Put Rabbi Erin Mason beneath a grove of majestic trees, with the scent of pine in the air and kids laughing, and she is one happy camper.
Well, make that a happy associate director of the Union of Reform Judaism’s Camp Newman.
“Camping is in my blood,” said Mason, 33, a native of Houston who officially took up the position March 1. She is the first rabbi to hold the associate director position at Newman.
“It’s what I want to do. If someone asked me what I would do with a million dollars, I would say, ‘Start a summer camp.’ ”
For now, she’s content with joining the Camp Newman community and living, for the next two months, with her husband, Michael, and son, Zachary, in the rolling hills of Santa Rosa.
Michael, who attended URJ Eisner Camp in Massachusetts, is an educator at Congregation Beth Am in Los Altos Hills. He’s been known to lead a raucous drum circle, Mason said, and also steps in as a song leader at Newman.
When Mason is not at camp for the summer — she and the core staff arrived June 2 and the last campers leave Aug. 21 — she lives with her family in Belmont.
As for day-to-day responsibilities, Mason said no two are the same. She works alongside fellow directors, notably the programs and education directors, who coordinate the unit heads that guide the counselors.
Mason also tackles camper-related issues, which can range from helping an unhappy child have the best possible experience, to training volunteer social workers with Camp Nefesh, a weeklong “camp within a camp” tailored to Jewish kids with autism spectrum disorders.
“Her impact is so wonderful,” said Ruben Arquilevich, the camp’s executive director. “It feels like she’s been part of our team for years. She’s instantly connecting with people and complements our full-time professional team beautifully.”
So far, the highlight of her relatively new gig is working with local and out-of-town clergy from Southern California and Arizona who cycle through the camp on a weekly basis — and watching the kids interact with them.
“It’s so different to see your rabbi up at camp instead of at your synagogue,” Mason said. “It’s been really nice to work with them, get to know them and hear their perspective on camp.”
While Mason is experiencing Camp Newman as a professional, she is no stranger to the campers’ side. At age 10, she spent the first of many summers at URJ Greene Family Camp in Texas, and she went on to hold leadership roles as she grew up. Upon graduating from University of Texas at Austin and before starting a job at a high-tech public relations firm, Mason spent one more summer at camp as an eighth- and ninth-grade unit educator. She was offered the job of assistant director and took it, holding that position for four years.
“The offer made me stop and think about where my life was going,” Mason recalled. “It was because of camp that I initially wanted to be a Jewish educator and rabbi. Now I am both, which is phenomenal.”
She also worked for two years as regional director of North American Federation of Temple Youth’s Texas-Oklahoma region, and directed Gindling Hilltop Camp in Malibu, part of Wilshire Boulevard Temple, for three summers while in rabbinical school at Hebrew Union College–Jewish Institute of Religion in Los Angeles.
Mason applied for the URJ Camp Newman position after completing school in May. She also earned a master’s degree in Jewish education as a Mandel Jerusalem Fellow, an experience that helped her develop leadership skills in fostering educational and social innovation.
At this point, Mason is observing the North Bay camp in action, absorbing its culture and talking to a lot of people. Before she can think about changes, she noted, she needs to know what makes the camp work.
“You have to learn the challenges and successes before you can think about how you want to envision the future,” Mason said. “This is a culture of wanting to learn from and with each other.”
Though she said it’s impossible to rank her position at URJ Camp Newman with others she’s held, Mason is sure about two things: the beauty of the location and the cordial camp community.
“To be an associate director, and have Newman be my congregation and first pulpit is really amazing,” she said. “It’s the best of all worlds.”