700 youths, ages eight to 18, are returning this summer — after a three-year absence — to Camp Newman, a 485-acre tract on Porter Creek Road north of Santa Rosa, partially reborn from the ashes of the Tubbs fire of 2017. Read the wonderful front page feature article in the PD.

MANY of us experienced some of our warmest Jewish moments at camp. Enjoy some of these recent articles about the uniquely American phenomenon of the Jewish overnight camp:

Leading up to the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, Virtual J in partnership with JCC Rockland will stream There Was No Silence, a documentary showing what is being done to bring light and recognition to the 11 members of Team Israel’s 1972 Olympic team who perished. The film will stream live on July 26 at 9 am Eastern and can be watched on-demand after its initial viewing until July 28. (You will need to create a free account to login).

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We've featured it before, but with the Olympics coming, it's a great time to see this very fun doc. The underdog journey of Israel's national baseball team competing for the first time in the World Baseball Classic after years of defeat. Watch free!

Jacob Steinmetz became the first observant orthodox Jew to be drafted into the MLB. Steinmetz, a 6-foot-5, 220-pound pitcher, keeps kosher and observes Shabbat, but he also pitches on the Sabbath. To avoid using transportation on Shabbat, he has booked hotels close enough to games that he can walk. Read on.

The Olympics-bound Team Israel has helped American baseball players get more in touch with their Jewish identities - for the first time, Ty Kelly (who has a Catholic father), was able to turn to some teammates to learn about the Israel-Gaza conflict. Read the moving story.

Marvin Miller, the influential Jewish MLB union chief, will finally get his Hall of Fame induction — on Rosh Hashanah. He changed the sport by transforming the players’ union into a powerhouse - when Miller started, the minimum MLB salary was $7,000 a year; by the time he died in 2012, it was $480,000. Read more about him!

FRIENDSHIP CIRCLE 55+

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80 years ago, Shanghai became a refuge for 20,000 Jews fleeing the Nazis. Thousands of Baghdadi and Russian Jews were already there and, in the 1930s, areas of the city came to resemble the Lower East Side, with kosher butchers, delis and bakeries. Now it's different. There is a new French-Israeli bakery that bakes challah daily. Get Kosher versions of Chinese recipes.