By Simona Lewis, 2026 Rosh Hevrah
To step into the role of Hevrah Rosh this summer was an honor. Thinking back to my time as a Hevrah camper in 2018, I couldn’t help but be overjoyed at the opportunity to impact these campers’ lives and help develop their relationship with social justice and Tikkun Olam. I spent the months leading up to the summer connecting with recent Hevrah Rashim and reaching out to Hevrah alumni to collect stories and memories from their time in Hevrah and the continued impact that summer has had for them. I quickly settled on Immigration for this summer’s theme – immigration has been central to the history of the Jewish people, and as a Jew, I felt that exploring this connection while analyzing the issues families are facing in America today surrounding immigration was a vital perspective for Hevrah to explore this summer.
We opened the session with the stories I’d collected from past Hevrahniks and the letters that Hevrah ‘25 had written to this year’s class, grounding the campers in the long legacy of this wonderful program. I watched the campers’ excitement grow for the journey ahead as they read about the lasting relationships that have been borne out of this session in the past and the pride past campers felt in their ability to leave an impact on today’s world.
As I continued to craft the trajectory of the session, I was brought back to my time in Hevrah in 2018. The time I spent in my Educational Programming and Tefillah task forces were certainly the start in a long chain of events that led me to being a Rosh Eidah all these years later; having the opportunity to recreate these opportunities and later observe the joy campers got leading educational programming and tefillah for their peers was especially l’dor v’dor-able. In addition to Educational Programming and Tefillah, campers worked on planning the Hevrah Festival, a day where campers shared their work with their parents and other teen campers.
One of the most memorable days of Hevrah this summer was our Volunteering and Community Education off-site where we visited Graton Day Labor Center, Elisha’s Pantry, and Secure Families Collaborative – organizations that work directly with immigrants and their families, helping connect them with resources, food, and work opportunities. I watched campers begin to grasp the day-to-day reality for immigrants on a deeper level and to really digest the importance of welcoming immigrants into their communities.
Of course, Project Day was an even more memorable day. Campers lobbied at the California Capitol for the bills they’d spent the last few weeks learning about, engaging with lawmakers about the aspects of the bills that they found to be particularly compelling and important. My staff and I were incredibly proud, watching these campers’ hard work pay off right before our eyes. Each camper walked away with a deeper knowledge of our government and what lobbying looks like, excited to get involved with their communities at home.
As I reflect on the summer, I keep coming back to our pre-siyum song, “Crowded Table” by The Highwomen. The chorus reads “I want a house with a crowded table and a place by the fire for everyone” – I watched the campers embody this mindset each day as they made space for each other and fought for a world where everyone is truly welcome. From becoming peer-leaders, raising awareness within the camp community, leading Shabbat tefillot, to lobbying at the capitol and engaging with immigrant-facing organizations in the community, I watched these campers pour their hearts into their bills, their work, and each other every day. I am in awe of the community these campers built and can’t wait to see how it continues to grow in years to come; hopefully one day it lands in a Hevrah Rosh’s questionnaire asking about the impact Hevrah has had on their lives.