JORI assistant director: Why would he go anywhere else?

Aaron Guttin with Camp Director Deb Salinger. /PHOTO | ARIEL BROTHMAN

There is something special about joining a long-standing family legacy. Last summer, 26-year-old Aaron Guttin joined his family’s legacy when he took on the role of assistant director at Camp JORI. The Guttin family has played key roles at the Jewish summer camp for three generations, sharing Jewish values and providing a place for campers to grow and have fun, and Aaron says he is excited to do the same.

It all started with his grandfather, who was the head counselor at JORI during World War II. While his brothers had been drafted, Aaron’s grandfather couldn’t fight because he had diabetes. When the Army requested that he help his country in an alternative way, he decided to work at the camp and help take care of the kids whose parents were part of the war effort. After Aaron’s grandfather came Aaron’s mother, Ronni Saltzman-Guttin, who was the camp’s director for 20 years, until the summer of 2015.

Before he accepted his role, however, Aaron put in a lot of time at JORI. He has been involved with the camp professionally for 10 years. During many of those years, he would save up his sick and vacation days in the off-season so he could work at JORI in the summers. While he also spent much of his life as a JORI camper, he says his first true acquaintance with the camp was when he was just 4 years old. 

“I started quite literally as the staff kid who was annoying everybody,” Aaron says of his first experiences at JORI, “and now here I am making sure that the staff kids don’t annoy everybody.”

While that is certainly one of Aaron’s duties, it actually catches the essence of Aaron’s main role, which is basically ensuring that all who are involved in the camp are feeling happy and safe. Aaron also oversees all of the programs and organizes many of them as part of the directing team. His philosophy focuses a lot on the concept of providing experiential learning.

“The term ‘experiential learning’ is thrown around a lot, especially in the Jewish world,” he says. “My view of Jewish education is to meet people where they are.” He continues to give examples of how Jewish education and values can be infused into a variety of activities that aren’t necessarily Jewish, including carpentry and swimming. “I can infuse Judaism into anything. That is pertinent and clear at JORI; kids learn about Judaism and don’t even realize it.”

Aaron’s philosophy has been shaped by a number of experiences, including many leadership experiences outside of JORI. Aaron was the youth coordinator at Temple Emanu-El and the director of Jewish life at URI Hillel, among other positions.

JORI has its own leadership program, which Aaron hopes to further develop. Campers who will enter 9th and 10th grades in the fall learn about putting together and running programs. They also travel outside of camp once a week and act as representatives for JORI. While they are still primarily campers, the goal is to give them a greater sense of responsibility and to learn about becoming good role models. Aaron hopes that this program, along with the camp’s waterfront, will become “the gems of JORI.”

Aaron says that his experiences at camp are what led him to where he is today.

“The reason I’m in Jewish professional work was because of my Jewish experience at camp,” he says. “I thought I was going to be a teacher, then I thought I was going to rabbinical school, but things changed. I don’t think I could have it any other way.”

ARIEL BROTHMAN is a freelance writer who lives in Wrentham, Massachusetts.