| Camp Avoda | |
| Coordinates: | 41.8664°N -70.8632°W |
| Season: | June to August |
Camp Avoda is a Jewish boys' overnight camp located on Tispaquin Pond in Middleboro, Massachusetts. It has been in continuous operation since the summer of 1927,[1] making it the oldest Jewish boys' camp in New England.[2] [3]
Camp Avoda was established in early 1927 by the Young Men's Hebrew Association[4] to serve the needs of underprivileged Jewish boys. Originally, the bunks were essentially "huts" and had no screening or walls. Today, campers sleep in basic cabins which were built at various times between the late 1950s and early 1980s. Many bunks were expanded after a rise in attendance in the mid-1990s.
The camp is a non-profit entity operated by a Board of Directors and duly incorporated as Camp Avoda, Inc. It serves the needs of 125-150 campers per session.
Camp Avoda is located on a 60acres tract of land on Tispaquin Pond in Middleborough, Massachusetts. More than half of that land is wooded area, which is used for hiking, camping, mountain-biking, and a high-elements ropes course which was constructed in 1999. The camp's buildings, including eight cabins, the recreation hall, the C.I.T. "bungalow", the shower houses, two administrator cabins, and the "OD shack", surround the large ball field, where all field sports are played.
Ken Shifman is currently the executive director of the camp. Shifman began as director in 2008 and became executive director in 2015 after Paul G. Davis retired. Davis had been employed since 1966, making him one of the longest-serving camp directors in the United States.
Camp Avoda currently has a -week season, which includes a 4-week-long first session and a -week second session. Each summer there are 32–40 junior and senior counselors ranging between ages 17–24. Almost all counselors were once campers at Camp Avoda, and most are typically college students.
Most campers reside in New England, with the vast majority concentrated in the Greater Boston area. However, some campers travel from Florida, the Washington, D.C. area, New Jersey, California, and Israel, to spend their summers at Camp Avoda.
In 2002, Camp Avoda celebrated its 75th anniversary, with over 1,000 Avodians attending festivities.
Nearly all counselors were once Avoda campers and successful graduates of the Avoda Counselor-in-Training (C.I.T.) program.[5]
July 4 is the first pinnacle event of the summer. The camp hosts its own carnival during the day, where each bunk creates its own booth in addition to those rented by the camp. At night is the annual Bonfire and Chip Ceremony. The bonfire is built entirely by Bunk 14, who name the bonfire and place a sign at the top with the name. The bonfire can be as tall as 16feet. Once the fire has started to die down, a member from each bunk stands in front of the fire and makes a speech about their camp experience. After they make their speech, they take a wood chip, and throw it into the fire. Bunk 14 is the last bunk to speak, and has three speakers. After the campers finish, staff members and administrators, and finally the director, make speeches.
Trips occur every Thursday, except during Color War. Destinations have included Six Flags New England, Red Sox games, and Water Country. In addition, there are choice trips, in which campers are given between 3 and 4 options of destination. Trips designated for specific groups of campers include the annual fishing trip (Freshman, Sophomore, and Juniors), the Bunk 14 overnight, and the Senior Canoe Trip.
Avoda competes in tournaments with rival camps such as Camp Bauercrest, Bournedale, Young Judaea, Tel Noar, and Tevya. Avoda also attends the Bauercrest and YJ tournaments, and hosts its own annual tournament including soccer, softball and basketball.
Bunk 14, also known as "The Betty Grable Commandos" is the bunk of the oldest campers at Avoda. Typically it houses 15-year-olds entering the 10th grade, however following the cancellation of the 2020 summer due to the Covid-19 pandemic, 16 year-olds entering the 11th grade are currently Bunk 14ers. With Bunk 14 comes special privileges and automatic "alumni" status. Many alumni are often identified and identify themselves by their Bunk 14 Year.
Color War occurs during the last week of the summer. The camp is split up into two teams, "White" and "Blue", with each team including eight staff members. Each camper is placed in a division with other campers of their own age and one year above or below them. The four divisions are Freshman, Sophomore, Junior, and Senior. In each division, the two teams face each other in sports, side events, tug of wars, and other events. The point values for each event are hidden from the campers, but increase in value from the Freshman to Senior Division.
One of the traditions of Color War is the silent meals. If campers are caught talking during any of the 18 meals (6 days, 3 meals a day), points are deducted from their team.
The winner is usually announced through a fixed race or game of some sort, in which the counselors representing the winning team win. The winning team then jumps in the lake.
| Year | Winning team | Losing team | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1972 | White PatriotsGeneral Carl Rottersman Captain Jon Bamel, Arthur Mendelsohn | Blue BravesGeneral Steven Woolf Captain George Brockman | |
| 1973 | White CougarsGeneral Bobby Gilberg Captain Neil Sandler | Blue BrigadeGeneral Danny Bauman Captain Steven Bender | |
| 1974 | Blue IsraelitesGeneral Robbie Coppel Captain Phil Lukoff | White CobrasGeneral Brad Barry Captain Gary Epstein | |
| 1975 | White WizardsGeneral Robbie Coppel Captain Jerry Gordon | Blue TideGeneral Mike Katz Captain David Bamel | |
| 1976 | Blue RocketsGeneral George Brockman Captain Robbie Satloff | White EaglesGeneral Robbie Coppel Captain Bruce Bender | |
| 1977 | Blue DestroyersGeneral Stuart Bram Captain Ken Sandberg | White KingsGeneral David Goodman Captain Mike Ross | |
| 1978 | White CosmosGeneral Eric Yaffe Captain Glen French | Blue DiamondsGeneral Phil Lukoff Captain Gary Greenstein | |
| 1979 | White WarriorsGeneral David Bamel Captain Neil Schneider | Blue CyclonesGeneral Mitch Rubin Captain David Snider | |
| 1980 | White AvodiansGeneral Paul Kleinmann Captain Richie Mintzer | Blue AztecsGeneral Robert Satloff Captain Evan Yampolsky | |
| 1981 | White SabresGeneral Steve Aronson Captain Bruce French | Blue GalaxyGeneral Steve Camiel Captain Paul Simon | |
| 1982 | Blue StingGeneral Mike Roth Captain Alex Sherman | White WarlordsGeneral Steve Aronson Captain Mike Saperstein | |
| 1983 | White FalconsGeneral David Snider Captain Richard I Lefkowitz | Blue DragonsGeneral Mike Rutstein Captain Jon Lee | |
| 1984 | Blue ExpressGeneral Evan Yampolsky Captain Lee Kaiser | White MagicGeneral Andy Stone Captain Larry Gold | |
| 1985 | Blue DemonsGeneral Paul Simon Captain Jon Feldman | White SprayGeneral Mark Solomon Captain Danny Gold | |
| 1986 | White SpartansGeneral Peter Spider Lebowitz Captain Josh Camire | Blue CrusadeGeneral David Wertheim Captain Brett Smith | |
| 1987 | White CougarsGeneral Davida Bones Captain Jimmy Sklaver | Blue PythonsGeneral Gary Solomon Captain Stu Glasser | |
| 1988 | Blue ShadowGeneral Jay Yampolsky Captain Adam Kaufman | White LightningGeneral Russell Katz Captain Jon Cohen | |
| 1989 | Blue StormGeneral Mark Glovin Captain Ariel Waldman | White RaidersGeneral Ken Shifman Captain Brian Malamut | |
| 1990 | White PanthersGeneral Ken Shifman Captain Jake Farquharson | Blue StampedeGeneral Russell Katz Captain Bobby Zuker | |
| 1991 | Blue ScorpionsGeneral Jeff Blocker Captain Aaron Katz | White KnightsGeneral Andy Spear Captain Josh Kaswell | |
| 1992 | White EmpireGeneral Stu Glass Captain Spencer Kimball | Blue AssaultGeneral David Wilcov Captain Darryl Malamut | |
| 1993 | Blue SharksGeneral Jeremy Agulnek Captain Jason Kurtz | White HeatGeneral Ricky Hyman Captain Jeremy Steckel | |
| 1994 | Blue PredatorsGeneral Jeremy Agulnek Captain Dan Gold_Pitegoff | White SeminolesGeneral Ricky Hyman Captain Scott Bookman | |
| 1995 | Blue DevilsGeneral Jeff Vetstein Captain Sam Chates | White WolvesGeneral Bobby Zuker Captain Adam Hatch | |
| 1996 | Blue GrizzliesGeneral Jeremy Agulnek Captain Josh Schneider | White WildcatsGeneral Mark Sokoloff Captain Jesse Fanuiel | |
| 1997 | Blue JusticeGeneral Jeff Vetstein Captain Greg Lazaroff | White BulldogsGeneral Ken Freeman Captain Jon Ostroff | |
| 1998 | White VipersGeneral Spencer Kimball Captain Josh Damm | Blue RebelsGeneral Aaron Agulnek Captain Dave Pratter | |
| 1999 | White ForceGeneral Eric Levy Captain Matt Aschaffenburg | Blue TideGeneral EJ Kimball Captain Matthew Chella | |
| 2000 | Blue DynastyGeneral Spencer Kimball Captain Sam Glick | White WarriorsGeneral Dave Brown Captain Dave Kivowitz | |
| 2001 | White LionsGeneral Barry Morgan Captain Josh Coran | Blue TerrorGeneral Adam Miller Captain Sawyer Emmer | |
| 2002 | Blue GladiatorsGeneral EJ Kimball Captain Steve Mendelsohn | White PatriotsGeneral Josh Schneider Captain Brian Norcross | |
| 2003 | Blue GiantsGeneral Adam Miller Captain Matt Glick | White TitansGeneral Greg Lazaroff Captain Jared Shalek | |
| 2004 | Blue BuccaneersGeneral Adam Miller Captain Benny Bershad | White OutlawsGeneral Evan Traiger Captain Jonathan Katz | |
| 2005 | Blue MafiaGeneral Todd Miller Captain Justin Lukoff | White TigersGeneral Mike Pemstein Captain Cory Schneider | |
| 2006 | Blue VenomGeneral Sawyer Emmer Captain Eli Rodrigues | White DragonsGeneral Mike Pemstein Captain Sam Brenner | |
| 2007 | Blue AnimalsGeneral Dan Gollinger Captain Eddie Bernson | White SpartansGeneral Erik Silevitch Captain Sascha Bercovitch | |
| 2008 | White PhantomsGeneral Matt Norcross Captain Jason Hefter | Blue ArmyGeneral David Fine Captain Brendan Hefter | |
| 2009 | Blue MonstersGeneral Adam Rubin Captain Paul Sockol | White MustangsGeneral Jonny Singer Captain Brandon Banker | |
| 2010 | White AssassinsGeneral Cory Finkelman Captain Marc Gleason | Blue HeroesGeneral Ethan Gurwitz Captain Sam Watman | |
| 2011 | Blue BarbariansGeneral Richard Katz Captain Harrison Bamel | White LegendsGeneral Josh Coran Captain Jake Alexander | |
| 2012 | White MercenariesGeneral Ben Rubin Captain Drew Lukoff | Blue GatorsGeneral Eddie Bernson Captain Benji Satloff | |
| 2013 | Blue GoblinsGeneral Jason Hefter Captain Ben Shale | White ProphetsGeneral Jacob Dennis Captain Louis Yarmolinsky | |
| 2014 | Blue VikingsGeneral Joey Sherman Captain Abe Watman | White ChiefsGeneral Jacob Dennis Captain Dan Chafetz | |
| 2015 | White OlympiansGeneral Sam Watman Captain Eli Sabin | Blue ApesGeneral Louis Douglas Captain Max Waltzman | |
| 2016 | White VillainsGeneral Jared Fixler Captain Ross Halpern | Blue BearsGeneral Louis Douglas Captain Zac Roth | |
| 2017 | Blue WizardsGeneral Joshua Cohen Captain Sam Waltzman | White Royals General Drew Lukoff Captain Nate Goldberg | |
| 2018 | Navy SealsGeneral Abe Watman Captain Adam Alter | White AvengersGeneral Wes Fixler Captain Sawyer Busny | |
| 2019 | Blue AnarchyGeneral Shay Wenglin Captain Charlie Zuker | White JaguarsGeneral Ty Goldstein Captain Michael Shnidman Jr. | |
| 2021 | White Avalanche General Jay Blumenfeld Captain Jason Karas | Blue Conquerors General Max Waltzman Captain Cole Busny | |
| 2022 | Blue DemonsGeneral Nate Goldberg Captain Matt Brayer | White ArmadaGeneral Ethan Shifman Captain Jacob Demeo | |
| 2023 | White HuskiesGeneral Owen Sherman Captain Ryan Jacoby | Blue BanditsGeneral Max Kleinmann Captain Jonah Bramson | |
| 2024 | Blue RevolutionGeneral Charlie Zuker Captain Zack Leibman | White FlamesGeneral Alex Shifman Captain Danny Karas |
Since 1987, the Camp Avoda Alumni Association has hosted a full weekend dedicated to Alumni events, which typically takes place the weekend before the campers arrive at camp.[6] t is common for Alumni members to stop by throughout the summer to interact with the current staff and campers.
In addition to the Alumni Weekend, the Avoda Alumni Association hosts events throughout the off-season at various Massachusetts locations, including: Billiard Nights, Family Day at Gillette Stadium, and the annual Thanksgiving Football Game. The Alumni Association also hosts fundraising and charitable endeavors aimed at providing scholarships to campers for the summers.