Session 2 – Last Night: I saw your kid…

Hi Herzl Family!

Second session is about 10 hours from being in the books. I’m coming to you one last time on the porch of the Director’s House. 

I can still hear plenty of frolic and laughter throughout camp because, after all, who wants to go to bed on the last night at camp? But these little ones ultimately calm down by about midnight, of course there’s many declarations of “we’re staying up all night” but as soon as the first one falls, they go like dominoes. They’ll all be lying on top of their bunks, still in their clothes, dreaming happily of the summer they just had at Herzl Camp.

My reflection tonight is not coming to you as a professional who gets the privilege of living a life where his vocation meets his avocation, but I come to you as a former camper parent and the things that I got to see through those eyes, the eyes of being a dad, the eyes of being a parent, the eyes of being a Jew. 

I saw your kid throw a frisbee for the first time with an older kid because your kid wanted to be one of the older kids too. 

I saw your kid learn how to make a friendship bracelet and then proceed to make no less than 50 spreading them out amongst new friends, old friends, and just even someone who did something nice for them that day. 

I saw your kid be nervous about going in the water looking at a lake that looked cold and intimidating and not a moment later. 

I saw your kid splashing around laughing with their friends out on Gary land.

I saw your kid learning a new Jewish song that they started humming as they walked across the Poad, leaving the echos of the song session that gave them comfort and confidence. 

I saw your kid do the Ashrey for the first time. 

I saw your kid say something that took courage to say in front of a crowd of people. 

I saw your kid try to water ski and fail, but kept trying and succeeded. 

I saw your kid make up a dance with a bunch of other kids just because they could. 

I saw your kid reading a book with another kid sitting right beside them on a swing on Shabbat. 

I saw your kid playing roof ball with the whole cabin, playing by the rules because that’s what they do. And if they get “out” they waited patiently in line for the next game. 

I saw your kid have a Ruach battle in the Chadar…they always won. 

I saw your kid create a play that didn’t make much sense to those watching, but to your kid…they thought they could win a Tony. 

I saw your kid make a mezuzah with clay and then decorate it and have it fired up in the kiln, so proud to bring it home to you as a prize for your doorpost. 

I saw your kid 30 feet up in the air in the high ropes course, harnessed and in a helmet waving down to me to boast their achievement. 

I saw your kid joining the chant on Saturday night for the ever so popular Chipwitches and then laugh hysterically at 12 Gates on even when they didn’t even know what they were laughing at, but the laughter around them sparked the joy and they just couldn’t help themselves. 

I saw your kid play spike ball in the sports field for hours. 

I saw your kid get up on waterskis for the first time…and then learn to drop a ski and slalom. 

I saw your kid walking the goat and the lamb with their friends in the farm chug around the entire camp, looking for tall grass spots where they could pen the animals and let them eat. 

I saw your kid taking great care of our camp in Avodah projects that will be here for years to come and they know that they’re leaving their mark on the legacy of Herzl camp. 

I saw your kid cook something in the Mitbach and made sure Danya and I went by to try it. 

I saw your kid get empowered in Torah for the Girls with 15 other girls growing together in Jewish pride and solidarity. 

I saw your kid have a shaving cream fight until the last can was empty. 

I saw your kid singing the Shema with their cabin before bed. 

I saw your kid win the Flag Football game to take the lead in World League, and then I saw them be a great sport by congratulating the other team when they lost on the soccer field. 

I saw your kid doing the three legged race at Bikkurim, falling down, laughing hysterically, just to get up and do it again. 

I saw your kid stand up in front of the whole camp and say the name of someone that they wished would heal during the Mi Shebeirach. 

I saw your kid get lifted up in the chair on their birthday high above everybody else, nothing but a smile on their face with a smile that wanted to stretch wider than ear to ear. 

I saw your kid play an instrument and master some new song and shore it up with a performance in front of hundreds of people. 

I saw your kid catch a fish…I saw someone else take the fish off the hook for them. 

I saw your kid welcome their Israeli friends after a long mental and physical journey for them to get here only to be welcomed into your kids embrace and the sweet sound of Israeli song and cheer. 

I could go on and on, but what I saw every day was…I saw your kid say the HaMotzi before every meal, I saw your kid say Birkat Hamazon afterward, all with their friends surrounding them and doing the same. 

Lastly…I saw your kid sing Hatikva…every day. 

All is well, safely rest. 

Thank you so much for sending your kid to Herzl Camp

 ‏לילה טוב

Tommy