Andrew Guckes | Staff Writer
Jared Sclar was working in Savannah, Georgia, as the recreation director for the JCC when he realized that he was close to his dream job, but not there yet.
“In the summer, I was one of the leaders for the JCC summer camp and so I was thinking, ‘I really just want to find a full-time camp position.’ I also really wanted to be back in the Northeast,” he said. “I grew up in Brooklyn and all my family lives [around] there. I was looking on the (Kaiserman) JCC website, saw this position, applied and all the stars aligned from there.”
Sclar is the new assistant camp director at the Kaiserman JCC in Wynnewood. He has only been here for three months, but he has enjoyed getting to know the community so far. While he is from Brooklyn, he is more used to a Savannah-size Jewish community in a professional sense. He said that, even though he is from New York, the size and nature of Philadelphia’s Jewish community can be daunting.
“In a way, it’s overwhelming, but it’s also something I am used to,” he said. “Growing up, I didn’t really have that Jewish experience [in which I] choose the congregation for myself to go to. So now experiencing that here, there’s just so many avenues to practice Judaism.”
Sclar hasn’t picked which synagogue in the area he is going to belong to, but he is enjoying the process of searching. He said there is one thing that he noticed right away when he got back to the Northeast: The pace of life was more to his speed.
“They call it Slow-vannah for a reason,” he laughed. “I like a fast-paced environment.”
Sclar is so passionate about the Jewish camp experience because his own was so formative. He began attending day camp at age four. As a teen, he served as a counselor. No matter how much time he spent enriching campers’ lives, he wanted to do more.
“I just fell in love with camp. Some of my best memories are from summer camp. I went from 4 and continued every year until I was 14, then I became a counselor. I loved working with the kids, I loved creating those memories for them, [like] I had when I was younger,” he said.
While three months is a short amount of time to make any serious changes, especially considering the three months have been over winter, parents of JCC campers have already been pleased with Sclar’s hiring and vision.
“A lot of parents were really excited when I introduced myself and told them my background. I’ve been working in summer camps for around 10 years now, and I have worked at multiple camps in a lot of different areas,” he said. “People are just excited that I am bringing that experience.”
The JCC operates Camp Kef, a summer day camp that has been running since the early 1970s, and which Sclar will lead. The camp includes programs for children with disabilities and other special needs. Camp Kef had around 700 attendees last summer, with activities ranging from outdoor sports to theater.
“[There are some] special events that we’re having this summer,” he said. “I’m putting together different field trips and activities, and families are pretty excited. There is a lot of cool stuff going on.”
Sclar said that his time in and around camps has shown him that the right mix is a compromise between familiar and novel activities.
“There’s definitely lots to learn with any new position, especially in a completely new area,” he said. “[I have to] adapt to the area and the people and the design of the summer camp as well, while trying to keep the traditions and bring in my own things.”
Sclar is new to Philadelphia, but he is a seasoned camp veteran, and his outlook on community applies everywhere. While he is happy to be in a larger place closer to home, he wants to apply some of the lessons he learned in a small town in the south to his new job in the Philly suburbs.
“Everybody knew each other, and everybody would help each other out,” he said. “If something were to happen to someone within the community, everyone would chip in and help them figure it out.”
