Danya’s Shabbat Message – Week 3: The Chadar Is Chadaring
Shabbat Shalom!
As we head into the third 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 camp families so you can share in the Herzl magic and stay connected all summer long.
The transition from First Session to Second Session is noticeable. One day, camp is busy, with plenty going on, and the next day, it’s like someone turned the volume all the way up. There are more campers, more staff, more activities, and more steps (23,549 on Wednesday for me).
A good friend of mine (who helped build the iconic bridge – shoutout Deavers 1992) asked me how the summer was going. I responded, “It’s going great! The Chadar is chadaring.” He knew that meant in one corner of the room, a cabin was trying to prove they had more ruach than the cabin next to them, only for two other cabins to jump into the competition, and that, in the other corner, everyone simultaneously started to sing and dance for no reason. And somehow everyone still eats a good lunch.
Every so often, someone asks me why Herzl doesn’t split up the camp into a few meal shifts. My answer is always the same – the Chadar isn’t just where we eat. It’s one of the few places at camp where everyone is together at the same time. Older siblings can swing by their younger siblings’ table to say hi and meet their cabinmates. Friends in different programs get a chance to catch up on their way to grabbing milk for their cereal. Younger campers watch the older campers and imagine the day they’ll be sitting at those tables. Everyone – the campers, staff, Ozrim, even me – we’re all sharing the same experience.
Community happens because we intentionally create opportunities for people to be together. Three meals a day, everyone under one roof, is one of the simplest and most effective ways Herzl does that.
This summer we have the largest group of campers during Second Session in many years. It’s awesome. Hundreds of campers are experiencing Herzl together, and for so many of them, everything they see, hear, and feel is happening for the first time.
I was reminded of that this week because I had a first of my own. Even after all the years I’ve spent at camp, and now in my fourth summer as Camp Director, I witnessed something I’d only ever heard about. I must have asked the staff 25 times if it was okay to mention it in this blog. I knew I wanted to write about it, but I didn’t want to spoil an important tradition. I got the green light to include it, but decided to keep the details out and to leave them to be discovered when it’s the right time.
I’ve heard staff talking about “ripping your cool card” since my first summer. In my head, I played out an entire scene of what I thought it meant. I imagined campers making a card, standing together in a circle, and ripping it in half. Done.
On Wednesday night, I was walking through camp when I heard a lot of noise coming from the Kadimah (rising 9th grade) Mo. I walked over and realized what was going on – they were ripping their cool cards, and I was finally going to see what it was all about. I stopped about 100 feet away so I wouldn’t disturb the program and stood watching for nearly 10 minutes. It was nothing like what I created in my head. It was so much better.
It’s really a symbolic way of letting go of the things that weigh kids down the other ten months of the year. The self-consciousness. The pressure to fit in. The fear of being judged. The worry about what everyone else thinks.
At Herzl, it doesn’t matter what school you go to, where you’re from, who your friends are back home, or who people expect you to be. For a few weeks, that all melts away. It’s giving permission to be yourself.
This week, I also found myself noticing returning campers and wondering how they got so much older-looking. And why are so many of them taller than me now?
I was standing near the entrance of the Ulam when a group of girls walked in off the bus on arrival day. These girls were in Haatid (rising 3rd & 4th grade) in 2023, my first summer as Director. This summer, they are in Habonim (rising 7th & 8th). Four years is significant at that age – they’re still every bit as fun as they were 4 years ago, but they’re now also more confident, thoughtful, and independent middle schoolers.
I only see them for a few weeks each summer, but it’s like no time has passed when we’re together again at camp. One of the greatest privileges of this job is getting a front-row seat to watch campers – and staff – grow up. I feel incredibly lucky that Herzl gets to play a small part in it.
It’s been a delightful start to the session – and there is so much more to come over the next two and a half weeks.
Wishing you a peaceful and restful weekend.
Shabbat Shalom,
-danya