What began as a dream to improve Camp Nageela’s facilities has become a lasting tribute to one of its own.
On July 14, JEP-Long Island’s Camp Nageela dedicated the new Gitelis Athletic Center, honoring the memory of former camper Rose Lubin, who was murdered in Jerusalem on November 6, 2023 while serving as a lone soldier in the Israel Border Police guarding Yerushalayim.
The state-of-the-art indoor athletic center, featuring a full-size basketball court, volleyball and pickleball court within a climate-controlled facility, will serve thousands of campers for generations while ensuring that Rose’s remarkable life and legacy continue to inspire future campers.
For those who knew Rose, the dedication represented far more than the opening of a new building. It was the culmination of a journey that began more than a decade earlier, when an 11-year-old Jewish girl from Atlanta arrived at Camp Nageela for the first time.
Rose’s parents belonged to a synagogue in Atlanta, Georgia, whose rabbi was familiar with Camp Nageela and encouraged them to send their daughter. Like many Nageela campers, Rose attended public school and got her Jewish education informally. The rabbi who recommended the camp hoped she would experience what living a joyful Jewish life looked like.
During the summer of 2013, Rose quickly found herself surrounded by other Jewish girls with backgrounds much like her own. She immediately formed friendships and connected with the warm, caring counselors and staff, who welcomed every camper without judgment.
That first summer proved transformative.
Her parents enrolled her again the following year, and she continued returning each summer through 2017. Year after year, Camp Nageela became a place where Rose’s Jewish identity flourished.
Camp Nageela, under the leadership of Rabbi Dovid and Basi Shenker, has long embraced a unique philosophy. Rather than focusing on rules or religious obligation, the camp invites children to experience Judaism by living it.
Campers witness the excitement of preparing for Shabbat, the warmth of Shabbat evening, the beauty of reciting blessings before meals, the comfort of kissing the mezuzah, meaningful prayer, and the joy of celebrating Jewish life together.
The observant staff; — many of them from Bais Yaakov and Yeshiva students who volunteer as counselors, — teach primarily through personal example, creating an atmosphere where Judaism is experienced as something joyful, meaningful, and deeply personal.
For countless campers, those summers become life-changing experiences. For Rose, they helped shape the course of her life. As she matured, her commitment to Torah observance deepened, as did her love for the Jewish people and the State of Israel. While many teenagers dreamed of college or future careers, Rose dreamed of making aliyah and serving the Jewish people in Israel. She fulfilled that dream.
Rose moved to Israel and enlisted in the Israel Defense Forces as a lone soldier. At only twenty years old, she often expressed how grateful she was to be living the life she had always envisioned.
On October 7, 2023, when Hamas launched its brutal terrorist attack, Rose fought courageously in defense of Kibbutz residents, helping rescue civilians and save lives during one of Israel’s darkest days. Just a few weeks later, while serving on patrol in Jerusalem, she was murdered during a terrorist stabbing attack.
The news devastated the Camp Nageela family.
Every fallen Israeli soldier is mourned throughout the Jewish world, but for the Camp Nageela family, this loss was deeply personal. The murder of Sergeant Rose Lubin was not simply another headline or statistic from the war. Rose was one of their own. She had grown up within the Camp Nageela community, where her love for Judaism, the Jewish people, and the Land of Israel first took root and flourished. Those who watched her journey from camper to lone soldier understood that the values she embraced during those formative summers helped shape the remarkable young woman she became. In the months following her murder, Camp Nageela’s Executive Board sought a meaningful way to honor her memory.
Plans for an indoor athletic center had existed for years but remained financially out of reach. The Board unanimously decided that the project should move forward and be dedicated in Rose’s memory. Through determined fundraising efforts, generous grants, and the support of devoted donors, construction began.
As the project neared completion, another extraordinary act of generosity helped transform the vision into reality. Surie and Shaya Gitelis, parents of Camp Nageela’s Director of Development, Chaim Gitelis, chose to make a significant charitable gift that enabled the athletic center to be completed with additional enhancements, creating an outstanding facility that campers will enjoy for many years.
The dedication ceremony brought together campers, staff, members of the Executive Board, representatives of the Grinspoon Charitable Foundation, and Rose’s mother, Robin Lubin.
Outside the building, Robin Lubin and Surie Gitelis jointly unveiled the dedication plaque before hundreds of campers entered the new athletic center for the ceremony.
One of the most moving moments of the ceremony came when Rabbi Dovid Shenker addressed the campers. Having concluded shiva for his father, Chaim Boruch Shenker, of blessed memory, only that morning, Rabbi Shenker spoke with quiet emotion about both loss and faith. He reflected on the profound role his father played in the founding and growth of Camp Nageela. Chaim Boruch Shenker had encouraged his son to establish the organization from its earliest days, provided generous financial support, offered constant guidance and encouragement, and opened countless doors by introducing him to philanthropists and charitable supporters through his extensive business and professional relationships. The camp that has transformed thousands of Jewish lives stands, in no small measure, as part of his enduring legacy.
Rabbi Shenker then shared the remarkable story behind the athletic center itself. Although the need for an indoor athletic facility had long been recognized, there was no clear path to funding such an ambitious project. “I finally turned to Hashem,” Rabbi Shenker recalled. “I said, ‘These are Your children. They need a gym. Please help us build one so they can enjoy camp even more.’ A few days later, I received an email from a foundation asking whether we had any buildings that needed improvement because they wanted to help. I want you all to understand that Hashem loves you and the growth you are doing.” For many in attendance, his words served as a powerful reminder that Camp Nageela’s growth has always been sustained not only by generous supporters, but also by unwavering faith and trust in Divine providence.
Robin Lubin then addressed the audience, sharing heartfelt memories of her daughter’s years at Camp Nageela. She spoke of how those summers helped shape Rose into the young woman she became, strengthening her Jewish identity, inspiring her commitment to Torah and mitzvos, and nurturing the love of Israel and the Jewish people that ultimately led her to make aliyah and serve as a lone soldier in the Israel Defense Forces.
Perhaps the most emotional moment of the ceremony came when Robin told the campers that she sees every Camp Nageela child as an extension of Rose; —as though they were her own children. Looking out across the room filled with smiling campers, she remarked that she feels Rose’s neshamah is always present at Camp Nageela, and now especially within the walls of the athletic center dedicated in her memory. There were few dry eyes in the audience.
The Executive Board members were presented with basketballs signed by the campers, each covered with heartfelt messages of appreciation. The gifts served as a reminder that the true beneficiaries of the new athletic center are the thousands of children whose Jewish lives will continue to be enriched through Camp Nageela.
The ceremony concluded with Board President Michael Schick taking the ceremonial first shot on the new basketball court. Moments later, the gym came alive with campers shooting baskets, dancing, laughing, and celebrating.
It was a fitting ending. A building constructed in memory of a young woman who devoted her life to the Jewish people immediately became what she would have wanted most—a place filled with Jewish children, friendship, joy, and life.
In dedicating the Gitelis Athletic Center in Rose Lubin’s memory, Camp Nageela has done more than memorialize a fallen hero. It has ensured that every basket scored, every game played, and every child inspired within its walls will carry forward the legacy of a young woman whose own Jewish journey began at Camp Nageela and whose life became a testament to faith, courage, and unwavering devotion to the Jewish people.
Gabriel Solomon is a contributing writer for this publication and serves on the Executive Board of JEP-Long Island and Camp Nageela. For more information about Camp Nageela or dedication opportunities, please contact Gabriel at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..