Camp Blog

Tuesday – CHUTZ day 1

DATE: August 10, 2022

This morning we learned about Ramba”n – famous Rabbi of Barcelona in the 13th century. At this point in Spain, the Christians had overthrown the Muslims, and in 1263, King James I of Aragon organized a public debate between Judaism and Christianity. The debate took place in the king’s palace in Barcelona in the presence of the king himself. Representing the church was a Jewish convert to Christianity named Pablo Christiani. The Ramban was asked by the king to represent the Jewish faith. In the 1240 Trial of the Talmud, which we studied last week, the Christians sought to shut down the Talmud and Jewish text, while here they were using those very Jewish texts to prove their point and undermine Jewish beliefs. Although Ramba”n wins the disputation, he loses the war between Christians and Jews in Medieval Christian Spain. The Talmud was censored (although not burned!) and the Ramban was forced to flee to Eretz Yisrael as a result of the fear of retribution.

Well, for all of you who know Camp Stone – this was a slam dunk in terms of “a breakout” for the Chutz. As the chanichim gathered around the Aruchat Eser snack, we all watched the showdown between Ramba”n and Pablo Christiani – right here in Machane! And the unfortunate sad ending was that although Ramba”n won the disputation, Jews were exiled…to the CHUTZ!

Madrichim and Madrichot helped their campers pack for a two day Chutz, and then everyone headed out. The hike to the Chutz takes about 15 minutes, so we were relocated in no time! Everyone began setting up the Gilrs’ campus and the Boys’ Campus, hanging up hammocks and building a tether ball, a mechitza, swings and collecting wood for their fire pits. Eidah Daled is in charge! Each fire pit has a mix of all ages and is basically run by the 4-6 Eidah Daled campers in that group (a plugah). There are a few madrichim in each group too but mainly for “adult supervision” 🙂 This is really Eidah daled’s time to shine!

The afternoon flew by and before we knew it, we were starting fires for dinner and grilling hot dogs and corn… Night tochnit: movie projected onto a screen, with the help of a generator. And the sky was beauitful and full of stars. Special thanks to Rav Benji Shiller who guided campers through some meaningful and awesome star-gazing with a telescope we have in Machane for this occasion! Anyone who looked up, and was guided to understand,  was able to see Jupiter and Saturn!

In other very special news: Camp Stone is hosting Rav Moshe Licntenstein and his wife, Dr. Michal Lichtenstein. Rav Moshe is Rosh Yeshiva at Yeshivat Har Etzion in Gush Etzion (otherwise lovingly referred to as “the Gush”) Our chanichim were taught to stand for a Talmid Chacham and, this morning, when HaRav Lichtenstein and his wife were introduced in the Chadar Ochel, everyone stood and started singing a song many sing in the presence of a talmid chacham – ימים על ימי מלך תוסיף… This was an unforgettable  experience.  Rav Moshe taught some tzevet this morning during their shiur time, and he gave another shiur at the Chutz this afternoon,  which 90 members of hadracha and tzevet attended. This is a very special opportunity for us and we are grateful for their visit.

Machal is in DC area for the next few days. They began with visiting a few monuments/memorials and then had a fun dodgeball game, followed by an ice cream party!

Registration for summer 2025 opens 10/1/24 for returning families, 11/1/24 for new families.

Please contact Randi Mashmoor with any questions at:

or 440-465-5486. Thank You!

All Meet the Director events have been postponed until further notice. Thank you.

Staff application opens on 11/17.

New camper application opens on 11/1. Returning campers can register now.

Available positions for Summer 2024 are very limited! Click on the button below to apply.

We are no longer accepting applications from current 11th graders.

For questions, please email:

Registration for summer 2023 is now closed. There are a few select spots remaining.
Please contact Randi Mashmoor at:

or 440-465-5486. Thank You!

About the Chanukah Raffle

Dear Camp Stone Community,

It is an incredible feeling to reconnect with everyone once again at the beginning of our 2021 camp season.

We are writing to you today, first and foremost, to express tremendous gratitude.

Hakarat HaTov, literally “recognizing the good”, is an important and fundamental principle in our community. We, at Camp Stone, want to express our Hakarat HaTov to everyone receiving this email for your unwavering support, especially this past summer. Whether you provided financial assistance through your donated tuition dollars, participated in Indoor World, or connected with the Camp Stone community in other ways, together we had an incredibly successful, albeit different, summer experience.

There is no substitute for being in Sugar Grove, Pennsylvania, and this summer, B’ezrat Hashem, we will be back at Camp Stone, in person, in full force.

To achieve that goal, we must continue to ensure the financial success of our home away from home that we all know and love so deeply. The logo on top, featuring the slogan “Stone. Forever.” also features a Ner Tamid, an “eternal flame.” The year 1969, etched into the logo, is the year camp was founded. Symbolically, the overall image represents the idea that Camp Stone began many years ago and must endure forever, always burning brightly, and always an integral part of our collective conscience.

On that note, we are excited to announce that our annual Chanukah Campaign will be a raffle taking place over all 8 nights of Chanukah with prizes for both campers and parents/alumni!!

Please go back to the web page  to purchase raffle tickets and help us achieve 100% participation from our entire camp community!

Looking forward to being in touch with all of you in the near future.

Sincerely,

Yakov & Estee, Co-Directors