A Smile Goes A Long Way

As you all know, the Camp Judaea (CJ) community has had a huge impact on the Perez family - what makes it so strong are the people we meet and the friendships we make along the way. In August, Nicole wrote an article A Smile Goes a Long Way , and through her beautiful words, we read her fear and gratitude surrounding her family. This Summer, while facing the imminent loss of their father, she was grateful for the comfort her children found in the counselors who had been so personally affected by the Surfside tragedy. That there is in fact hope beyond deep loss, and that CJ can be a place to heal. Last month, Isaac z”l passed away and the CJ community has wrapped their arms around Nicole, Leah and Eli.

“I think I finally got the answers to my prayers. Yes, my children will be resilient; yes, the smiles will return; yes, they will have many shoulders to lean on when they will need it; and no, my kids will not go through life’s challenges alone. Their camp family goes beyond their eda (age group), it will be any person that at one point or another was part of the Young Judaea movement. They will be surrounded by love because that is what we do as a CJ family.”

Sustaining these Young Judaea connections are more important than ever. We have set up a donation page for Eli and Leah to continue their YJ journey. Leah is registered for Year Course (2022-2023) and Eli is registered for TY this summer. We hope the community can come together in this way to ensure that Leah and Eli can be supported in the magic that is Young Judaea.

With love,
CJ Friends of Nicole Zeligman Perez