Nothing says summer like a campfire does. Jr. spoke to three different camps to hear how they make campfires special

How does your camp make campfires special?

CAMP AGUDAH MIDWEST: Camp Agudah Midwest is a girls’ sleepaway camp located in South Haven, Michigan, currently running its 34th summer.

LUXOR DAY CAMP: Luxor Day Camp is a day camp at Luxor Estates, in Loch Sheldrake, NY, for girls and boys ages 2–13.

CAMP TASHBAR: Camp Tashbar is a sleepaway camp for boys in 5th through 10th grades. It’s located in Liberty, NY, and is in its 18th year.

CAMP AGUDAH MIDWEST: We bring out a portable microphone at campfires, and pass it around while we sing to allow girls who enjoy singing to each have a chance to shine. Occasionally, we have a great storyteller come to camp to tell stories around the campfire — that’s always a real highlight.

LUXOR DAY CAMP: Every year, the organization Samcheinu (which helps out women who have lost their husbands) brings 50 women to the estate for a retreat. The highlight of the program is a campfire, and our campers actually build it for them. We build it during the day, and the women come at night and enjoy the campfire. The campers are treated to ice cream as a reward for their hard work — but the biggest reward is knowing that they did this work not for themselves, but to bring happiness to others.

CAMP TASHBAR: We prepare for weeks before the main bonfire each summer. Any broken chair, bed, or fallen tree gets dragged to the firepit, and then a couple of days before the fire, boys from our hiking division build it into a tepee shape, around 15 by 15 feet. On the day of the fire — usually during the Nine Days — we douse the entire structure with lighter fluid, and the camp director lights it. Four hundred campers sit around the fire, watching and listening as the director lights the fire and speaks about the Nine Days and Tishah B’Av. Then, as the fire grows bigger, the mood lifts, and we lock arms and break out in song — slow, beautiful niggunei neshamah that inspire us to think about Yerushalayim, about achdus, and davening for the Geulah.

Although it’s dark, by the light of the fire you can see the tears welling up in people’s eyes. The mood is very emotional, and that brings to powerful tefillos. The word zemiros comes from zemer, which means to prune (cut), and you can really feel the songs cutting through to the heart and rising to the Kisei Hakavod.

Best campfire song:

CAMP AGUDAH MIDWEST: “Acheinu.” It’s a real oldie but goodie!

LUXOR DAY CAMP: Classics like “Acheinu,” “Lemaancha,” or other nice slow Regesh songs.

CAMP TASHBAR: “Yerushalayim Ircha,” “Acheinu,” and “Hamalach Hagoel” are all classics that never go out of style. More recently: “Vehar’einu” by Shlomo Yehuda Rechnitz.

Best campfire activity:

CAMP AGUDAH MIDWEST: Passing the mic around and having each girl share her favorite part of camp, or something else meaningful.

LUXOR DAY CAMP: Sit by the fire, enjoy watching the flames, and eat marshmallows!

CAMP TASHBAR: At the main campfire, it’s definitely the singing.