Camp Gesher is part of the labour-Zionist youth movement Habonim Dror

Habonim Dror

Habonim Dror is a Jewish Labour Zionist youth movement formed by the merger in 1982 of the Habonim and Dror youth movements. Habonim Dror's sister movement in Israel is Hanoar Haoved Vehalomed, the Working and Studying Youth.-Ideology:...

 and is a sleep-over summer camp

Summer camp

Summer camp is a supervised program for children or teenagers conducted during the summer months in some countries. Children and adolescents who attend summer camp are known as campers....

 for Jewish youth, near Cloyne

Cloyne, Ontario

Cloyne is a small village in the township of Addington Highlands, Lennox and Addington County, Ontario, Canada. It is located on Ontario Highway 41 about by road north of Kaladar at the crossroads of Highway 41 with Ontario Highway 7, with the settlements of Bishop Corners and Northbrook in...

, Ontario

Ontario

Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....

, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

.

Gesher was formally a Dror camp before the merger of Habonim and Dror in the late 1980s, unlike the other six Habonim Dror camps throughout North America

North America

North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...

, which were Habonim camps. Summers at Gesher are based on the five pillars of Habonim Dror North America. The camp philosophy revolves around socialist ideals and the structure of the camp is similar to that of a kibbutz

Kibbutz

A kibbutz is a collective community in Israel that was traditionally based on agriculture. Today, farming has been partly supplanted by other economic branches, including industrial plants and high-tech enterprises. Kibbutzim began as utopian communities, a combination of socialism and Zionism...

 in Israel

Israel

The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

.

Gesher's logo is Habonim Dror's semel (emblem) which comprises a wheat sheaf in a Star of David

Star of David

The Star of David, known in Hebrew as the Shield of David or Magen David is a generally recognized symbol of Jewish identity and Judaism.Its shape is that of a hexagram, the compound of two equilateral triangles...

, symbolising the roots of the organisation in Labour-Zionism and in building the Kibbutz movement.

The camp runs for seven weeks during the summer and hosts seminars throughout the year. The name Gesher is Hebrew for "bridge."

Age Groups

Campers are divided into groups (kvutsot) as follows:

• Ofarim- post grades 2 & 3
• Amelim- post grade 4
• Chalutzim- post grade 5
• Solelim- post grade 6
• Chotrim- post grade 7
• Bonim- post grade 8
• Bogrim- post grade 9
• MBI(trip to Israel
  Israel
  The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
  
  )- post grade 10
• Madatz(CIT)- post grade 11

Literary references

The Program, a novel by Hal Niedzviecki

Hal Niedzviecki

Hal Niedzviecki is a Canadian novelist and cultural critic.Born into a Jewish family, he was raised in Ottawa, Ontario and Potomac, Maryland, did his undergraduate studies at the University of Toronto and his graduate studies at Bard College...

, takes place in part at Camp Gesher.

External links

• Camp Gesher website
• Habonim Olami – World Habonim
• HDNA – Habonim Dror North America Homepage
• B'tnua – HDNA's movement magazine