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, making it the oldest Jewish boys' camp in New England.Jewish Camping and Summer Programs retrieved on May 4, 2008A Parent's Guide to Jewish Day and Overnight Camps retrieved on May 4, 2008
History Camp Avoda was established in early 1927 by the Young Men's Hebrew AssociationReckford, Laura. Frommer's Cape Cod, Nantucket & Martha's Vineyard 2008. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley Publishing, (2008), p. 109. 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.
Organization 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 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.
Traditions Nearly all counselors were once Avoda campers and successful graduates of the Avoda Counselor-in-Training (C.I.T.) program.
4th of July Celebration 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 . 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 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.
Tournaments 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 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 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.
Color War Record
Year Winning team Losing team 1972 White Patriots General Carl Rottersman Captain Jon Bamel, Arthur Mendelsohn Blue Braves General Steven Woolf Captain George Brockman 1973 White Cougars General Bobby Gilberg Captain Neil Sandler Blue Brigade General Danny Bauman Captain Steven Bender 1974 Blue Israelites General Robbie Coppel Captain Phil Lukoff White Cobras General Brad Barry Captain Gary Epstein 1975 White Wizards General Robbie Coppel Captain Jerry Gordon Blue Tide General Mike Katz Captain David Bamel 1976 Blue Rockets General George Brockman Captain Robbie Satloff White Eagles General Robbie Coppel Captain Bruce Bender 1977 Blue Destroyers General Stuart Bram Captain Ken Sandberg White Kings General David Goodman Captain Mike Ross 1978 White Cosmos General Eric Yaffe Captain Glen French Blue Diamonds General Phil Lukoff Captain Gary Greenstein 1979 White Warriors General David Bamel Captain Neil Schneider Blue Cyclones General Mitch Rubin Captain David Snider 1980 White Avodians General Paul Kleinmann Captain Richie Mintzer Blue Aztecs General Robert Satloff Captain Evan Yampolsky 1981 White Sabres General Steve Aronson Captain Bruce French Blue Galaxy General Steve Camiel Captain Paul Simon 1982 Blue Sting General Mike Roth Captain Alex Sherman White Warlords General Steve Aronson Captain Mike Saperstein 1983 White Falcons General David Snider Captain Richard I Lefkowitz Blue Dragons General Mike Rutstein Captain Jon Lee 1984 Blue Express General Evan Yampolsky Captain Lee Kaiser White Magic General Andy Stone Captain Larry Gold 1985 Blue Demons General Paul Simon Captain Jon Feldman White Spray General Mark Solomon Captain Danny Gold 1986 White Spartans General Peter Spider Lebowitz Captain Josh Camire Blue Crusade General David Wertheim Captain Brett Smith 1987 White Cougars General David Wertheim Captain Jimmy Sklaver Blue Pythons General Gary Solomon Captain Stu Glasser 1988 Blue Shadow General Jay Yampolsky Captain Adam Kaufman White Lightning General Russell Katz Captain Jon Cohen 1989 Blue Storm General Mark Glovin Captain Ariel Waldman White Raiders General Ken Shifman Captain Brian Malamut 1990 White Panthers General Ken Shifman Captain Jake Farquharson Blue Stampede General Russell Katz Captain Bobby Zuker 1991 Blue Scorpions General Jeff Blocker Captain Aaron Katz White Knights General Andy Spear Captain Josh Kaswell 1992 White Empire General Stu Glass Captain Spencer Kimball Blue Assault General David Wilcov Captain Darryl Malamut 1993 Blue Sharks General Jeremy Agulnek Captain Jason Kurtz White Heat General Ricky Hyman Captain Jeremy Steckel 1994 Blue Predators General Jeremy Agulnek Captain Dan Gold_Pitegoff White Seminoles General Ricky Hyman Captain Scott Bookman 1995 Blue Devils General Jeff Vetstein Captain Sam Chates White Wolves General Bobby Zuker Captain Adam Hatch 1996 Blue Grizzlies General Jeremy Agulnek Captain Josh Schneider White Wildcats General Mark Sokoloff Captain Jesse Fanuiel 1997 Blue Justice General Jeff Vetstein Captain Greg Lazaroff White Bulldogs General Ken Freeman Captain Jon Ostroff 1998 White Vipers General Spencer Kimball Captain Josh Damm Blue Rebels General Aaron Agulnek Captain Dave Pratter 1999 White Force General Eric Levy Captain Matt Aschaffenburg Blue Tide General EJ Kimball Captain Matthew Chella 2000 Blue Dynasty General Spencer Kimball Captain Sam Glick White Warriors General Dave Brown Captain Dave Kivowitz 2001 White Lions General Barry Morgan Captain Josh Coran Blue Terror General Adam Miller Captain Sawyer Emmer 2002 Blue Gladiators General EJ Kimball Captain Steve Mendelsohn White Patriots General Josh Schneider Captain Brian Norcross 2003 Blue Giants General Adam Miller Captain Matt Glick White Titans General Greg Lazaroff Captain Jared Shalek 2004 Blue Buccaneers General Adam Miller Captain Benny Bershad White Outlaws General Evan Traiger Captain Jonathan Katz 2005 Blue Mafia General Todd Miller Captain Justin Lukoff White Tigers General Mike Pemstein Captain Cory Schneider 2006Blue Venom General Sawyer Emmer Captain Eli RodriguesWhite Dragons General Mike Pemstein Captain Sam Brenner 2007Blue Animals General Dan Gollinger Captain Eddie BernsonWhite Spartans General Erik Silevitch Captain Sascha Bercovitch 2008White Phantoms General Matt Norcross Captain Jason HefterBlue Army General David Fine Captain Brendan Hefter 2009Blue Monsters General Adam Rubin Captain Paul SockolWhite Mustangs General Jonny Singer Captain Brandon Banker 2010White Assassins General Cory Finkelman Captain Marc GleasonBlue Heroes General Ethan Gurwitz Captain Sam Watman 2011Blue Barbarians General Richard Katz Captain Harrison BamelWhite Legends General Josh Coran Captain Jake Alexander 2012White Mercenaries General Ben Rubin Captain Drew LukoffBlue Gators General Eddie Bernson Captain Benji Satloff 2013Blue Goblins General Jason Hefter Captain Ben ShaleWhite Prophets General Jacob Dennis Captain Louis Yarmolinsky 2014Blue Vikings General Joey Sherman Captain Abe WatmanWhite Chiefs General Jacob Dennis Captain Dan Chafetz 2015White Olympians General Sam Watman Captain Eli SabinBlue Apes General Louis Douglas Captain Max Waltzman 2016White Villains General Jared Fixler Captain Ross HalpernBlue Bears General Louis Douglas Captain Zac Roth2017Blue Wizards General Joshua Cohen Captain Sam WaltzmanWhite Royals General Drew Lukoff Captain Nate Goldberg2018Navy Seals General Abe Watman Captain Adam AlterWhite Avengers General Wes Fixler Captain Sawyer Busny2019Blue Anarchy General Shay Wenglin Captain Charlie ZukerWhite Jaguars General Ty Goldstein Captain Michael Shnidman Jr.2021White Avalanche General Jay Blumenfeld Captain Jason KarasBlue Conquerors General Max Waltzman Captain Cole Busny2022Blue Demons General Nate Goldberg Captain Matt BrayerWhite Armada General Ethan Shifman Captain Jacob Demeo2023White Huskies General Owen Sherman Captain Ryan JacobyBlue Bandits General Max Kleinmann Captain Jonah Bramson2024Blue Revolution General Charlie Zuker Captain Zack LeibmanWhite Flames General Alex Shifman Captain Danny Karas2025White Mavericks General Jason Karas Captain Micah GladstoneBlue Wolverines General Charlie Zuker Captain Jake Paltrowitz2026White Pirates General Griffin Bloomstein Captain Hillel GoldbergBlue Titans General Jason Karas Captain JD Feldman
Alumni Association