TAG:
Jewish Values through JCC Camping®

TAG: Jewish Values through JCC Camping® is a curricular initiative designed to enrich the Jewish component of the JCC camping experience.

TAG develops discrete Jewish content and programming units for day and resident camps, finding ways to integrate Jewish life, experience and values into the fabric of camp. Each initiative has drama, discussion, games, art and music components.

TAG is...

• An acronym for Torah (learning and living), Avodah (service and spirituality), and Gemilut Chasadim (acts of loving kindness). According to the saying of our sages in Pirkei Avot (Ethics of the Sages), these are the three principles upon which the world stands.
  
• A child’s game in which a special quality of being “it” is passed on by touching another person.
  
• Tagim (plural) are the ornate crowns on letters found in the Torah scroll that adorn and add beauty to the words of the Torah, give them special emphasis and hidden meaning, and make them look different from any other text we read.
  

TAG: List of Programs - 2004-2008

Israel - Activities and originally written stories to give campers a flavor of the signs, symbols, people, and places of Israel.
1. Signs and Symbols
2. Piecing It All Together
3. Tied Up In Knots
4. Twogether
5. On A Roll
6. Stonewalled
7. The Original David Binder
8. Cold Feet

Touching Torah - Engaging camp programs on the themes of the weekly summertime Torah portions.
1. B’ha-a-lotkha
2. Sh’lach Lekha
3. Korach
4. Chukat
5. Balak
6. Pinchas
7. Mattot
8. Mas’ei
9. D’varim
10. Va-etchanan
11. Eikev

Judaism / Nature & the Environment - Programs that explore different Jewish values and perspectives on nature and the environment.
1. Bal Tashchit: Protecting Our World for Today, for Tomorrow, for the Future
2. B’reishit Barah: Witnessing Creation
3. Tikkun Olam: Building a Better World
4. L’Ovdah U-L’Shomrah: To Work and To Protect
5. Lishtol Gan: Planting the Garden
6. Shomrei Adamah: Guarding the Earth
7. Ma Rabu Ma’asekha: How Magnificent Are Your Works
8. Shema Israel: Listen Israel

TAG Values - Initiatives that look at a variety of Jewish values and themes
1. Lighting Shabbat Candles with Our Ancestors: Archaeology and Shabbat Candles
2. Hachnassat Orchim: Welcoming One Another
3. Al Tistakel Bakankan Ela Bema Sheyesh Bo: Don’t Judge a Book by Its Cover
4. Kashrut: Keeping It Cool, Keeping It Kosher
5. Tish’a B’Av (creative programming for the holiday)

Drama - Looking at this Jewish value through games, art and drama.
1. Mikhshol: Stumbling Blocks

Board Games - A board game designed to train camp leaders in issues concerning Jewish and general camp values.
1. Madrikh: A Training Simulation Game for Camp Counselors

Legacy Heritage Fund – Days of Caring and Sharing - As part of the JCC Association/Legacy Heritage Fund Days of Caring and Sharing camp community service program, the Legacy Heritage Fund has sponsored these TAG units, which emphasize the responsibility of each child to make a positive contribution to our world.
1. Mitzvah Gorreret Mitzvah: One Act of Kindness Leads to Another and Another and Another
2. V’ahavtah L’rei-achah Kamokhah: Love Your Friend the Way You Love Yourself
3. Gemilut Chasadim: Acts of Loving Kindness
4. Tzedakah: Charity, Justice, and Righteousness
5. Shalom: Pieces of Peace