MARBLEHEAD — It won't be easy to let it go.
The Jewish Community Center must soon make a decision about Camp Simchah in Middleton, more than 80 acres of fields, pools and structures, a place where more than 200 kids per year have for decades enjoyed the summery outdoors.
Simchah means "happy occasion" in Hebrew, JCC Director Tony Daniels said. Even if it is sold, he said, "There will be a camping experience for the JCC community, a world-class camping experience."
The alternate site is 11 seaside acres in Marblehead — more than 100 Marblehead kids already use that facility each summer. Yet, it is a far cry from the space that offered wilderness hikes, rope climbs and pools in Middleton. Moreover, it might be a symbol of an organization that is shrinking rather than growing and of a world where the worship of exercise and sport threatens to eclipse religion and faith.
Selling the Middleton camp, said Michael Eschelbacher of the JCC board, will be painful. "My kids went there." Yet, the numbers might make it necessary. According to a recent estimate by Board President Stephen Hamelburg, the JCC has lost about 20 percent of its membership, dipping below 6,000 members.
"As a result of economic conditions, there is a discussion of the possibility of selling the center's land," Eschelbacher said. "This is our only potentially saleable asset." The property is surrounded by residential housing, but Eschelbacher, a lawyer who often handles real estate, acknowledges that the market has not been good, leaving the board still more hesitant to deal.
The property is assessed at nearly $2.3 million, but that reflects 2007 values (likely to be higher than today's values) and its use as a camp (likely to bring less value than as residential lots). A decision will come in the next two or three months, Eschelbacher said.
Aggravating the JCC's woes has been the new Lynch/van Otterloo YMCA, a sprawling state-of-the-art facility that has opened to widespread praise, attracting thousands of new members. Some of those members — no one can say exactly how many — are coming from the JCC.
The Y still retains its commitment to Christian principles, said Chris Lovasco, chief operating officer of the North Shore YMCA. But there are no links to any church. Indeed, while his new facility on the Salem/Marblehead line has every sort of exercise machine, there is not a cross to be found on the grounds.
"Not unless it's around someone's neck," Lovasco said.
In other words, Jewish members can go to the YMCA and never be confronted by anything suggesting the Christian religion. While the organization was founded with that sort of openness as a hallmark, Lovasco concedes that the Y is more secular than ever in its history.
Naturally, that has made it easier for Jews to join. Lovasco, who cites an open, cooperative relationship with the JCC, can't say how many have abandoned that organization for his.
Rabbi David Meyer of Temple Emanu-El in Marblehead is a loyal JCC member. He explains the attitude of some in his congregation simply — "I don't have to sweat with Jews. I pray with Jews."
What's more, the door swings both ways when it comes to membership. Certainly, Jewish symbols are in evidence at the JCC, but non-Jewish members are welcomed, and director Tony Daniels estimates that 25 percent to 30 percent are not Jewish.
Meyer recalls exercising there alongside the retired minister of the Old North Church. He applauds that ecumenical spirit but wonders if, in some instances, it hasn't been taken too far. For example, in recent years, the JCC made the controversial decision to open on Saturday morning, a popular time for exercise but also the time when observant Jews are expected to be in temple celebrating the sabbath.
"It is a slippery slope," said Meyer, who is otherwise an optimist about the health of the Jewish community and the JCC. He concedes, however, that any lessening of the Jewish nature of the JCC could backfire. Rather than encouraging more members, Jewish and non-Jewish, it could deprive Jewish members of a key reason for staying loyal to their smaller center.
While recognizing Meyer's concerns, Eschelbacher points out that Daniels, a new director, has made a concerted effort to stress the Jewish character of the JCC.
"I can only speak personally," he said. "I am a child of parents who left Nazi Germany in the late '30s. Some members of my family never got out." In its early days, the JCC was a response to the fact that Jews were barred from non-Jewish clubs and institutions. Those prejudices have faded.
Yet, Eschelbacher indicates, the center continues to be about more than exercise. It teaches Judaism, celebrates Jewish holidays and brings a sense of community to Jewish people.
"The center," he said, "is more than just a physical facility."
