The Rebbe's Message
From a talk of the Rebbe to the children of Camp Gan Israel in New York
“Our camp is called "Gan Israel." "Israel" is the name of all Jews; all Jews are included in this name. This was also the personal name of the great saintly man who was the first to reveal the teachings of Chassidism to the world, for his name was Rabbi Israel - Baal Shem Tov.
There is added emphasis to the above for children who attend Camp Gan Israel. The word Gan means, "garden." In his last discourse, the Previous Rebbe explained how the world is G-D's garden, a place that grants Him pleasure as He watches fruits grow. Gan Israel means "a garden for Jews," a place where Jews grow, a place intended to help Jewish children grow up as Jews.
When Rabbi Israel Baal Shem Tov was still a child of five years old, his father said to him: "My son, have no fear from any one, except G‑d. Love every Jew, whoever he may be and however he may be, with all the Fire of your soul!"
These two things — the Rebbe said — that is, fear of G‑d and love of our fellow man, accompanied Rabbi Israel Baal Shem Tov throughout his life and was the guiding force to his holy work.
The lesson for every one of us, including, of course, the children, is namely, that these two things should be the guiding light to show us our way throughout our lives.
Finally, there is one rule that should always be remembered, and which the Rebbe's father said to him when he was a boy of four: G‑d gave man two eyes, so that at toys and candies he should look with his left eye (with little favor), but at every Jew he should look with his right eye (with love), to see the good that is in him".
The main message and focus of the Chasidic philosophy is: love to our fellow man without differentiating between colors, race and level of observance.
With this in mind, the Rebbe founded the first Camp Gan Israel in New York. There are now over 400 camps with over 150,000 children attending worldwide in the Chabad Lubavitch network of Jewish day and overnight camps.
This message of love & harmony between all human kind, our people & our holy land Israel, is the theme of Chabad Lubavitch worldwide and is strongly reflected in the values that guide our camp.