A unique post office, a unit of the U.S. Postal Service operated at and by a Lubavitch summer camp for boys, was dedicated near here today at Camp Gan Israel.
The principal speaker at the dedication ceremonies for “Kiryat Gan Israel (zip) 12786” was Robert Hardesty, chairman of the Board of Governors of the U.S. Postal Service, who made a special trip to participate. Commenting that this was the first time in the history of the United States postal system that a “Hebrew name appears in a postmark in America,” Hardesty said the Hasidic camp post office “symbolizes recognition of creativity.”
The building housing the post office was erected on a parking lot of the Lubavitch boys camp facing Old Route 17 in the heart of the Sullivan County Catskill resort area. The Gan Israel camp is located on a tract on the other side of the road, opposite the parking lot.
The first piece of mail postmarked in the Gan Israel post office today was a parchment scroll signed by the 330 campers, aged six to 15, and 100 teenagers studying at two outdoor yeshivas on the camp grounds, as well as by the 100 staff members who are mostly volunteers, according to Rabbi Abraham Shemtov, the camp’s executive director.
On the parchment is a message, addressed to the Lubavitcher rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Schneerson, describing the accomplishments of the camp. The message, prepared to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the establishment of the camp, was written by two authorized scribes who are on the camp staff, according to Shemtov.
The message was timed to arrive at the world headquarters of the Lubavitch movement in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn tomorrow, the yahrzeit of Rabbi Schneerson’s father, Shemtov told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. He said he had been assured there would be no inadvertent delays which might prevent delivery of the message on schedule.
IDEA BEHIND THE POST OFFICE
Shemtov also told the JTA that the idea for the unique post office was his and that his motivation was a wish to obtain recognition for the achievements of Camp Gan Israel, which he said has led to the creation of 70 similar camps throughout the world.
He said he had come to the conclusion that establishment of a post office, under auspices of the movement and by contract with the U.S. postal service, would bring merited recognition in a way that would be both practical and dignified. Shemtov said that when the proposal was submitted to the Postal Service headquarters, officials agreed, negotiations followed, and a contract between the Postal Service and the movement was signed two weeks ago.
He said that while the Gan Israel post office will be serving primarily campers and personnel of Gan Israel, it also is accessible to residents and travelers in the area. He said there are many summer camps between Liberty, N.Y. a major center of Jewish resort hotels, and Parksville.
WILL PERFORM THE USUAL FUNCTIONS
The Gan Israel post office will be performing the usual functions of such a federal establishment, including accepting and postmarking mail, stocking and selling stamps and providing other post office services. Shemtov said Postal Service officials had been informed that there are 600 to 700 persons in the area during the summer months who needed post office services.
The post office is operated by a camp employe, serving on a dollar-a-year arrangement with the Postal Service. The post office is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. during the camp months — July and August. Shemtov stressed this was a temporary arrangement and that plans were under consideration to expand camp operations eventually to a year-round status.
Shemtov described the camp as “a little United Nations. ” He said boys were in attendance from Argentina, Brazil, Venezuela, Britain and Mexico. Most of the campers come from the New York area and Philadelphia, he said.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
