Ready or not, the pandemic summer of 2020 has begun. As parents across the country scramble to find ways to招待他们的孩子在这个时候这么多的夏天营地被关闭, some Jewish families found a ready-made solution: neighborhood “backyard camps” that have long been popular in many Orthodox Jewish communities.
每年夏天，全国各地和细心的犹太人社区,尤其是——包括neighborhoods in and around New York and Chicago — unofficial backyard summer camps are a fixture for young children. The formula is simple: A few families get together and pool resources in order to keep a small group of kids safe and entertained at a fraction of the cost of传统夏令营。
诚然，没有骑马或射箭课。但是，嘿，尤其是对孩子，洒水车，泡沫，粉笔，以及大量的零食都是真的需要到招待年轻的孩子们。Local teens — often older siblings to the campers — typically serve as the “counselors” for these informal groups; among observant Jewish communities, these teens are often used to looking after numerous younger siblings.
当然，在很多方面，非正式育儿集体are nothing new — after all, since the dawn of humankind, families (and mothers and daughters, in particular) have banded together for the collective care of their offspring. What seems to set these Orthodox Jewish groups apart is the fact that they address needs specific to observant families: gender-separated activities,kosher food, and an atmosphere that maintains a high level of modesty.
诚然，任何社会 - 任何宗教的，在任何地方 - 可以在几户联合起来，聘请一个保姆，并称之为“安营扎寨”。但是，这些安排中特别常见Orthodox Jewishcommunities, likely because members tend to live in close proximity to one another and share a deep sense of communal responsibility. These families often have a lot of children, greatening the need for economical alternatives to traditional camps. What’s more, when it comes to staffing these groups, Orthodox Jewish high schools typically have steepchesed（“仁慈”）要求：青少年有责任做了一定的社区服务项目每年，许多这些孩子跑后院阵营，以此来满足他们的要求。
今年，有这么多的夏令营冠状由于关门大流行，越来越多的正统家庭为年龄较大的孩子打造“后院阵营”也是如此。尽管有潜在的不利因素，以这种安排 - 即可能扩散Covid-19— for many families, the benefits of these informal, mostly outdoor camps outweigh the risks.
Beila — not her real name — recently graduated from her Orthodox girls’ high school in Chicago. She was planning on working at her local JCC as a lifeguard andswim teacherthis summer, as she has for the past four years. But this year,游泳池is closed.
因此，相反，贝拉决定组织活动，为女中学生。“我姐姐的阵营被取消了，”她说。“我妈妈需要娱乐为她我在看她的朋友们。”按照伊利诺伊州公共健康指南, they only meet outdoors, face masks are required for all, and she’s capped her group at 10 participants — which meant she had to turn several families away.
当谈到在这些营地的兴趣，“有一定的上扬，”贝拉的妈妈观察。
启动临时营地之前，贝拉的妈妈检查与他们儿科医师, who confirmed the reduced risk of transmission so long as the kids are outdoors. The only time the girls will be inside is when they have to use the bathroom, and all of them will be taught proper usage and cleaning techniques in order torisk any potential spread病毒的。
在这些宗教的犹太社区，成员之间紧密的债券增加孩子们的安全集体责任感。“我知道所有的家庭，”贝拉的妈妈解释 - 呼应的情绪，很多人告诉本报记者。这种亲密关系使得它更容易为家庭互相信任并认真极限组小number of familieswho take social distancing seriously.
Still, even with safety precautions in place, many parents have concerns about letting their kids socialize with other children. “We haven’t left the house since March,” explains Shaina (not her real name), a新泽西妈妈谁是她的决定，她12岁的儿子送到她家附近的一个营地后院过痛苦。“我的父亲普林后去世from Covid。”
Shaina，也有潜在的健康问题，她害怕让她对病毒更敏感。但她的儿子，谁曾计划参加一个犹太人宿营, hasn’t seen a soul since March. “I don’t think it’s a perfect solution,” she says about her son’s new summer plans, “but I hope it’s okay because our [Covid-19] numbers are down here.” At her son’s camp — run by a college student who is home for the summer —sports，游戏，骑自行车都在议程组的八分，九的男生。
“我当时有点担心，”相呼应Batsheva（化名），在芝加哥，其18岁的儿子，本雅明的以色列出生的妈妈，正在运行为自己13岁的弟弟和一个后院阵营他朋友。“但是，我更担心的是我的孩子坐在计算机整天。My little son is sitting all day looking at his computer; for three months we were sitting — we need to get out.”
Binyamin is used to working with kids: He previously worked as a营counselor and he was supposed to lead the sports program at a Jewish summer camp this year. The camp didn’t open, so instead, he decided to volunteer his time: “I’ll do my own camp,” he says. “I saw my brother playing on his computer a lot, and thought maybe [I’d] get him active. I want to让孩子们开心并向他们展示体育运动的热爱“。
需求是如此之高，对本雅明的服务，他只好转身离开家庭，他说。就像在东正教社会运行的后院阵营其他十几岁，他知道参赛的所有家庭。这有助于家庭感到安全送他们的子女，认识到其他人正在社会距离严重了。“我们尽我们所能，距离，”他补充说，他的费用消毒双手在他们两个小时的会议，每天数次。“这是相当不错的。”
Talia, not her real name, a 20-year-old college student in suburban Chicago, has worked as a counselor at a Jewish summer camp for two years. When her camp didn’t open this summer, she decided to put her camp-counselor skills to good use: She’s running an informal camp for a small group of girls who were planning on bunking together at an overnight camp. The girls’ parents pay her a保姆率观赏和娱乐他们的孩子。
At Talia’s “camp,” they do something different every day. Recent projects have included arts and crafts and making blankets for a localnursing home。她的露营者的家属感到足够舒适，他们已经扩大了他们的social distancingbubbles to include one another. As such, the group alternates between four houses: they can build bonfires at a firepit at Talia’s parents’ home, watch movies at another’s, and one camper’s house even has a pool.
无论所提供的设施，这样的集体，we're-所有功能于本在一起的精神，是一个教训，其他社区可能要效仿。我们都设法解决方式安全地扩展我们quarantine bubblesin order to allow our kids some semblance of夏日狂欢, “backyard camps” might offer a solution to help children safely socialize and enjoy this season.
通过A-数字/ Getty图像的图像
