By Zvi Hershcovich – Bill613.com
One of the largest trampoline centres in the Montreal area is not allowing Jewish day camps to set up reservations this summer, citing “misbehavior in past years.”
Rabbi Levi Raskin, director of Camp Ohr Menachem for Chabad of Cote St Luc, has sent his younger campers to Acrosport Barani for the past few years, and instructed his secretary to call Barani and set up a reservation.
The girl who answered the phone immediately asked if the day camp was Jewish. When informed that it is, she told the secretary that “we are not taking Jewish camps this year.”
Shocked, the secretary hung up.
Rabbi Raskin then phoned Acrosport Barani and recorded the conversation, where he was informed that his camp would not be allowed to make a reservation at the trampoline centre because they are Jewish. When asked for the reason, the girl replied: “you people misbehaved in past years.”
Bill613.com called Acrosport Barani for comment and were put on hold. When the girl returned she responded that she only speaks French. After asking for her again in French, she placed us on hold once more and then gave us another number to call.
The number went to iSaute, Acrosport Barani’s competition in Laval.
Whether the management of this place is or isn’t bigoted is a moot point. Businesses like this one do want the money that camps bring in, so if they’re not booking Jewish camps anymore they may very well be telling you the truth when they say it just isn’t worth their while. Too many of our campers are rude, rowdy and destructive. Instead of becoming pointlessly indignant we should be teaching our kids how to behave in public. Kids who aren’t mature enough to follow their counselors’ instructions shouldn’t be taken to places like this one. That’s the bottom line… Read more »
our kids were so well-behaved! enough said.
I’m sure they’re not after only Lubavitch camps I’m sure there’s other religious camps who go there and trust me those kids could be really happy-go-lucky if you understand what I’m saying. Sad to say when I go places I try to stay way where religious people are because it could be very embarrassing sometimes
I was listening to the radio about it, and it said it’s because the camps come and don’t pay afterward.
to #22. You are right! I stand corrected. My dd16 has been a counselor in Gan Izzy Camps (where most kids are frum) and absolutely hates the behavior of the frum kids. She prefers to work at the modern orthodox camp, where she said the parents are VERY involved and the kids have derech eretz. It is a wake-up call from Hashem that we need to make a Kiddush Hashem where ever we go.
i think this is a big chilul hashem,
I cannot comment on the Montreal experience.
I do know that as Frum Yiddin we must be extra careful with the image we portray and the behaviour of the children when they are in the public eye.
No one pretends that latent anti semitism is not there in general society ,however we can not use that as an excuse.
two primary comments above are: 1) we need to improve; and 2) there is/was anti-semitism. Perhaps a different angle to take is that maybe we should be more self-sufficient, and not take a view we are entitled to use the facilities of the goyim. maybe we should have our own gyms? look at yeled v’yalda in boro park, as an example and model to follow. and who knows where to stop with entitlements from the goyim, food stamps, etc.
As a former camper and counselor I could attest that our bunks were extra obnoxious and had little regard to our surroundings or what impression we made. Now as a parent I’m embarrassed by my past behavior but we as kids were never taught otherwise. Last summer I took my kids on many trips and wherever we ran into a Jewish camp the kids were extra loud and unruly. To the point I would try to avoid them since they were being pushy with my kids. In contrast the other non-Jewish camps I saw the effort of their counselors to… Read more »
Please, let’s not blame unruly behavior/lack of Derech Eretz on “kiruv”!!! Have we really never seen it in our own camps/ schools? Let’s just keep demonstrating (by good example) how to be a Mentsch, and so make a Kiddush Hashem in behavior and in habits such as picking up after ourselves. Im ein Derech Eretz ein Torah.
https://www.google.com/search?q=Acrosport+Barani%E2%80%99s&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&channel=fflb#lrd=lrd
You are allowing your talk radio values to cloud your reason.
You have no idea whether this institution hates yidden or not, but are quick to jump to their defense and lecture as to how we need to have better manners and stop playing the ‘race card’ ( talk-radio trademarked term)
It isn’t at all far fetched that this club actually, you know, does hate yidden and this reason is an excuse. Cause I heard rumors that there are some goyims what don’t like us.
You need to give the politics a rest.
as mentioned, would any store ban blacks because they mostly shoplift, or arabs because they mostly hijack planes it would be unacceptable.
THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE FOR WHATEVER EXCUSE THEY COME UP WITH. Ban that specific camp or person but to totally ban ALL Jews, Blacks, or Arabs is RACISM AND unacceptable in today’s day and age.
Maybe all Jewish and English businesses in Montreal should start banning all those obnoxious Frenchies Pepsies.
It’s not nice to hear that the camp was banned ….
Maybe rent all inclusive facility for the camp
So they can say our policy is x amount of people, code of conduct is x, if x happens the camp will be asked to leave- whatever they want, no way are they entitled to discriminate!
TheY have the Catskills monopoly. Ther are rude disgusting AND THEY TAKE ADVANTAGE oF THE CAMP, and they make a mistake they disgrace the camp by plastering the business. Shame on them.
BH BSD ALL ‘ANTISEMITISM IS HASHEM TELLING US.. WE CAN DO A BETTER JOB IN RECOGNIZING THE PRECIOUS GIFT HASHEM HAS GIVEN US ,AND USE IT TO MODIFY OUR BEHAVIOR FOR GOOD…A LIGHT UNTO THE NATIONS WE ARE TO BE….OUR NOT SUCH GREAT BEHAVIOR TOWARD THAT GREAT GOAL AND SOLE OBJECTIVE OF OUR HOLY JEWISH LIVES,HAS NOT ONLY DIMMED THE LIGHT OF OUR HOLY TEMPLES BUT ALSO KEEPS US IN DARKNESS… PLEASE ALL OF US….TURN ON THE LIGHT WITHIN US THE LIGHT OF TORAH ,SO WE CAN IN TURN AGAIN BE THE LIGHT FOR THE WORLD..TO SEE THAT HASHEM IS… Read more »
i guess we shall ban ALL arabs on planes bec. all hijackers and terrorists are arabs. it is only bec. of them that we spend so much time before flying.they made us waste so much valuable time- to the youngsters out there we didn’t always have to be at the airport two hours before the flight
the sports center is not where the camps go , they go the trampolining place in the center which is ok
they never treated us nicely anyway
What about when a staff member there started chasing me around the building “just for fun”? Was that not misbehavior? And the language they used in front of children?!
It’s down right anti-semitism. Kids are kids, you think the velt behaves better than our kids? Sure there may have been misbehaviour, but to say only “Jewish kids” are the only ones misbehaving and it’s a policy against “Jews”, that’s straight out anti-semetic, don’t fool yourselves.
I agree with 2, and it’s not just noise.
I don’t know this specific situation, but we often make a big chilul Hashem, arrogant, rude, destructive of property, leaving a tremendous amt of garbage, trying to cheat with tokens, prizes, whatever opportunity there is to get more— i know bocherim that were banned from stores because of a known derech of buying stuff– electronics, bikes, using them, and returning at the end of the yeshiva year, claiming they were poor quality. We are supposed to be “ohr la goyim” and often fall woefully short, to say the least.
as soon as I read this I knew there would be comments passing the lady and centre as anti semitic. I think we play this card far too much and do not really accept that it is definitely our fault. I have been a counsellor many times and quite often I’m embarassed to say the least on trip days. it is is definitely a chillul Hashem and we need to face the fact that the reasoning is because of our behaviour rather than ‘so called anti-semitism’
So the leadership needs to take control,and use a higher level of disciplne.-Benveniste
BECAUSE WE STAND OUT – BECAUSE WE ARE JEWISH AND ORTHODOX WE HAVE A GREATER RESPONSIBILITY — WE ARE EXPECTED TO BE A CUT ABOVE –
IF WE DRESSED LIKE EVERYONE ELSE .. NO YARMULKAS, NO BEARDS, ETC THEN OUR BEHAVIOR – GOOD OR BAD – COULD NOT BE CREDITED TO A SPECIFIC “GROUP:” .. A SOLDIER DRESSED IN UNIFORM IS EXPECTED TO BEHAVE ACCORDINGLY. WE ARE ALL SOLDIERS IN HASHEMS ARMY AND THE REBBE’S ARMY.
While I don’t discount the possibility of antisemitism, I have been involved in Gan Izzy Day camps for many years as a parent. Sadly, due to the nature of the camps (kiruv), there are MANY wild, unruly kids. As a frum parent, I really questioned whether my kids should be around them. I am assuming this place had many bad experiences. A private business can do what they want. Doesn’t mean they hate Jews.
I know most of the comments here are going to talk about how anti semitic the place is, and the girls atitude proves it etc, but maybe, this can also be a time for reflection and how camp style can be a chilul Hashem. Having been in camps as a camper, counselor and then director position, you realize that the noise we make when we go to parks, games, public places, may look to us like camp spirit loud fun, but very often is a chilul Hashem. Theres no denying it. I do think there is definitely a strand here… Read more »
SPORTS CENTERS ARE NOT FOR JEWISH CHILDDEN
THIS IS HARD TO IMAGINE BUT IT IS A FACT.
iIN LONDON WE WERE ASKED TO MAKE A SPORTS HALL AND BUILD OUR SWIMMING POOL
If a specific camp misbehaved, they can ban them. To ban all Jews because Jews misbehaved!??!? Would they ban all blacks if a black misbehaved?
I’d like to start by saying the situation in Montreal may be an exception from what I’m about to mention (as I obviously am not privy to all the information). However, let’s not play the anti-Semite card. I am a born and bred Lubavitcher and have no agendas here. We as well as all orthodox Jewish camps are guilty from time to time (some more often than others) of making a chillul Hashem. I was witness on a number of occasions (as both a camper and staff member) to “foul play” on the “frum” camp’s end. Let’s, for once and… Read more »
its unfortunate, however lets face it we need to have better manners. and not be spiritually arrogant. how many of us want to go somewhere chol hamoad where there is no frumeh chasideshe, because subconscioulys we cringe on their mannerisms.