Program - Camp Zeke - Sleepaway Summer Camp

Program

Activities & Sample Schedule

Throughout the weekend we will offer a variety of activities featuring some of the best Camp Zeke has to offer, along with programs geared towards toddlers, older kids, and dedicated adult classes too.

This is just a sampling of what you will experience on a JFAM weekend:

  • Creative and healthy cooking classes for aspiring chefs of all ages – including challah baking and tasty treats!
  • Art projects – make challah covers, spice bags for Havdalah, Mezuzah cases and creative nature crafts
  • Sports – Basketball, softball, tennis, Gaga, volleyball, and more
  • Special playgroups and educational play sessions for younger children
  • Boating and swimming in our heated pool and 60-acre spring fed lake
  • Joyful, musical shabbat services held lakeside on our main lawn
  • Fitness and strength training in a full gym
  • Nature walks
  • Circus arts
  • Theater games 
  • Lakeside campfires with s’mores
  • Much, much, more!

Sample Schedule for your JFAM weekend

Friday

2:00 – 4:00 PM – Arrival/Welcome/Show Families to Rooms – Enjoy a selection of healthy snacks, cold drinks and freshly brewed hot coffee in our center dining room.

4:00 PM – Introductory Fun and Games

5:00 PM – Welcome Reception Lakeside

5:30 PM – It’s time for Kabbalat Shabbat – Help us welcome Shabbat through joyful song and reflection.

6:00 PM – Candle Lighting, Prayer for Wine and Challah

6:15 PM – Enjoy a festive Shabbat meal with a traditional chicken and matzo ball soup, fresh roast chicken, chicken fingers for the kids, tri-color roast fingerling potatoes, a fresh vegetable medley and warm fruit pies for dessert. Vegetarian and allergy friendly options are always available.  Join in our festive song session.

7:15 PM – Learn to create bedtime rituals with our Jewish life leader

7:45 PM – Leilah tov – Bedtime for the younger kids. For kids ages 6 and older – join our counselors in the theater for a fun-filled Shabbat Game Oneg.

8:15 PM – Join our adult smooze, snacks and adult beverages at our Oneg Shabbat in the A Lounge – Babysitters are available to watch your little ones.

SaturdayShabbat Shalom!

7:30AM – Good morning! Enjoy a freshly brewed cup of coffee or a hot cocoa on the dining room porch. We invite you to join us for morning yoga on the lakeside pavilion.

8:15 – 9:15 AM – Breakfast, enjoy a selection of fresh fruit salad, assorted yogurts, muffins, pastries, hard boiled eggs, fresh bagels and spreads, and assorted cold cereals. We practice shmirat ha’guf – taking care of our health.

9:30 AM – 10:30 AM – It’s time for Shabboptions – select one of the following: 

  • Traditional Shabbat Service full of joyful singing and prayer led by our clergy on the lakeside pavilion.
  • Shabbat Theater – Join us in the theater as we create mini plays using scenes from Jewish history.
  • Reflective Nature Walk – Meet us at the lakefront and take a gentle walk around the lake as we reflect on the meaning of Shabbat and the Torah portion of the week. (Wear hiking shoes and bug spray.)
  • Torah Yoga – Stretch your bodies and spirits as we contemplate the Torah portion of the week with our flexible instructors. This takes place  lakeside in our martial arts studio.

10:45 AM – 12:30 PM – Separate child and adult programming for children 2+. Babysitting is available for children under 2.

  • Children 2 years and older are divided into groups by age under the supervision of our wonderful counselors. Children enjoy fun activities like nature arts and crafts, Gaga, Sports, lawn games, or a song session with our Camp Zeke song leaders.
  • Adults can choose from a circus workshop, working out in a well-equipped gym, a lively Zumba or spin class or a chance to relax and enjoy nature.

At 11:45 AM – we invite the adults to gather at the lakeside pavilion for a discussion of Jewish values (tikkun middot) with our clergy.

12:30PM – Lunch – Enjoy a healthy lunch with plenty of fresh salads, fruits and tasty fresh options.

1:30PMRest hour – Recuperate and relax with your family. Take time for a nap or explore our beautiful property on your own.

2:30 – 5:30 PMFamily activity time! The fun continues with a variety of activities for the family to enjoy including fitness classes, music, healthy cooking, Shabbat crafts, swimming in the pool, arts and crafts, kickball, basketball, tennis, circus arts, ping pong, nature exploration, hiking and more. Enjoy healthy and refreshing snacks served from our canteen located on the theater porch. 

5:30 PM – Free time before dinner

6:00 PM – Dinner 

7:00 PM – Help us say farewell to Shabbat and welcome to the new week with our Havdalah service on the lawn deck.

7:15 PM – Evening campfire and s’mores – Learn songs you can sing all year long as you join at the lakeside pavilion for a Shira – Jewish song session – Our staff are available to watch your little ones.

8:30 PM – Come one, come all to the Camp Zeke JFAM All Family Talent Show! – In the Theater

9:30 PM – Leilah tov for the rest of the kids – Practice your bedtime rituals – Staff are available to watch your little ones.

10:00 PM – Adults only chat and smooze – examine ways to create Jewish family rituals and traditions that will last a lifetime. Adult beverages and snacks will be served.

Sunday

7:30AM – Good morning! Enjoy a freshly brewed cup of coffee or a hot cocoa on the dining room porch. We invite you to join us for morning yoga on the lakeside pavilion.

8:15 – 9:15 AM – Breakfast – Enjoy a selection of fresh fruit salad, assorted yogurts, muffins, pastries, blueberry pancakes and scrambled eggs, fresh bagels and spreads, steel-cut oatmeal with fresh berries and assorted cold cereals. We practice shmirat ha’guf – taking care of our health.

9:30 – 11:30 AM – Choice of activities – spend time as a family and try some of Zeke’s favorites.

  • Circus arts – learn to spin on our silks and hoops or tumble on our mats
  • Family Zumba dance party – shake and stretch as we get our hearts beating
  • It’s Challah baking time! – Learn to bake the traditional bread we eat on Shabbat
  • Judaica art – Create your own mezuzah case or challah cover
  • Lake is open for boating – Parents must accompany children (weather permitting)
  • Lively game of family basketball – meet on the lower basketball court

11:30 – 12:00 Noon – Farewell and closing gathering on the main lawn

12:30 PM – Farewell lunch

Our campers have made thousands of friendships, millions of memories, and lifelong skills in athletics, cooking, and joyful Judaism. We are proudly supported by:

  • Jewish Camp
  • Jim Joseph Foundation
  • Avi Chai
  • UJA Federation
  • The Jewish Education Project
  • JCamp logo

We are fully accredited by the American Camp Association