the challenges we have faced in the past year. We could offer our kids a weekly sicha or conversation time to listen to what is on their minds as we count down to camp. We can also reflect with our kids on Camp Harlam’s middot (character traits), asking them which middot they will need to feel successful as they prepare for camp or when they are at camp.

As parents, and camp professionals, we spend a lot of time thinking about kids’ mental, emotional, and social health. It’s interesting to learn that the spiritual background actually supports the MESH work we do in significant ways. By turning to our tradition, we can use rituals to help our kids “feel all the feels” and to help deepen our reflections as we transition towards the summer.

Rabbi Stacy Rigler is a camp parent and the Senior Program Manager for Jewish Education at the Foundation for Jewish Camp. Check out February’s Moments of MESH here and March’s here.