Canadian Summer Camp Welcome Respite for Grieving Israeli children in 2024

OneFamily campers at Camp Timberlane, August 2024.

Hundreds of people gathered in the rec hall of Camp Timberlane, in Haliburton, Ont., for a special ceremony on Aug. 9. That night, 39 campers and staff from Israel, who were sent there by an Israeli organization called OneFamily, shared the stories of the loved ones they had lost to war and terror.

It’s a tradition that started over a decade ago. At Timberlane, Friday night means Chapel. After Shabbat dinner, the whole camp congregates in a clearing on the lake to share in a ritual of reflection and gratitude.

Since 2013, the last Chapel of every summer has been dedicated to the OneFamily cohort. Timberlane began hosting these campers in 2006, when five boys and five girls attended the camp’s second session. A contingent has come every year since (except for 2020 and 2021, because of COVID).

OneFamily supports Israelis who lost family members through violence related to war or terror. Over the years, Druze, Bedouin, Muslim and Christian kids, as well as Jewish Israelis, have come to Timberlane.

The OneFamily Chapel always hits hard–but this year, of course, was different. For the first time in the history of the program, the majority of the campers and staff were recently bereaved—as opposed to a typical year, in which only a handful of campers had lost a family member in the previous year. Some of them had lost a family member only a few months before they came to camp.

Even so, all of them wanted to share their stories. During the Chapel, which was held in the camp’s rec hall instead of the usual clearing because of rain, each member of the OneFamily cohort came to the front of the stage and spoke about the loved one, or ones, that they had lost.

They held up photos as a slide show played behind them. After speaking, they would go to light a candle. A few who weren’t as confident in their English asked a staff member to read their story for them.

“In the most recent years, every single kid in some way or another has wanted to share their stories. It’s like a chain reaction. When one kid wants to speak in front of 400, 500 Timberlane campers and staff, others want to,” said Matthew Shoychet, a former Timberlane counsellor who has since dedicated himself to ensuring the success of the program.

“It’s very therapeutic for them to share their stories, to talk about their sister or their brother or their parents.”
In 2006, the first year with this cohort, three 13-year-old boys were placed in Shoychet’s cabin. (Disclosure: the author of this article was among those cabin members.) One of his campers from that summer, Yakir Taranto, is still involved with the program. Taranto joined OneFamily when his brother Moshe was killed in Gaza almost 20 years ago. He has since come back to Timberlane as both a camper and staff member multiple times.

Taranto recently moved to Toronto for the year for work, so he was present at the Aug. 9 Chapel. The camp’s directors spoke about how he had become a part of their family over the years and inducted him to the camp’s wall of fame. Taranto also spoke about how much his experience at Timberlane meant to him and others like him, including this year’s group.

“I am who I am today because of OneFamily. When I was 13, I was part of the first OneFamily group that came to Camp Timberlane. What a summer to remember. This three-week trip changed my life forever. We fell in love with the people of this place and it was the most magical adventure,” he said.

“For me personally, the bonds I’ve created with people here, who became my family over the years, are irreplaceable and I genuinely feel blessed to have them in my life.

“I want you guys to take a look at this amazing OneFamily group that’s here. There are no words to describe how much courage and bravery they have, to leave their families and go to a new place after such loss and horror. For them, for us, it’s not just a fun camp adventure. It’s therapy. It heals us and mostly it makes us feel alive again.”

Even though those involved with the program knew how powerful the session and Timberlane could be for the kids, there were some fears that the trauma from this past year would be too great, says Toby Rosner, executive director for OneFamily Canada. She wasn’t sure that even the usually transformative stay at camp would be able to work its usual magic.

“As a mother, myself, and as a representative of this charity, there are some cases that are harder than others. In the wake of Oct. 7 and the unspeakable atrocities that we’re dealing with here, I worried that there were some cases that may be so tough that we might not be able to provide light for them of the magnitude that we do for other children,” she said.

However, those fears proved to be unfounded. The stay at Timberlane seemed to help even the toughest cases. Rosner and Shoychet both recalled one boy, Niv, a 16-year-old from Kibbutz Be’eri, who lost multiple family members on and after Oct. 7. His grandmother and one of his brothers were killed the day of the attack, while another brother was killed in captivity as a hostage.

When he first got to camp, he seemed understandably sullen and morose, Shoychet said. He would often keep quiet, and when he would speak, he would stutter. Eventually, though, that changed.

After spending some time at camp, the entire group got together at the owner’s cabin and shared their stories. For some of them, it was their first time talking about their losses with new people.

“That really bound them together as one family. It really felt like brothers and sisters. And after that, like the next day, a lot of them told their counsellors that it was so helpful for them just to express themselves.”

Shortly after that meeting, Shoychet remembers seeing a kid who seemed to be ditching his own cabin to join the Israelis’ period.
“Five, six days later, I see this kid on a paddle board laughing and screaming at the other kids and jumping in the water and splashing with the paddle. And I was like, ‘who the hell is that? Why is he with the Israelis, shouldn’t he be with his cabin?’” Shoychet recalled.

The child was Niv. Shoychet didn’t recognize him for two reasons. One, he wasn’t wearing his glasses. And two, he seemed happy.
“He just had a transformation after he had spoken about his story. And every time I would see him, it put a smile on my face,” Shoychet said.

Ben (centre) and Mika (right) Levinson light a candle at Camp Timberlane in memory of their brother Shay who was killed in the fighting on Oct. 7.

While most of the campers and staff spoke alone at the Chapel ceremony, there were a few sets of family members who spoke. One group was Mika and Ben Levinson, who lost their brother Shay. Mika, 14, was younger than Shay, while Ben, 21 was older. Shay died on Oct. 7, but the family didn’t learn that until it was announced in January. The family still does not have his body, which remains in Gaza.

The Levinson brothers had played volleyball with an Arab team. When Shay’s death was announced, an entire Arab village came to his shiva. It’s one of the things that gives Levinson hope in these challenging times. The experience at Timberlane, and seeing what it can do for the campers, is another. And a big part of the experience was sharing their stories at Chapel.

Levinson has sadly become used to sharing his story. He has been part of delegations to London, New York and Berlin advocating for the return of the hostages. It made speaking at Chapel less stressful.

“I’m kind of used to it, to speak in front of the crowd about my brother and about my mission to get him back,” he said.

“So I wasn’t afraid of it. But I was worried about the other [campers telling their] stories. I know their stories, but when they speak about it, it’s different. And when they speak in English, it’s very different. And when you have an audience that is willing to hear the story… it’s heartbreaking.

“A lot of the campers are really brave kids, coming here to Canada by themselves at such a young age, after they got a big trauma, they lost their loved ones, people that were connected to them and growing up with them all their life. The kids are from 13 to 16.

“They came here and decided to speak about it because… we need to deal with this situation. I’m just 21 but I feel like I have a life experience that equals 60 years old. And the same with the kids, because it’s hard to do.”

The OneFamily experience can be hard for all parties.

“It takes a lot out of you, but you just want to give more and more and more,” said Shoychet. “It’s not about giving presents and money. It’s about giving them a space where they feel safe, where they feel comfortable, where they can bond with each other, which is very important because they’re bonding with other kids.

“They all have a dark part of themselves, tragedy. They all have something horrible that’s happened… And so there’s no judgment. If you’re laughing, if you’re crying, if you act out, they all get it. So a big part of it is giving them a space for themselves to bond and make these connections, but also allowing them to have fun, like regular kids.

“Everything they experience, all the memories, all the fun, all the bonds really become a part of them. And you want them to go home feeling rejuvenated with that extra sense of power and that extra, you know, pat on the back to tell them that they can do this. They can get through this or learn how to live with the tragedies that have happened to them.”