A self-described “people person,” Nate Strauss doesn’t think he could survive an office job. He would rather be outdoors and interacting with others.
Strauss, 30, has served as director of Jewish student life and as assistant director for the Michigan State University Hillel. In March, he became camp director at Capital Camps, a Jewish overnight camp and retreat center in Waynesboro, Pennsylvania. When he’s not at camp, he lives in Navy Yard in Washington, D.C.
Tell me about your Jewish background and upbringing.
I was born in Columbus, Ohio, and have some really good memories of being Jewish in Columbus. Columbus is a pretty Jewish area with a strong Jewish community, and my family lived in a different part of the area that was not very Jewish. From an early age, I was used to being the only Jew in my class and one of three Jewish people in my school. My mom was the one always coming to teach my class about Chanukah and stuff like that.
When I was 8, my dad got a job in Detroit and my family relocated there to the suburbs. I went from being one of three Jewish kids in my school to being one of hundreds of Jewish kids in my school. I grew up in a supportive, tight-knit Jewish community. It was an incredible place to grow up. I was extremely involved in BBYO as a teen and in our synagogue. I lived in Farmington Hills, Michigan, until I went to college.
You were appointed camp director for Capital Camps in March. How did you get to where you are today?
I went to Michigan State University, where I immediately got involved in the Hillel on campus. I was president of the Jewish Student Union there for two years and decided during my third year of college, ‘I actually think this is the career that I want to do: work with Jewish people.’
In the summer of 2015, going into my senior year of college, I interned at Hillel International in D.C. as a communications intern and learned a lot about what Jewish life looks like [from] a national and international perspective. I came back to campus and decided I want to work there. I was hired at Michigan State Hillel, where I worked from summer 2016 through April 2024.
From the time I started with Capital Camps, I was teaching at Hillel, the Jewish Learning fellowship. I was leading Passover seders, doing different projects like that, while onboarding and starting with camp. In January, I started to look for job opportunities and I looked in the business world, the for-profit world, and just kept coming back to the mission-driven work that the Jewish community does, and the purpose-driven work that I really enjoy. I decided to go all in and seek out a job within the Jewish community, and I started the process with Capital Camps.
What do you like best about your job?
I love working with people. If I had to sit behind a desk and never interact with anyone, it would feel like work. I don’t feel like this is work; this is work worth doing. My favorite thing is getting to interact with our campers, counselors, staff and families. It’s so special to get to do this work and I feel so purposeful and mission-driven.
You enjoy working with teens to support them in engaging in “creative Jewish and Israel-focused experiences.” What does this look like?
By training, I’m an experiential Jewish educator. What I take that to mean is taking Jewish values and lessons and trying to make them feel and come alive. This summer at the farm, we have this opportunity for campers to cook and learn how to cook. This past session, we found a cookbook of the favorite recipes of many of the Israeli hostages in Gaza. Their families put this cookbook together so that people around the world could experience their favorite dishes.
We’re weaving Israel education into this cooking experience while keeping it age-appropriate, because we know the conversations that a 17-year-old can have about Israel and what happened on Oct. 7 are very different [from] what our 9-year-olds are going to be talking about. It’s important to us that we’re not shying away from any conversation but making it appropriate.
How do you foster Jewish community among both campers and staff?
It is really important to me that we are promoting Jewish joy. Joy is, to me, very much what drives people, and at a time like we are in now as a people, it is extremely important that we are focused on creating opportunities that elicit joy, that inspire our campers and our staff, and help us feel a sense of pride in who we are.
How do you spend your time outside of work?
I am a registered yoga teacher. I started to practice yoga as a form of physical movement and got really into it. I have over 700 hours of training in yoga and have taught over 1,000 hours. It’s a big part of my life.
Together, my girlfriend and I have two dogs, and they keep us busy and on our toes. I care a lot about being outside, whether that’s sitting and reading outside or hiking or exploring, it helps ground me and I love it.
