AHUVA & MEIR BALOFSKY

When/how/where at camp did you meet?
We met at Camp Moshava Ennismore in 1995 – she was a CIT and I was a second year staff.  We were just friends for the first summer but the second summer she was a first year staff and I was a unit head.  I specifically asked that my good friend be on my staff/in my unit.  It worked out and that summer I ended up asking her out.

Was it love right away?
No.  Were just friends for the first year and most of the following summer.

What happened between you when camp ended that summer?
She went to Israel for a year in Seminary and I was in University in Toronto.  We did the long distance relationship thing – back before phone calls were free and were still around a dollar a minute.

Will you send your kids to your camp?
Ahuva and I made Aliyah in 2004 with our three children, Moshe, Ariel and Shoshana.  Then for the following summer we ended up applying to go back to camp for the first time since the summer that we got together in 1996.  Long story short, it worked out and we’ve been going back every year since with our children.  Our daughter, having been to camp every summer of her life since she was 1 year old, is finally old enough to be a full session camper this year!

Meir and Ahuva Balofsky were both raised in Toronto and attended Camp Moshava as campers but their paths never really crossed until they met in 1995.   They were married in September of 1997 and both graduated from York University’s Jewish education teacher training program.  They lived in Toronto, teaching in Jewish day schools, and raising their three children until 2004 when they made Aliyah.  Meir currently works for the Israel Experience at Bar Ilan University program as the Informal Education Director and Ahuva teaches at a seminary in Jerusalem as well as teaches English.

Camp and summer romances go hand in hand, and once in a while those early relationships actually go the distance.  We’re rounding up some great stories of young love that blossomed into real life marriage and delivering them to you in a monthly series called Summer Lovin’.

TAMARA LAWSON SCHUSTER & NEAL SCHUSTER 

When/how/where at camp did you meet?
We met on staff at UAHC (now URJ) Camp Swig in Saratoga, CA the summer of 1987. Tamara was the CIT girls’ advisor and Neal was a counselor. We met during staff week.

Was it love right away? What happened between you when camp ended that summer?
Love right away, no, but we connected pretty early into the summer.  It was a summer romance which ended when we left camp and headed back to college in separate cities.  But…just over eight years later, in fall 1995, we reconnected through our jobs. Neal had just relocated to Los Angeles working for NFTY (National Federation of Temple Youth) as a recruiter for youth Israel programs.  Tamara was in her first job post grad school as Director of Education at Temple Beth Torah in Ventura, CA. Neal had to make calls to rabbis and educators to set up group meetings with synagogue teens and their parents. His call to Tamara (whom he knew as Tammy back in the day) went something like the following: “Is this the same Tamara Lawson who used to be known as Tammy at Camp Swig?” And, well, the rest is history. We set up a time in December for Neal to meet with the TBT confirmation families and after the meeting the two of us hung out. By late January 1996 we were dating and, in June, upon Tamara’s return from Camp Swig (where she served on faculty during staff week and for the start of camp) Neal proposed while walking to baggage claim(!) at LAX airport!

Will you send your kids to your camp?
Already do!!!  Our kids (ages 12, 10 and 7) attend URJ Camp Kalsman in Arlington, WA, and we serve on faculty. Yes, we travel to the Seattle area (Neal’s hometown) for camp. Our kids love going to Camp Kalsman with their cousins and we love that camp is still a part of our lives!

Tamara and Neal Schuster were married in May 1997.  Tamara received her MAJE/MAJCS at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion and currently serves as Director of Admissions at Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy (HBHA), a community day school.  Neal graduated from the HUC-JIR rabbinic program in Los Angeles and currently serves as Senior Jewish Educator at University of Kansas Hillel.  They live in Overland Park, KS with their three kids.

Camp and summer romances go hand in hand, and once in a while those early relationships actually go the distance.  We’re rounding up some great stories of young love that blossomed into real life marriage and delivering them to you in a monthly series called Summer Lovin’.

MARSHALL CARROLL and SHARON CHISVIN

When/how/where at camp did you meet?

We met at Camp Massad in Winnipeg Beach, Manitoba, Canada in 1981. I was a cabin counsellor and she was in charge of the counsellor-in-training program. As I unloaded mattresses off the camp van during training session, Sharon said to a friend “That’s the guy I am going to marry.”

Was it love right away?

I certainly noticed Sharon right away and during Israeli dancing, I would try to be paired up with her. She also took my hat during the “hat song.” At the second Rock & Roll Dance, we danced to Don’t You Want Me (by The Human League) together. We were then chosen to work together as Rosheem (heads) for Maccabia (color war). Even though our team, Ochel (Food) lost, we won!

What happened between you when camp ended that summer?

We continued dating and got married four years later on June 6, 1985.

Will/did you send your kids to your camp?

We did. All three of our children attended Camp Massad for many years. Our eldest, Samara, was the Menahelet (camp director) for the past two years. Our middle child, Niri, was also on the senior administration. Our youngest, Gilad, is on the senior administration this year.

Marshall Carroll, 50, and Sharon Chisvin, 53, were both born in Winnipeg, Canada and have lived there most of their lives. He is a high school science teacher and sessional university lecturer. He went to Camp Massad from 1972-1984 (excluding 1983 when he volunteered on a Kibbutz). He is currently a lifetime Massad board member and the webmaster for the camp’s website. He is also a songwriter, actor and icebreaker workshop leader as well as Canada’s 4th Smartest Person. Sharon is a journalist, oral historian, and fiction writer. Her published work includes the children’s picture book “The Girl Who Cannot Eat Peanut Butter” and the social history “Our Musical Heritage: A Century of Jewish Music in Winnipeg.” She attended Camp Massad from 1969-1976, and 1981-1982 and is the past president of the camp’s board of directors.