God’s Creative Spark Lives Here at Maple Lake

“God blew into human nostrils the breath of life, and the human became a living being…” (Genesis 2:7)

These are the words framing the wooden walls of the pottery shed up at Maple Lake, the home of Camp George, Canada’s only URJ camp.

These words are embedded in a brightly-coloured landscape, comprised of the mountains and earth and sea and sky melding together in that original act of creativity, the act of Creation.

This mural has a magical, surrealistic quality as a work of art. Yet, when it comes to camp, its magic can indeed be found in its creativity.

Sitting in that pottery shed, I reflected that part of this is due to the magic of camp to enable participants to express themselves fully and authentically.

In our world today, that has connotations of identity when it comes to gender or sexuality, and in fact, we celebrated our camp Pride Shabbat during my week on faculty.

More broadly, in recalling my own experiences as a camper, this meant the gift of being able to realise our full potential as humans when granted creative license. Time and time again, I have seen our campers’ faces shine as they master a new skill, overcome a new obstacle, complete a previously impossible task, lead a successful program, or grow in their confidence, and develop into young mensches and young leaders.

Being Canada’s only Reform Jewish camp, this growth and development through creativity is not just crucial for campers as individuals, but for us as a Canadian Reform Jewish movement.

Camp George is a key manifestation of our unique identity as Canadian Reform Jews, and therefore, a critical pipeline for our future leadership and engagement. Its creative thriving strengthens us, as we strengthen it through our support, our participation, and our love of this unique and special place, which ultimately breathes life into our communities and congregations.

Just come and see it for yourself; standing on the shore of the stunning Maple Lake, you might also believe that a little bit of God’s creative spark lives here, too.

Rabbi Eliza McCarroll ’22 is an alum of HUC-JIR’s Cincinnati campus, and is currently the Assistant Rabbi at Holy Blossom Temple in Toronto, Canada.