Interview with a Jewish Scout Leader
We love talking with members of our Jewish community who are doing interesting things. Today we talked with Jeffrey Gordon, one of the founders of Cub Scout Pack 613 at Temple Beth Or (TBO), about what it means to bring scouting to the Jewish community.
Q: How long have you lived in the area?
I moved from the Chicago area to Raleigh in 1998 after I finished law school. Today I am the Senior Director of Procurement and Vendor Management at the GOAT Group.
Q: What is your history with scouting?
I was a Cub Scout as a child, and we used to have den mothers. Two and a half years later, after our den cycled through all of the mothers and my mom didn’t want to be a den leader, I stopped being in Scouts. Fast forward 40 years later, my older child was going into 1st grade. My wife expressed a desire to have him join Scouts. Her brother is an Eagle Scout and she was a Girl Scout. My knowledge was limited, but remembering the importance of parental involvement from my youth, I decided that if my child was going to be involved, I was going to jump in head first. We started a Pack at my wife’s church and I became Cubmaster. It’s been seven years, and I am now the Committee Chair for two Packs, including at TBO, an Assistant Scoutmaster at my older son’s Troop, and an Assistant District Commissioner for the NorthStar District. Volunteering is critical for Scouting’s success and I’m passionate about the mission.
Q: Why did you start a pack at TBO?
Generally, Scouting is a neighborhood activity. Parents and their children don’t travel more than a few miles to participate in Scouting. If you want to serve all youth, you need Scout units scattered all over the place. Historically, in this area, it’s been a lot of religious organizations that have volunteered to serve as a chartering organization—a non-profit organization that typically has a physical space where the Pack can meet. As a result of those constraints, opportunities are limited. I’m a member of TBO, and I had been working with Executive Director Hilary Lamb, and she knew I was in Scouting. We got to talking about why there wasn’t a Jewish unit. We didn’t have any answers, but we had the opportunity for a solution.
Q: What kinds of activities does Pack 613 do?
We are all about being outside, and getting dirty! We love camping, making Pinewood Derby cars, biking, and hiking. We are about outdoor skills and learning to be self-sufficient. It’s “fun with a purpose.” Cub Scouts, specifically, is all about fun! The learning happens by osmosis through having fun. Let’s go outside and take a walk to see what’s going on in nature. Let’s go camping and find out what it means to put up a tent and cook over fire. But we can also accommodate kids with all interests. If your kid likes video games or science, there’s also an adventure for that. Scouts in North Carolina especially have a huge fascination with gaga. They don’t know it’s an Israeli game!
Q: What makes Pack 613 Jewish?
We created a unit that wasn’t exclusively Jewish, but Jewish-focused. Jews of all types can participate, and their needs won’t be ignored. For example, the LDS Church used to have a huge number of Scout units and all LDS boys were required to go through scouting as a leadership program. Like Judaism, LDS practices have restrictions. Having an LDS unit meant that they could operate more smoothly within the limitations of that religion. We wanted to provide the same thing for Jewish kids. How do you go camping with a group that might not all be keeping kosher, but you do? What if you would like a Havdalah service? Rather than making a Jewish Scout feel like an exception, they can be their authentic self in this unit without exception. We aren’t excluding anyone, and we have non-Jewish scouts, but we are clear that we have a Jewish lean.
I think the Scout Oath and Scout Law have a lot of parallels with basic Jewish teachings. Where we focus our energy is not necessarily on how there’s a difference in being a Jewish Scout—it’s that there is no difference. As a scout, we are part of a larger community.
One of the core tenets of scouting is duty to G-d. Each Cub Scout rank has a Duty to G-d requirement, and those requirements get progressively more involved. There’s also a religious emblem that is a very high honor for a Scout to earn, one of two that a Cub Scout can earn and wear on their uniform for the rest of their lives. The emblem program is religion-specific. As you can imagine, the emblem offered at a Church is going to be based on that Church’s denomination, which means that Jewish Scouts would have to go out of their way to participate - and many don’t. As a Jewish Pack, however, we offer this as part of our annual program. Again, it’s a way of being ourselves in the context of a larger world.
Q: What do you want people to understand about this troop?
We are open to all flavors of Judaism. We don’t proselytize a specific denomination of Judaism, and we are respectful of everyone’s beliefs. We are here and we are looking forward to serving Jewish youth. We are also looking for volunteers willing to participate. These are generally adults with children, but we would welcome Jewish Eagle Scouts.
At the end of the day, though, we want to serve the youth in our community the best way that we can, and grow to be strong and vibrant.
Q: Where can people go for more information?
Our Fall Recruiting Roundup is on Sunday, September 11. It will be from 12:30-2:30pm at TBO. We are going to have food and games, and parents can ask questions while their kids are doing fun stuff. Our pack is co-ed, so girls are welcome to join too! For more information, you can e-mail me at jigordon@gmail.com or visit ncpack613.org