A Lifetime on Peppertree Lane: Harriet Scharf and the Legacy of Camp Alonim

There’s a moment that happens when you turn down Peppertree Lane.

Before you even reach the gates of the Brandeis-Bardin Campus, something shifts. It’s not just arrival—it’s recognition. A feeling that lives somewhere between memory and belonging. For generations of Alonimers, that road doesn’t just lead to camp—it leads back to themselves.

For Harriet Scharf, that feeling has lasted a lifetime.

This summer marks Harriet’s 68th year connected to Camp Alonim. She first arrived in 1958 as a 7-year-old camper, alongside her older sister. What began as a childhood experience has grown into a family legacy spanning five generations—from her grandparents and parents, to her children, and now her brother’s grandchildren, who run those same paths today.

On opening day, camp comes alive once again. Hundreds of campers fill the fields beneath the pepper trees. Old friends run toward one another, arms open. New campers—equal parts nervous and excited—step into something unfamiliar that quickly feels like home.

And in the middle of it all is Harriet.

Not watching from the sidelines, but fully in it—greeting families, helping with check-in, offering hugs where they’re needed most. Doing what she has always done: showing up for camp and for the people who make it what it is.

Ask Harriet where the magic of Alonim lives, and she doesn’t hesitate: Shabbat.

Because at Alonim, the experience goes beyond activities or schedules. It’s about something deeper—community, rhythm, reflection, and connection. It’s where friendships are formed, identities are shaped, and values take root.

That spirit extends across the entire Brandeis-Bardin Campus, home not only to Camp Alonim, but also to Gan Alonim Day Camp and the Ziering Brandeis Camp Institute (BCI)—each creating its own pathway into Jewish life, grounded in the same sense of belonging.

This summer, campers will experience that magic for themselves. They’ll climb the alpine tower, try archery, ride horses, sing on Shabbat—and, without even realizing it, learn what it means to build community: to listen, include, speak up, and care for one another.

And years from now, many of them will return.

Because once you’ve walked down Peppertree Lane, it never really leaves you.