Danya’s Shabbat Message – Week 7: Courtside Conversations and B’yachad Shabbat

When my son went away to college, I decided to take up a new hobby. After carefully listing the pros and cons of the different options, I landed on Tennis. I’ve always wanted to learn to play, so I signed up for lessons and loved every minute of it. So much that I talk about Tennis a lot. Not as much as Titanic, but close.
One of the reasons I chose Tennis was because I knew I’d have access to tennis courts during the summer at camp. I had a clear vision – me, a real tennis player, on the courts as a part of my daily camp routine.

But, turns out, I don’t actually have much time to play Tennis during the day. So far this summer, I’ve played on those courts exactly 4 times. I’ve tried to make it easy for me to get to the courts. I kept my racket in my car, had my tennis shoes nearby, and was always ready to sneak in a quick game. But it didn’t play out exactly as I had envisioned it.

Then yesterday, one of my nephews – a regular tennis partner of mine at home – asked if I wanted to play during Chofesh. I knew I didn’t have the time, but there was no world where I was going to say no to him. So I grabbed my racket, found my shoes, and headed to the courts. As I walked through the sports field, I looked around and watched the perfect camp scene. In one corner, a group was playing soccer. It actually looked more like they were running drills for themselves. It was pretty funny. Across the field, there was a serious Frisbee game going on. And then, right by the courts, I saw campers simply hanging out, talking about all the things that 12-year-olds talk about—and laughing, being carefree – easy and simple. It looked like a commercial for summer camp!

But back to Tennis. The courts were hopping. I saw a nice mix of tennis and pickleball players. And most of them were exceptionally good. Like stop me in my tracks and stare at them good. I was a little apprehensive about playing in public because I knew all eyes would be on me.

I was joined by two campers on my side of the court, and my nephew and a buddy took the other side. We might have been the five worst tennis players to walk the courts of Herzl Camp. The ball flew everywhere – into the next court, into the fence, over the fence, into the grass. Rarely across the net. We were laughing so hard, and we didn’t care how terrible we played.

In between chasing the ball across the tennis courts, there was plenty of time to chat. One of my teammates was a Habo camper, very seasoned and a massive fan of Herzl. He told me all about his favorite things at camp. After he listed his faves, he wanted to know what my favorite part of camp was. I hardly ever get asked that question, and I appreciated his genuine interest in my answer. I almost made something up because I knew my honest answer would be boring. It’s the community we have here at camp. I love seeing campers build community with each other, even starting as young as Taste and building upon that every year they return. He nodded and commented that it made sense (code for BORING), so I was relieved when he changed the subject and shared ideas he had for making camp even better than it already was. And they weren’t the typical “more chipwiches”! He had very thoughtful and creative ideas, and I told him that I might call him during the school year to discuss one or two of his ideas. We talked for a while, joked around a bit, and finally took mercy on ourselves and put our rackets down. It was the best Chofesh I’ve had so far this summer.

And now, here we are at the second-to-last Shabbat of the summer.

B’yachad has been working all week on preparing a beautiful Shabbat for the rest of camp. I’m sure many emotions are going through their hearts and minds as the last day of camp is just around the corner. This B’yachad group is made up of campers with all sorts of Herzl history – some have been campers for 7 years, there are a handful who are brand new to Herzl this summer, and plenty in between. They all have different Herzl journeys that, in the end, don’t really matter. They have all had a shared experience this summer that will bond them for many years to come. It’s wild to think that in two years, many of them will be Ozrim. What’s even crazier? In 2023, my first summer, they were Habonim campers. And now they are about to conclude their camper experience and transition into a different phase of their Herzl experience.

And now, off to Shabbat – the second to last of the season. The weather has been beautiful, and we’re all ready to slow down and enjoy B’yachad Shabbat, together (B’yachad 😊).

Shabbat Shalom to all of you.

-danya

Senior Director of Camp & Culture