Danya’s Shabbat Message – Week 2: From Tasters to Ozrim
Shabbat Shalom!
As we head into the second Shabbat of the summer, I am delighted to share this week’s Shabbat message.
I’m Danya, the Director of Camp & Culture at Herzl Camp. I get to spend my summer with our incredible staff, Ozrim, and campers. For the past few years, I’ve sent a weekly Shabbat message to all camp families so you can share in the Herzl magic and stay connected all summer long.
I briefly considered writing the Shabbat message during the off-season. My thought process was simple enough – write them in March instead of trying to find time once the summer is underway, and somehow 9 AM quickly becomes 10 PM before you know it. I could describe what was going on at camp – I didn’t need to be at camp to do that. I could easily tell stories from the previous summer. But every time I attempted to write, I had serious writer’s block. The magic of camp is that remarkable things happen here every single day, often in moments that seem completely ordinary at the time. That’s not something you can write about 4 months in advance.
This week, I found myself thinking about two very different groups at camp: our Tasters, who arrived on Tuesday, and our Ozrim, who are spending the summer training to become Herzl Camp staff. They represent two very different points in the Herzl Camp experience – one group just beginning at camp and another preparing for the next chapter.
The Tasters stepped off the bus exactly as you’d expect. Eyes wide open. Taking everything in. There is so much to see, especially for the first time.
The first couple of days of Taste were a little chilly, with some heavy dew (it never rains at Herzl Camp, there’s only heavy dew). I worried that with only a week of camp, losing a couple of days to weather would feel significant. In reality, it mattered far less than I thought it would. We had to postpone the camp tour and rearrange a few waterfront activities, but the campers didn’t seem to mind and were just happy to be here.
Yesterday, the weather cleared up, and it was a beautiful day. On Thursdays, we gather for a cookout dinner in the Pavi near the sports field. After dinner, it’s a natural transition into chofesh (free time), where campers can choose from a few activities around camp. As the Pavi started clearing out at the end of dinner, I approached a couple of campers who were finishing their meal. I asked what they planned to do during chofesh and mentioned the golf course, thinking it was one of the open locations that evening. It wasn’t, I was wrong. But by that point, the small group had grown to 5 boys, all of them very excited about the golf course.
So we stopped by their cabin to let their counselor know where we were headed, picked up a few more campers and a counselor along the way, and off we went.
About 50 feet away from the golf course, it hit me that I didn’t have the key to the equipment shed. The boys had run ahead and were waiting for me patiently when I walked up.
I turned the handle to the shed. Locked. I turned around and explained the situation – by the time we got organized and made the trek over, there were only 15 minutes left of chofesh and not enough time to get the key and come back. I was fully prepared for bumming them all out, but there was none of that.
A few golf balls were lying around, so some of them played golf without clubs. The group sitting with me was fascinated by the artificial grass, which led to a debate about whether fake grass was better than real grass and whether it would be comfortable enough to use as sheets on our beds. It was one of the most entertaining conversations I’ve ever had at camp. The clubs turned out to be unnecessary, and we agreed that next time we would come back and actually play golf together. The entire interaction with that group was absolutely delightful.
Fast forward 10 years to the Ozrim – rising high school seniors who spend the summer preparing to be staff at Herzl. This morning, I was invited to lead a Hadracha (learning & leadership) session with the Ozrim. Before I started on the topic I came to discuss, I asked for some help; I needed serious inspiration for this blog. It was already 11 AM on Friday, and I still didn’t know what to write about. Their hands shot up – everyone had a story or a moment they wanted to share. Here are some that stuck out to me:
“On Shabbat, we sing V’shamru as the campers walk into the chadar on Shabbat. I remember hearing it as a camper, and now I sing V’shamru while my campers walk into the Chadar”
“My camper was really homesick for the first two days of the session. He asked me yesterday if he could stay for the next session too”
“I’ve never enjoyed singing the Birkat HaMazon after the meals. But my campers all are really into it, and now I love singing it with my campers”
“At the beginning of the session, the staff and Ozrim would encourage and cheer on the campers in the cabin. Now I notice the campers cheering and encouraging each other. I think we taught them that”
“I showed my camper that being a little weird is also pretty cool”
“I remember hearing my staff sing the Moon Song every night I was a camper. It felt a little strange the first night, when the campers looked to me to sing. And now I am part of that memory for someone else”
And there were so many more.
In the span of a few days, I watched the next generation of Herzl Campers nosh on cookies and lem-lem for the first time, and spent the morning with the Ozrim, who were once those same first-time campers.
The Tasters always remind me how exciting it is to discover Herzl Camp for the first time. The Ozrim are the result of dedicated staff who invested in them and built a community where they belonged. Now, they will do the same for their campers.
In a few days, the First session and Taste campers will head home after an incredible start to the summer. And one day, some of them will be the Ozrim sitting in that same room sharing those special stories.
Wishing you a peaceful and restful weekend. Shabbat Shalom.
-danya