HOW HARLAM’S VALUES SHAPED MY POLITICAL ADVOCACY
By Eric Goldberg
Eisendrath Legislative Assistant, Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism
There are precious few places that have shaped the arc of my life like URJ Camp Harlam. If you know me, you know that’s true. From 2009 to 2020 – as a camper, CIT, and counselor – my “home away from home” provided me with both structure and space to explore my potential. These opportunities for growth, nurtured by peers and mentors, played an integral role in placing me behind this computer today. I write to you now as a URJ employee, a legislative assistant working for our Religious Action Center — the URJ’s policy office in D.C. The RAC is the Reform Movement’s collective voice in federal and state politics, representing 2 million Reform Jews, 2000 Reform rabbis, and our 825 congregations in the critical political battles that are shaping our lives. Now more than ever, it is crucial that our voice is heard. If you are a recent college graduate or young professional who is interested in Judaism, public policy, and pursuing justice, apply to be a 2025-2026 Eisendrath Legislative Assistant by March 7th. Harlamites; let me tell you why you’d be a seamless fit.
We often joke about the Harlam-to-RAC pipeline. It seems like half our RAC staff have come through Harlam, but that’s not because of luck or accident. Spending my formative summers in an intentional community constructed around Reform Jewish ethics became the cornerstone of my growth as a concerned citizen. The values that encircled our camp “bubble” weren’t just cherished ideas, but lived practices passed down l’dor vador (fron generation to generation) that touched every part of our summer through brit kehillot (community contracts), tikkun middot (character values), shiur (Jewish lessons), and shira (Jewish singing). Scriptural gleanings like b’tzelem Elohim (being made in the image of God), kol Yisrael arevim ze ba zeh (all Jews are responsible for one another), and v’ahavta l’reacha kamocha (love your neighbor as yourself) were communicated through our practicing of equality, inclusion, mutual care, and active service in the community. These lessons profoundly shaped my worldview, giving me an essential lens through which to view the polarized political world around me.
With our camp “bubble,” however, came its inevitable “pop.” Each summer, I’d return home and observe the juxtaposition between the camp world and the “normal world.” The moral friction I felt increased steadily as I matured, coming of age through the 2016 election, the Charlottesville rally in 2017, the Tree of Life shooting in 2018, impeachment in 2019, and then both the COVID pandemic and presidential election in 2020. It was obvious things were broken, and increasingly so. The values I’d cultivated at camp helped me build a moral foundation inclined towards justice, and the evident tension between my home community and my “home away from home” called me to action. As I prepared to graduate college, it became clear that the most effective way to leverage my values to influence change was through political organizing and advocacy. As it turned out, my years at camp prepared me well for the task.
What does it mean to be a camp counselor? I couldn’t appreciate it until I stepped into the role, but camp counseling offers unparalleled opportunities for making meaning and developing skills. For three summers, I helped a diverse group of teens identify, embrace, and act on the gifts that made them uniquely b’tzelem Elohim. I learned to identify the values and interests that motivated each individual, and how I could use them to bring out the best in each camper and in our larger community. I strove to instill a moral framework around Jewish values that nourished commitments to mutual respect and responsibility while encouraging critical thinking about individual and collective challenges. As a songleader, I practiced the power of connecting people for a common purpose, elevating ordinary moments into sacred spaces, uniting voices in song and sentiment, and drawing out emotional responses that give rise to action. This work is intimately connected to the organizing and advocacy we do at the RAC. As both a camp counselor and legislative assistant, we look to equip future leaders with the confidence and sense of duty necessary to take bold social action – whether that’s a peer leader sticking up for inclusion in the bunk or a community leader organizing their congregation to protect immigrants. Through individual and communal empowerment, we build the muscle needed to translate our movement’s values into effective policy and political action. I could not have learned these skills without my transformative summers at camp. It was in responding to the holistic needs of my campers and working to promote individual and bunk-level growth at camp that I first recognized my potential to make a difference. If you’ve been a counselor at camp, I’m sure you’ve seen your power too. Camp provided me a unique platform to influence change, and developing this potential inspired me to work to move the instruments of large-scale change in Washington D.C., to respond to the holistic needs of our nation.
Being an effective leader and organizer requires proficiency in working across lines of difference. Ever since our founding, and our foundational contributions to the Civil Rights Movement, the RAC has been blessed to work in large, dedicated coalitions like the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights and the Washington Interfaith Staff Community. With the right approach, our shared advocacy allows us to amplify each other’s diverse strengths and concerns. Camp Harlam has long been out in front, providing a guiding light for diversity and inclusion within the URJ and beyond. In my summers as a camper, this uncommon degree of acceptance allowed me to feel deeply tied to the community and valued for my unique perspective. At the RAC, we know these are prerequisites for creating a sense of mutual responsibility and elevating it into action. As a camp counselor, I was positioned to give this skill even more depth, working in a fluid team of counselors that traversed national, linguistic, religious, and gendered boundaries. Learning to work efficiently together created countless opportunities to embrace new perspectives and turn our differences into strengths. Being a leader for a diverse group of campers also deepened the empathy I needed to pursue justice across a broad set of public policy areas, and on behalf of a diverse Reform Jewish Movement. The skills I honed at camp are used daily as we continue to build, strengthen, and leverage the coalitions necessary to move the needle in Washington.
As an Eisendrath Legislative Assistant, you’ll be the URJ’s representative and expert on several public policy areas. This position comes with an uncommon degree of responsibility and power that most recent college graduates won’t have the opportunity to access. For this reason, I am incredibly fortunate to have had 12 years of practical leadership development during my summers at camp. As a camper, counselor, and songleader, I learned to shape my community, envision a better world, and inspire those around me to do the holy work of pursuing it. Thanks to Camp Harlam, I’m equipped with the tools to continue this work in Washington.
Now more than ever, we need folks like you to join us. If you are a recent college graduate or young professional who is interested in Judaism, public policy, and pursuing justice, apply to be a 2025-2026 Eisendrath Legislative Assistant by March 7th.