From the Camp Clipboard: Summer is OFFICIALLY HERE!

Shalom Herzl family and friends!

Camp is OFFICIALLY underway and we couldn’t be happier about it! The sounds of campers laughing and singing. The smiles on their faces and the light in their eyes. It has brought my staff and me to tears multiple times in the past 48 hours. The photos (while absolutely wonderful!) hardly do it justice. We are seeing our campers settle into their camp routine beautifully. Their bunks are starting to feel like home, their chugim (activities) are underway, and they are starting to build friendships and bonds that can only be built in an environment like camp! As we’ve prepared for this summer, we have thought a lot about what it means to get back to this special place. To help ground us in our return, we are focusing on three middot (soul traits) in our programming this summer:

Courage – אומץ לב – Ometz Lev
During a summer of transitioning back to in-person community, and with a high ropes course ready, we will constantly be pushing our campers to a brave space. Camp is a place where campers often try new things and push themselves out of their comfort zones. We will celebrate this throughout the summer as we learn about and focus on Ometz Lev, courage.

Gratitude – הכרת הטוב – Hakarat Ha’Tov
Gratitude is a key facet of Judaism and camp. The first thing we do as a community each day is sing “Modeh Ani”, a song about gratitude to God for a new day. Before and after each meal we offer blessings of gratitude for the food on our tables. Throughout this summer we will intentionally point out moments of gratitude in the mundane, every day, as well as the special moments that leave our campers feeling gracious.

Community Mindedness – ערבות – Areyvut
Herzl Camp is a “kehilah kedosha”, a holy community. We have missed being in communal living for the past year, and are so excited to be back together in person. Being part of a community always means thinking about others besides yourself. This summer that will be even more important as we take extra precautions to keep our whole community safe and healthy.

We waited and worked a long time to get to this moment. We said shechechyanu (the prayer for arriving at a special place and time) on Monday night at dinner. That moment will continue to ring in my ears for a long time! We are grateful for our staff who have chosen to work at Herzl Camp this summer. We are honored to be part of your village. Perhaps most of all – We are excited to keep the Herzl magic alive!

Check us out daily for photos & a blog from a Director (myself or Gary) and other members of our senior staff.

With love and ruach,

Drea

P.S. A reminder – you’ll see 100 photos per day showcasing daily camp life. It will be a mix of large group programs and daily chugim (activities) combined with smaller groups of campers with their friends. Please do not expect to see your child every day. There are just simply too many awesome things going on up here!