Two Summer Camps for Rabbis

Where do rabbis go to sit around a campfire and sing Kumbaya?

There are two places, according to the Jewish Week.

One is brand new, the other is nearly new.

Brand new - but not competing with anyone mind you, just a summer camp, "a place to grow":

New rabbinical group launched to counter rightward shift in Modern Orthodoxy
by Gary Rosenblatt

In a move certain to be seen as an effort to compete with the Rabbinical Council of America — the largest group of Orthodox rabbis — two vocal critics this week launched a clerical group called the International Rabbinic Fellowship.

But Rabbis Avi Weiss of the Hebrew Institute of Riverdale and Marc Angel, rabbi emeritus of Shearith Israel of New York, insist that the new fellowship, which attracted about 75 rabbis from North America, Israel and Columbia to a two-day conference in West Palm Beach, Fla., was created not to compete with the RCA but more broadly to counter what they see as a rightward shift in the Orthodox community and the centralization of the rabbinate.

They say they intend to maintain membership in the RCA — Rabbi Angel is a past president of the group. But they believe the new fellowship is filling a vacuum, as indicated by the large turnout, for rabbis who feel “claustrophobic” in their roles, according to Rabbi Angel.

“Rabbis need a place to grow, they can’t operate out of fear,” he said, predicting that the new group will soon grow to at least 150 members. ...

“We have created an open space where rabbis don’t have to look over their shoulders and feel intimidated” by rabbinic authorities who would marginalize them, said Rabbi Weiss. “We want to empower them to think for themselves.”

He noted that when as a young rabbi, he would ask a halachic question of his rebbe, the late Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveichik, the revered dean of Modern Orthodoxy, the response would be: “What do you think, Avraham?”...

Not so new, and truly embracing the ethos of summer camp, where you can get "a group hug," a program of Yeshiva University:

... the Yarchei Kallah Program led by Rabbi Jacob J. Schacter, senior scholar at Yeshiva University’s Center for the Jewish Future... brings together about 30 young Orthodox rabbis (under 40) twice a year to discuss issues of importance to them in their careers and personal lives, from balancing professional and family responsibilities to delivering more effective sermons.

“Our goals are not political,” Rabbi Schacter said. “We want to deal with [rabbis’] challenges and frustrations, to make them feel appreciated and inspired. We give them, in effect, a group hug.”...

Undoubtedly motivated by good intentions, these programs have such soft missions that they hardly surpass summer camps - not that there is anything wrong with that!

Kum ba yah, my Lord, kum ba yah

Kum ba yah, my Lord, kum ba yah

Kum ba yah, my Lord, kum ba yah

Oh Lord, kum ba yah

Hear me crying, Lord, kum ba yah

Hear me crying, Lord, kum ba yah

Hear me crying, Lord, kum ba yah

Oh Lord, kum ba yah

Hear me singing, Lord, kum ba yah

Hear me singing, Lord, kum ba yah

Hear me singing, Lord, kum ba yah

Oh Lord, kum ba yah

Hear me praying, Lord, kum ba yah

Hear me praying, Lord, kum ba yah

Hear me praying, Lord, kum ba yah

Oh Lord, kum ba yah

Oh I need you, Lord, kum ba yah

Oh I need you, Lord, kum ba yah

Oh I need you, Lord, kum ba yah

Oh Lord, kum ba yah