Latest Entries

On Being a Camper

18 May '12 by Herzl Camp Admin, under Benefits of Summer Camp, General Posts, What I Learned from Camp.

By: Raleigh Kibort, 2012 Ozo

A camper finds joy in the little things. Because it only lasts for a few weeks a year, every moment is a sacred one on the grounds of machaneh. If each second is not appreciated, taken advantage of, and loved for everything it is worth, the time spent there is wasted completely. This makes every chipwich consumed on a Saturday night a little sweeter, every hug a little tighter, and every song session a little louder. There are no words to match the feeling of a collective breath before the winner of bikkurim is announced.  Even if I tried, I couldn’t bottle the smell of the heavy dew soaking into the sports field after a spirited game of Ultimate Frisbee (although everybody wins in the end). It is impossible to capture the contented sighs of kids sitting on their bunks, playing games of Catch-Phrase and laughing at things that no one else in the world would find funny. To fully appreciate camp, it’s necessary to always be awake. Alert. Present. If you aren’t, you could miss the beauty of a sunset on the mercaz or the silence of being in a full cabin of girls who have giggled themselves to sleep. Living in the moment at camp is absolutely crucial, because time can never be relived.

The true joy in learning about camp is how much you learn about yourself in the process. As a 7 year old with bangs and slight social anxiety, there was plenty I didn’t know as I walked into the ulam for the first time. Never mind the physical things, like how to do my own laundry, make my bed in the morning, or avoid wetting that same bed when too much lem-lem is consumed before lila tov. Living with other people is not simple. Fights are bound to happen about who forgot to pick up the tie-dye from amanut or what song to play at nikayon, but a camper can look past those disagreements. We’re all bunkmates in the end.  Living away from home isn’t always simple either; homesickness happens, but a camper learns to depend on her friends and staff to make it better, knowing she would do the same for them.

A camper never grows up. There aren’t too many places in the world where childhood is celebrated as much as it is at camp, especially for those who aren’t technically children anymore. Just a glance into a camper’s duffel bag can reveal anything from neon sunglasses to zebra printed leggings, to be used for themed dinners and silly fashion shows. Non-campers may look down upon people who sing whenever they see fit (which is more often than not) and literally dance like no one is watching. What they don’t understand is that the process of becoming and staying yourself is so commonplace at camp that there is no recognition that it is happening. The translation from someone timid to anything but that was seamless for me, taking place in dance parties at breakfast and sand castle contests. Incredible things can happen when stigmas and stereotypes are eliminated and everyone can be who they are, and true campers always recognize the need for this. Campers understand that silliness isn’t that silly after all.

This summer, I have been given the incredible opportunity to be an Ozo at my happy place. The days of being taken care of and planned for are definitely over, but the lessons that camp has given me through the years are too great to disregard simply because I’m getting older. I will remain a camper for life. It may be a strange way for a 16 year old girl to describe herself-it’ll be even stranger when I’m a grandmother and saying the same thing-but it’s the greatest way to put who I am into words. It is the factor in my life that defines the biggest part of me. In the 10 months of my year that aren’t spent in Webster, Wisconsin, I attempt to live within the moment, even on the rainy days. I will always stay a student, no matter where the classroom may be, and I will never, ever stop singing.

Shabbat Shalom.

Editor’s Note: For those of you who are new to the lingo of Herzl Camp, here are a few definitions:

• Heavy Dew = Rain because “It never rains at Herzl Camp, it only heavy dews”
• Bikkurim = All-camp color war
• Ulam = Auditorium
• Lem-lem = Lemonade
• Nikayon = Clean up

2 Comments

Page 76

11 May '12 by Herzl Camp Admin, under General Posts, Letters from Staff, Music, Shabbat.

By: Flip Frisch, 2012 Shira Coach

I’m so old school that I still think recordings of song session are a novelty. In my day, once those songs were played and the lights went back on, they were over for good. A sweet but vague memory filed away with all the other ones from your shabbat, your summer, your childhood. Now with the press of a button you can bring back each song, exactly as it sounded at that point in time. Last summer as I sat with some campers eating their last breakfast before getting on the bus for home, Andrew Grone put on a “Leaving on a Jet Plane” compilation. He smiled at me and said that one track might sound familiar. Soon we were listening to a version of the song Bryan Grone and I recorded in that very spot nine years earlier. It was amazing. It was weird.

Thanks to modern technology, you can plan a summer from different places around the world. Louie Sloven, Yonatan Dotan and I recently had a meeting via 3-way Skype call. The hardest part was trying to schedule it for our three time-zones. Yonatan and I are so excited for the summer, we’ve been emailing each other songs since last August.

So we decided to take it one step further. What if we recorded a song together, 6000 miles apart?

First, using a laptop, Yonatan recorded himself singing and playing piano in Jerusalem. He may or may not have climbed through a window to reach the piano…I’ll never tell. Then he emailed tracks to me, and I took them to my brother’s house in Portland, Oregon (Tom Frisch, Kadimah ‘89). In his basement recording studio we played around with the tracks, added guitar and then more vocals. Thanks to a little studio magic we were able to make it sound (almost exactly) like we were playing together. When Yonatan wrote back to say he liked it, he was already in India. Now we’ve sent it to Anna Simon in Minneapolis, and you’re reading this wherever you are. The whole process took 4 days.

Simply by sending bits of information across the world we were able to be together, in song.

So light some candles, sit across from someone you like, and click here to listen to our version of Debbie Friedman’s z”l: T’filat Haderech. Wherever you find yourself tonight, see if you can meet us in the Chadar one last time.

Shabbat Shalom.

Tags: Andrew Grone, Anna Simon, Bryan Grone, Flip Frisch, Louie Sloven, Tom Frisch, Yonatan Dotan

9 Comments

Remember When We Were 14? We’re STILL Going to That One … [or insert non-corny title here]

04 May '12 by Herzl Camp Admin, under General Posts, Giving Back to Camp, Letters from Alumni.

By: Marissa Arnold

I’ll admit it … even though I’m in the “real world,” I’ve been accused of telling story after story about Herzl Camp. It’s not intentional, it’s natural. Memories from my summers at Herzl Camp are all too relevant (and all too great) not to share. Of course, I can’t pinpoint one specific thing that makes camp so special because there are so many. However, there is one powerful thing I recently witnessed when a group of camp friends decided to come together and raise money for the Herzl Scholarship Fund in memory of our dear friend, Carlie Rose Marcus z”l. It was the strength of our deep connections with one another that were formed at Herzl Camp.

It’s never easy to think back on the tragic loss of a beloved friend. The memory still has the power to bring us all to tears. However, eleven years later, we can still recall some amazing (and hysterical) memories from the summers we shared with Carlie up in Webster. From our Kadimah Canoe trip and running around in our Soffee shorts playing “chicken” to the day she “won” the Unbirthday Contest and was lifted in the Birthday Chair because she claimed the altitude would help an inner-ear injury, I would have never imagined the impact of sharing these memories with friends, family, and the greater community.

As soon as we shared what we were doing – how we wanted to raise money for Herzl Scholarship Fund in memory of Carlie – the emails started pouring in! The impact of emailing my Ozo group in particular sticks out. It seemed as if the email thread exponentially grew overnight, as my inbox grew from one to at least sixty new emails. Just one email sparked an entire series of updates across our entire group and it was as if we were transported back to an evening in the Ozo Mo (except now, a healthy handful of us are lawyers, a couple of will be saving lives as medical professionals and certain “now-adults” are even engaged)! Some of us  haven’t heard from one another since our last summers at camp and here we are, as if no time has passed sharing memories in an ongoing email conversation. And it’s times like these that reinforce what makes Herzl Camp so special … these strong connections that can only be built in one place, during our summers at camp.

That’s what makes Herzl Camp so special and that’s why we believe that no camper should ever miss out on a summer of skipping around the room and eating grilled cheese. I hope this reminds you of some of your favorite summers at camp and perhaps inspires you to get in back in touch with a group of old friends. Reach out to your LGT group from B’yachad, your co-madrich from your first year staffing Ha’atid or even your Ozo group. Reminisce. Share stories.  Ask them if they remember the words to a flag song or Ozo song. And, ask them if they will join you in supporting Herzl Camp.

Our goal is to raise $5,000 for the Herzl Scholarship Fund. That’s enough to have a bench built in Carlie’s memory, so a part of our Carlie Rose can always be up at camp to see a new generation make amazing memories and form solid bonds with their camp friends, just like we all did.

P.S. You can help us reach our goal and donate to the Herzl Scholarship Fund in memory of Carlie by clicking here.

See, the thing is (yes, here come the stats):

• Demand for Herzl Camp scholarships has risen from 50 requests per year to over 200 over the past 4 years alone
• 26% of campers received a Herzl Camp scholarship last year and another 10% needed more than a year to pay off their camp bill
• One day at Herzl Camp costs about $117 and Kadimah now costs $4,200 (it is also now 5-weeks long … jealous)
• This year, Herzl Camp anticipates providing more than $100,000 in camper scholarships

We’re proud to be able to contribute to that $100,000 and help kids get to Herzl Camp!

Shabbat Shalom.

To teach your kids about giving back to the community, read “How to Instill an Attitude of Gratitude: Teach Your Kids How to Appreciate What They Have”  at Helpful Steps® for Parents.

 

Tags: Adam Toles, Alana Kalin, Bailee Wolfson, Carlie Marcus, Carly Dachis, Dorit Chazin, Marissa Arnold, Polly Spector, Rachel Kavasnik, Sam Liebo, Sari Shiff, Stacy Shapiro

1 Comment

From Camp to College: A True Underdog Story

27 April '12 by Herzl Camp Admin, under General Posts, Letters from Staff, What I Learned from Camp.

By: Jon Savitt, 2012 Camper Care Specialist

Many people ask me, “Savitt (my camp name, I don’t know if anyone even knows my first name anymore) how is it that you have blossomed into the mature and handsome adult that is standing before us today?” As a Psychology major the only answer I can ever come up with in this fantasy is my past experiences, or what I call, the things-I-chose-to-take-to-college-with-me-that-cannot-fit-into-my-carry-on-bag. My experiences, specifically from Herzl Camp, are never too far away from my consciousness. In a way, I feel as though Herzl Camp helped prepare me for college.

Let me begin…

It was the first day of Taste of Herzl back in 2000 and I can still remember how scared I was. I was not scared of being away from home; I wasn’t even scared of making new friends. I had a real reason to cry in the Beth El parking lot. I was scared because I was awful at making my bed. Thanks to the help of my Taste counselors and other staff including my cousin, Todd Sandler, Freshman year of college I got my fitted sheets on with only two tries. Need more evidence? Here is my first date. Final banquet in Tzofim with a girl I’ll call ‘Rosemary’ (for privacy issues her real name will be anonymous). We ate pasta and had a great time and so now it should come as no surprise as to why my JDate profile is blowing up. There is more, read on…. My punctual arrival time and stellar attendance records throughout high school and college did not manifest out of thin air. No, it started with my chugim. Believe it or not I had perfect attendance in World League of Herzl Sports back in 2008 (my glory days). Likewise, chugim, in a way, have served as inspiration when signing up for my college classes. I now know not to take calculus at 8 in the morning just like you would never be caught dead taking basketball right before lunch (sweat does not taste good with tomato soup).

There are countless comparisons between college and camp life, such as the relationship between extended minucha and simply sleeping through class, or not finding a seat in a lecture hall and wandering aimlessly at Shabbat dinner. There has always been one element, however, that will never change between the two. That is the indescribable feeling in my stomach after my last bag is over-packed and I am on my way to an unforgettable place, whether the sign at the end reads Indiana University or Machaneh Herzl.

The last comparison I would like to point out is the anticipation I get during the days leading up to arrival, and the heartache I feel during the days leading up to departure. I worry that my Herzl Camp clock is ticking away, in other words I feel that I am graduating too soon. While a world consisting of music during breakfast and cinnamon rolls every Saturday morning would be great, I understand that there comes a time when everyone needs to move on. My closest friends are getting involved with internships abroad, my younger sister is becoming more mature than I am, even the Rugrats had to grow up at some point. Although I am half way through my college career, and approaching what could be my last days at Herzl Camp, in my heart I still feel like a Taster walking into the Ulam on the first day of camp. My advice to anyone reading this is that you CAN wear a tie to class and still ask your mom to cut the crust off of your PB & J sandwiches.

Shabbat Shalom.

Tags: Jon Savitt, Todd Sandler

No Comments

Everything I’ve learned about Life, I learned at Herzl Camp: Part 8 – Laundry Night

20 April '12 by Herzl Camp Admin, under General Posts, Letters from Alumni, What I Learned from Camp.

By: Max & Zach Puchtel

Max’s Note: Yes, there was a time at Herzl Camp when the older campers did their OWN LAUNDRY!  Check it!  The following is my subconscious memory stream of this event.

It was a dark and stormy night…. “Zach, did you hear what our counselor just said?  We’re going into town to do laundry!  The staff must be totally out of evening program ideas!”

Thrust down into the center of our cabin lay a heap of laundry bags, into which all of our dirty laundry was to be packed.  I examined my own: several pairs of socks thoroughly soaked from puddle-jumping, two t-shirts stained with shaving cream, one pair of sneakers missing the shoelaces and definitly not white anymore, one pair of shorts marred with duct-tape adhesive, three hoodies with various sticks, twigs, and leaves still attached with tree sap, one baseball hat smelling of lem-lem, and all, yes all, of my underwear.  Hmm, I must have been wearing my swimsuit for the past few days.

Packed into vans with our bags of laundry, we all were shuttled into the glorious town of Webster at night, the time and place where all of your wildest dreams come true.  We arrived at Wild Bill’s, received rolls of quarters from our staff, and then were faced with a grave decision: Shall we use these quarters for good?  i.e. to feel clean, sanitary and respectable for the next two weeks?  Or shall we use them for evil?  i.e. to purchase all the types of candy that are not available from Chanut?

“Zach, what do you think of these sugar gummy sour bear worms?  They look gnarly!”  “I don’t know,” replied Zach, “there must be something better around here in this general store.”  We browsed the contents of the attached fishing and hunting outlet, and found the following intriguing options: a bag of live leeches, a 78oz aerosol can of bug spray, various clothing items with unnecessary camouflage patterns, and odd items in the bathroom vending machines that didn’t seem edible and therefore didn’t hold my interest.  “Max, look!  I’ve found the jackpot!” cried Zach, my mastermind brother.  I looked into his hands and saw one of the most valuable items a camper at Herzl can use.  “Done and done,” I said.

Back at camp the next day, Zach and I headed back to our tzrif after breakfast to complete the cabin avodah cleaning.  All the other campers were busy unpacking neatly cleaned laundry into their shelves and generally taking good care of their personal space.  Our counselor came over  to the Puchtel area and said in astonishment, “Max and Zach, your bunk area is a mess, you have clearly embezzled the quarters last night for candy, you are two years apart in age yet you are always together in the same cabin in these blog dreams, yet for some reason there is always a happy ending.”

And there was.  The End.

Shabbat Shalom.

Tags: Max Puchtel, Zach Puchtel

No Comments

Photo Albums and Film Cameras…a Blast from Herzl’s Past

12 April '12 by Herzl Camp Admin, under Benefits of Summer Camp, Letters from Alumni, What I Learned from Camp.

By: Neer Lect, Tripper 1999

The evening before Passover, I sat in my house in Tel Mond, Israel, with my pregnant wife and our “soon-to-be” thinking about Herzl Camp. Camp has a constant presence in my life lately.

My parents did a Pre-Passover clean-up and found my old camp photo albums. The (film) camera I used to take those photos was purchased in a second-hand shop in the Twin Cities while I was on a day off with Yoav, the Israeli Scout. We had to borrow Flip Frisch’s Volkswagen Jetta for our day off because, naturally, we did not have a car at camp. I still own the camera today. Remarkably, it’s still working and in use, though it’s getting harder and harder to find film for it and places to develop it.

Going through the photos, I discovered I still remember some of the faces as well as the names attached to them. I had to use those pictures to try to explain Herzl Camp to my wife.

“This one is from the Kadimah canoe trip…that one from Friday evening…the other one is the first picture taken after Havdallah (because you don’t take pictures on Shabbat… )”

What made me write this post in the first place was a two-fold memory. One was President Obama referring to “matzo-ball soup” in his Passover address. The other one is a spinoff on that, and it’s something I read a while back about Rahm Emanuel, Obama’s former Chief of Staff (and current mayor of Chicago) going to Jewish summer camp as a child.

So, what did Herzl Camp do for me? As a one-time experience, it was a profound one. As a lesson for life, it was the realization that Judaism can be practiced in more than one way and that Jews all over the world have a lot in common. And, that for me, being a Jew comes so naturally that I’m not even thinking about it, but for other Jews who live in the Diaspora it may not be that easy.

I would like to wish you all Chag Pesach Sameach, a Happy and Kosher Passover. And to remind you that there is always a home for you here, in case you deem it fit to come.

!חג שמח ופסח כשר

Neer (far, wherever you are) Lect – Ben Ami

 

Tags: Flip Frisch

No Comments

Let All Who Are Hungry Come and Eat

06 April '12 by Herzl Camp Admin, under General Posts, Holidays, Letters from Staff.

By: Anna Simon

Close your eyes. Ok, wait, don’t really close your eyes. Metaphorically close your eyes. I want you to think about something and really focus on it. So, just imagine you are closing your eyes, Ok? Ready. Go.

What is the meaning of tzedakah…to YOU?

What does it feel like to give tzedakah? Think back to your childhood. When did you first learn about it? Did someone tell you to give tzedakah? Did you talk about spending, saving and donating money in your family? Or, did you learn from watching others? Maybe your parents dropped change into the blue and white metal pushke on your kitchen counter before Shabbos dinner or your older brother had a “save-spend-donate” piggy bank. Perhaps you had extra guests at the seder table because your grandmother felt she must “let all who are hungry come and eat”. Or, maybe your family brought bags filled with canned food to shul with you on Yom Kippur for the annual food drive.

Giving tzedakah as a child or teen can be deeply meaningful and it can also be the spark that ignites a lifetime of giving. This summer, we are helping some of our campers light that spark and get more involved with giving tzedakah. We received a grant from the Jewish Teen Funders Network to create a Teen Philanthropy Board at camp. We receive a small stipend, training for our summer staff, and a curriculum, as well as $1,000 for the campers to distribute to charity at the end of the curriculum.  We are using this to complement our existing B’yachad community service programming where the 10th grade campers provide community service to a variety of local non-profits.  We are very excited about enhancing our community service programming and helping our campers give tzedakah!

This evening, as you gather around your table to tell the story of Passover, think about how you might make a difference in the lives of others. Ask the children and teens around the table how THEY can make a difference in the world by giving tzedakah this Passover. Listen to what they have to say. Maybe they will want to incorporate tzedakah in your seder in the future…a tradition that could be passed down from generation to generation.

Every seder is unique. Every family has their own traditions from the Maxwell House Haggadah or Cajun matzo balls to oranges on the seder plate or a theatrical performance of the Passover story. Whatever your tradition, may you have a happy and healthy Passover! And, may you get through all 1,200 versus of Had Gadya before Midnight.

Shabbat Shalom.

To help your kids learn how to allocate their own money for tzedakah, read “Spending, Saving and Sharing: The Three-Jar System” at Helpful Steps^® for Parents.

No Comments

Working at Camp….The Best Job in the World

30 March '12 by Herzl Camp Admin, under Benefits of Summer Camp, Jewish Camping, Letters from Staff.

By: Drea Lear, Assistant Director

I firmly believe that camp is the best job in the world.  We get to be a part of a community that impacts the lives of children.  We get to leave our cell phones and computers in our offices and play outside.  We get to work with some of the most dedicated young Jews I have ever had the pleasure of meeting. We get to be Jewish educators, mentors, friends, listeners, gaga players, camp counselors. Until recently, I thought of these things exclusively through the lens of Herzl Camp.

Two weeks ago, I had the incredible opportunity, along with Camp Director, Anne Hope, and Director of Operations, Gary Kibort, to attend the Foundation for Jewish Camp (FJC) Leaders Assembly and the American Camp Association (ACA) Tri-State Conference both in New Jersey.  These camp conferences draw 650 and 1200+, respectively, camp professionals and lay leaders from all over the country.

The conferences had their own atmosphere, each with its own goal to accomplish.  Leaders Assembly was meant to connect Jewish Camping professionals to share their experiences, brainstorm creative solutions to common challenges, and celebrate the success of Jewish Camping over the past decade.  Alternately, the ACA Tri-State conference focused on continuing education for camp professionals with sessions ranging from effective food service practices, to staff training, to camper behavior management strategies, to risk management.

The impact of camp hit me like a ton of bricks when ACA keynote speaker, Kevin Jennings of Be the Change, said, “If you can’t support each and every camper in his/her right to be who they are, you should find a new profession.”  As I was emphatically applauding his statement I realized that everyone around me was doing the same.  It was as if, with one mind, 1200+ camp professionals understood our purpose.  We are all working towards the same goal, to give young people (both campers and staff) the opportunity to build their identity.

The more people I met and sessions I attended the stronger that feeling became.  We were learning from one another and beginning to grow a greater camp community.  I came to appreciate that Herzl Camp does awesome things like build community through rituals (i.e. Shabbat Caravan), provide opportunities to try new things through scheduled Tzrif times, and communicate with our alumni community in creative ways (i.e. this blog, Alumni Wednesday facebook updates, reunions).

I also learned new things.  I learned that communicating with our camper families not only provides important camp information, but also builds the foundation for an important Parent or Guardian/Camp partnership where both parties acknowledge that the camper’s welfare is top priority (and I picked up some great ways to enhance this communication!).  I learned that teambuilding activities and icebreakers are not just for fun and creating strong staff morale, but can have an enormous impact on a group’s ability to respond to an emergency.  I learned that within the world of Jewish camping, while we may all have our own affiliations, core values, or mission, we are a group of individuals who are making a difference in the Jewish community and by sharing ideas we can all continue to grow and improve.

In the end, my belief of camp being the best job in the world was reinforced. We get to be a part of a network of camp staff that impacts the lives of children.  We get to play outside knowing that campers and staff all over the country are putting down their cell phones and computers and doing the same.  We get to work with some of the most dedicated young Jews I have ever had the pleasure of meeting. We get to be Jewish educators, mentors, friends, listeners, gaga players, camp counselors. And here’s the awesome part: Herzl Camp is an integral part of a greater camp community, a community that influences not only the lives of our 750 wonderful Herzl campers, but also the lives of over 70,000 Jewish youth all over the country.

Though Herzl Camp will always be in my heart, I now think of these things through a broader lens knowing that our work in Webster, Wisconsin over the past 65 years plays a role in the larger picture of camping.

Shabbat Shalom! It’s going to be a great summer.

Tags: Anne Hope, Gary Kibort

No Comments

When I Fell in Love with Herzl Camp

23 March '12 by Herzl Camp Admin, under Letters from Alumni.

By: Aiden Pink

I can remember when I first fell in love with a piece of music. I was in 3^rd grade, and I went with my dad to Best Buy, because he used to go on business trips that lasted forever and I wanted to spend as much time with him as possible when he was in town, even though I hated shopping more than anything else in the world. Dad bought The Essential Bob Dylan – yes, this was when people actually bought physical CDs – and popped it in the car stereo as we drove home. The second track was “Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right,” and I can still remember the goose bumps I got as it slowly dawned on me that music can mean something. Later that night, I asked my parents to sign me up for Herzl Camp, because if Bob Dylan went there, I wanted to go there too. My first day of Taste was the day after the big Siren tornado. The kids on the bus, no doubt made even more anxious by the debris still blocking the road, probably didn’t appreciate my rendition of “Blowin’ in the Wind.”

I can remember when I first fell in love with writing. I was in Kadimah, and the canoe trip had pretty much been a disaster. The Namekagon was maybe three inches deep for most of the trek. I had two canoe partners: one who never talked, and another who never stopped talking. Neither of them was very interested in rowing. I had forgotten my lunch back at the campsite. The garbage bag holding my sleeping bag split open and fell in the river.  So when we finally made it to the beach, I was in a pretty bad mood. But I channeled that energy into helping to write the Kadimah song, and it was definitely the best one ever:

Let’s get down to business to climb the wall

126 Kadimahniks, we did not fall

We did it in 8:51, and you can bet before we’re through

Herzl we’ll put a show on for you

I can remember when I first fell in love with a girl. I was in Nisiya, so maybe it wasn’t “love” exactly, but it was definitely my first crush. We were on the Nisiya death march journey. She borrowed my bug spray. I caught a Frisbee before it hit her in the face. I asked her to final banquet without making eye contact. She said yes without making eye contact. We sat across from each other at final banquet, too scared to say anything. We avoided each other the rest of the night. Love hurts.

But for some reason, I can’t remember when I first fell in love with Herzl Camp.

My friend Andrew Lifson first  fell in love with Herzl Camp on his Kadimah Shabbat, when he first realized that his responsibilities in picking songs and leading services made him part of a tradition that stretches back 60 years. Ilan Gordon first fell in love with Herzl Camp in Tzofim, when he learned how to sail and won the Herzl sailing regatta. Adam Stillman first fell in love with Herzl Camp in Nisiya, when his Ozrim Jason Shapiro and Todd Sandler pulled a prank, and then swore him to secrecy – and that secret still connects them today.

I don’t have that one aha moment. I have memories – flashes, really – of times when I was so unabashedly happy that I couldn’t do anything but soak it in. Playing 500 with a dirty tennis ball outside the Beitan Chadash. Laughing at a Gates joke because everyone else was laughing – and then finally getting it, and laughing again. Finally – finally! – getting the harmony right in Erev Shel Shoshanim during song session.  I don’t remember how old I was when they happened, or who I was with, or what I was wearing (although the odds on dirty Shabbos whites are high for all three moments). I just know that in those moments I felt a warmth of contentment that I have yet to experience anywhere else.

Those fleeting, private moments were what made Herzl the greatest place in the world to me. There’s just something magical about Herzl’s atmosphere, a mix of ruach and shtick and tradition that can’t really be described, only felt. And if you’re lucky enough to tap into that feeling – planned or spontaneously, privately or with a group – you’ll keep coming back so you can feel it again.

When my younger sister got home from Taste a few years ago, I asked her whether she wanted to go back for Noar the next year. “Of course,” she said, “I love Herzl.” When I asked her why, she struggled a bit, before replying, “Because…because…because it’s Herzl.” I knew exactly what she meant.

Shabbat Shalom.

Tags: Adam Stillman, Andrew Lifson, Ilan Go, Jason Shapiro, Todd Sandler

2 Comments

Ferris, Winona, Madonna and John Hughes…Welcome to the ’80s at Herzl

16 March '12 by Herzl Camp Admin, under General Posts, Letters from Alumni, Letters from Parents, What I Learned from Camp.

By: Eric Lachter

Hi everyone, my name is Eric Lachter and I am a Herzl alumnus.  I was a camper at Herzl from 1980-1986.  In ’87 I was an Ozo (Go Ozrim!), ’88 a counselor, ’89 the Tripper and ’91 I worked on maintenance staff.  I am 42 years old, I have dark curly hair (ok its half gray), and I met my wife, Randi Bernstein at Herzl (she’s still hot 25 years later).

Currently I live far, far away from the shores of Devils Lake, in a place called Mill Valley, which is just north of San Francisco across a red bridge.  I like the west coast a lot for many reasons. In spite of my geographic distance, however, Herzl remains close to my heart. My girls, Sonia (11) and Liza (8), currently attend camp.  They are huge fans and are continuing our tradition of loving Herzl.  We all miss the Midwest – we especially miss our family, close friends and Shabbat dinner at Tzivia and Joel Leviton’s.

I guess the reason that I send my kids 1500 miles away to camp, is that Herzl is the best place I have ever spent time, and the place that I met the best people in my life.  Some of my pals growing up at Herzl were (and still are) Barry Golob, Louis Dachis, Tommy Hoffman, Jon Adelman, Tony Shink, Joel Richman, EJ Clyman, Rich Fogel, Tony Weinstine and so many others.  Oh, and Claudia (Sohn) Richman, who was and is Randi’s pal. I’m pretty sure I owe her for putting in a good word for me with Randi. Perhaps those names ring some bells. Take a look at the photos. It was the late ’80s, and we had Alcapulco Joe, Polo and other blousey awful fashions. Oh, and sorry about the hair. That wasn’t our fault either. It was the fault of John Hughes and Madonna and Winona Ryder.

I think I’m going to keep this short and let you bask in the glow of the photos. But, here are a few things that come to mind about camp.  The first is that what I loved about Herzl, was that it gave me confidence. I learned to stand on my own two feet, be a leader and make friends. And, a lot of those friends, especially Randi, are and were better than me. Herzl made me better. Any of you who know Randi, or my friends, know what I’m saying. These folks are priceless. They are my platoon. I would do anything for them. They complete me.

Oh, and by the way, thanks to my parents, Lou and Muriel Lachter, for spending the dough to send me. It was a life experience that was well worth the investment. But paying for camp was a big deal then and it’s a big deal now.

Here is my last thought…What I like about Herzl, is that it is the one place I have been in my life that is a personality-ocracy instead of a money-ocracy. At Herzl, for everyone the food is the same and the beds are the same and the air is the same. The songs are the same and the services are the same. It’s all equal. It’s like a modern day American kibbutz. It is the place where I could be the most Eric-esque version of myself. The place where my Ericness could shine.

If you see my kids or my wife or my folks or my in-laws, Jack and Gail Bernstein, at the bus, tell em hi. It really makes me happy to know my girls go to Herzl and that they love it as much as I did.

And know that those summers in the late 1980’s at Herzl were the best time of my life (oh, and I have it pretty good now if you’re concerned). I’m glad my kids know your kids. Keep your sons away from my daughters.

Shabbat Shalom.

With Ruach,

Eric

Tags: Alan Einisman, Barry Golob, Ben Gray, Claudia Sohn, Dave Frank, E.J. Clyman, Eddy Kitsis, Eric Lachter, Gail Bernstein, Jack Bernstein, Jeff Rosenberg, Joel Leviton, Joel Richman, Jon Adelman, Lou Lachter, Louie Dachis, Muriel Lachter, Randi Bernstein, Rich Fogel, Scott Muskin, Tommy Hoffman, Tony Shink, Tony Weinstine, Tzivia Leviton

No Comments

Herzl Alumni “Camp”

09 March '12 by Herzl Camp Admin, under General Posts, Herzl, Beyond Webster, Letters from Alumni, Outdoor/Environmental Education.

By: Mike Neiman

First of all, a huge thank you goes out to everyone on the Herzl Alumni Committee who planned Alumni Winter Camp last month. While we had to cancel it due to registration numbers (and, it’s a good thing because there was actually no snow up at camp) I truly believe we can offer it and successfully fill it in the future! Being at Herzl in the winter is a very unique experience.  Until our next Winter Camp, though, I’d like to share my passion for the other kind of Alumni Camping…

Approximately once a year, I go on a big backpacking trip with some of my fellow Herzl Alumni friends. Ever since my first Maba Overnight in 1992, I have had a special place in my heart for sleeping in the woods (overnights are “in tents”), and Herzl has connected me to some great hiking partners and opportunities. Some of my favorite experiences at camp have been on Kadimah Canoe Trips, B’yachad Overnights, and “Teva Excursions” (nomenclature that I lovingly brought to camp), and I’ll never forget the summer of 2003 when I got to do them all as Rosh Teva.

Over the last 10 years, I’ve camped all around Minnesota, Wisconsin, Montana, and most recently California with Herzl Alumni and it always makes me laugh when I think about what Herzl Camp nuances make it into our trips. I’m lucky enough to have friends that share these passions with me, but to have them all be Herzl friends as well makes the experience even more special. A couple Herzl memories that come to mind are:

1. On a trip to Jay Cook State Park a few years back with Aaron & Jenny Hage and Dan & Lisa Rothstein, we were making tin-foil dinners and roasting marshmallows in the rain, just like in our Kadimah Song from 10 years earlier … “it rained and it poured, we ate cold s’mores, we all got wet and eaten alive, but somehow we survived”.
2. Along the Superior Hiking Trail in 2010 with Benjie Kaplan, every water source on our map ended up being a dried up mud pit, bringing back the pain of dehydration from our Machaneh days where 90% of our ailments seemed to get the same medical advice … “drink more water and get more sleep”
3. Last spring in Yosemite National Park, Max Puchtel and Aaron Gelperin joined me on a winter camp trip along the frozen Hetch Hetchy valley trails. We only managed to get lost 957 times, but luckily we had all brought our Wilderness Survival Chug and Teva Trek lesson plans, so we were ready to survive off beetle larvae, melted snow, and abandoned Grizzly Bear caves.

We all love “camping” as it relates to Herzl, but I also love that Herzl Camp helps our community love ”camping” as it relates to the wilderness as well. I’ve seen some great Herzl Legends like Sam Usem and Jared Steyaert become professional outdoorsmen as adults, and I’d like to think Herzl had something to do with that. If not for my years making friends and memories in Webster’s backwoods, I would not enjoy my trips in the wild nearly as much today. Coincidently, Max and Aaron and I will be hitting the trail again this summer as we forge our way through North Dakota’s Grasslands.

Buffalo (and buffalo chipmunks) beware, Herzl is bringing the caravan your way.

Shabbat Shalom.

Tags: Aaron Gelperin, Aaron Hage, Benjie Kaplan, Dan Rothstein, Jared Steyaert, Max Puchtel, Mike Neiman, Sam Usem

No Comments

Two Miles North of Webster, Turn Right onto “Memory Lane”

02 March '12 by Herzl Camp Admin, under General Posts, Herzl History, Letters from Alumni, Music.

By: Flip Frisch

Editor’s Note: Flip will be back at camp once again this summer in the role of Shira “Coach” where she will share her talents (and beautiful voice) with the staff and campers.

I have a terrible memory. I constantly forget song lyrics*, people’s names, where I put my keys. But there are songs, no matter how many times I hear them, that trigger memories and transport me back in time with astonishing ease.

Sometimes a song will elicit a general nostalgia, but other songs trigger very specific memories. There is a melody of Adon Olam I heard as a child at Beth El Synagogue, for example, that to this day still brings back the taste of sponge cake and faintly, somewhere across the room, the smell of pickled herring.

The songs I sing each night to help my daughter fall asleep are mostly songs I learned or sang at Herzl. It’s like I have a standing lights out gig, minus the milk crate and candle. One of her favorites is Dona Dona. I’ve probably sung that song a million times, yet whenever I sing “they laugh with all their might; laugh and laugh the whole day through and half the summer’s night” I’m hurrying back to my cabin after song session, past the tetherball court, avoiding the big puddle. I can also hear voices of other kids leaving the old chadar, and the door nearest the kitchen slamming again and again. Why am I hurrying? Because I’m afraid of “Shabbos kisses.” Boys are gross; I am ten years old.

Another song my daughter falls asleep to is “Where have all the Flowers Gone?” to which my memory traces the walk from flag circle to Mercaz: the slight bottleneck where the road passes between the drainage ditch and cabin 20. Ozrim passing out packets. The gnats mostly left behind.

Debbie Friedman’s Shema V’Ahavta, though I’ve sung it in many other places, nevertheless puts me right back on a Mercaz bench, Friday night. The sun twinkles off tiny waves on the lake. Somewhere nearby sits a boy I have a crush on but who will never know. I make a smooth flat spot in the sand with my sandal.

Cat Stevens’ “Moonshadow” takes me to Kadimah play practice. Our feet have kicked up Ulam dust and I have to sneeze. Someone is yelling at us, not for the first time, you guys, stop talking. I feel I’ve been waiting my whole life to be in Kadimah and can’t believe it’s finally here.

“American Pie” reminds me of our Kadimah canoe trip. “Brass Monkey” brings back faces of the ‘93 Deavers who I lived with that summer. “These Are The Days” reminds me of Havdallah when the ’93 Ozrim fell backward into the shallows of the lake. Anything Steve Miller reminds me of shower parties in the north haks. And don’t even get me started on my shoebox full of mix tapes. A few notes of “I Melt With You” and I’m back in the Ulam for another final banquet. I’m happy, I’m sad. Nothing will ever be the same after tomorrow morning.

So many songs trigger flag song memories that my non-camp friends must think I know alternative lyrics to every song, ever. Billy Joel’s “For The Longest Time” becomes “O O Z O (Good Shabbos) Ozrim ‘89.” “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” now contains the line “A chicken breast, a caravan, a chicken breast, a caravan.” And who could forget John Mellencamp’s “Herzl Good”? Not me, it seems.

A counselor from a summer I lived in cabin 9 played a cassette of the Carpenters every night. I not only remember the feeling of drifting to sleep in a top bunk after having spent a whole day playing and a whole evening giggling, but also listening to those same bittersweet songs on an old record player in my high school library a few years later. Huge green plastic and rubber headphones keeping out the pressures of school while I try to go back in my mind to those happier camp times. Rainy days and Mondays, indeed.

“Mitachat Lashamayim” reminds me of singing with Bryan Grone, “Love The One You’re With” – Aaron Gelperin. And although last summer seems too recent for real nostalgia, I can’t hear “Sounds of Silence” without remembering Bobby Lewis; “Here Comes The Sun” is now forever linked to Yonatan Dotan.

It’s not just music. The fragrance of certain toothpastes elicits memories of the old central haks. Anna Simon recently mentioned the old, smelly tablecloths we used in the old chadar. And just like that, I am right back there again, rolling a red and white checked piece of vinyl onto a PVC tube that hangs on the wall between the chadar and chadar bet. We’ve had pepper steak for dinner. Today, though I approach middle-age, I still get teary whenever I smell diesel exhaust from a bus.

And wherever I am, if I turn from pavement onto a dirt road and hear gravel crunch beneath the tires, I get butterflies. I hear faint strains of “The Herzl Song”. I am home again for another summer.

*Keep me cockatoos cool, Cal, keep me cockatoos cool. um…don’t, um, overchlorinate the pool? Cal, just keep me cockatoos cool. All together now!

Shabbat Shalom.

 

Tags: Aaron Gelperin, Anna Simon, Bobby Lewis, Bryan Grone, Flip Frisch, Yonatan Dotan

1 Comment

Everything I’ve Learned About Life, I Learned at Herzl Camp: Love is Louder

24 February '12 by Herzl Camp Admin, under Letters from Alumni, What I Learned from Camp.

By: Zach Puchtel

If I had to choose just one, out of the millions of things that I learned at Herzl Camp to pass on to my children, it would be the title of this blog.

Now, I don’t want to necessarily claim that I was loudest person ever at camp, but there’s a good chance that I was the loudest person ever at camp. During my camper years, my idols were EJ Clyman, Adam Levien, Chuck Lyons and of course, the ever-hoarse Danny Soshnik. I looked up to these men not because of their chivalrous spirit or charitable intent, no, there was something more profound, more moving that they seemed to possess that could literally send a room into Jewish mayhem.

It was their voice. Whether it was Dodi-Li, Bikkurim, Elbows on the table, or Announcements at lunch, the pure energy that they exercised from their gut always brought campers attention and spirit to their highest excitement.

As a camper, I could only let loose my best Simba impression to echo the summer’s chosen chants. (Ok, I was decently loud as a Yacher)

You need to understand something before I go deeper into this story. Screaming is a thing that we take for granted. I mean, when and where can you openly scream as loud as you please? Camp, maybe a sporting event or at a party with friends? Unfortunately our options for primal growling displays are limited, as certain standards have been established for acceptable decibels in every day living.

In Junior High, Jared Steyaert and I would were called into the principal’s office for causing disturbances in the hall. What were actually doing? Pretending that West Jr. High was the Ulam!! We counted down every day to camp to the tune of “hot cereal”, everyday, at the top of our lungs! “314 more days, 314 more days…” Luckily Mrs. Wolfson was an M.O.T. (Member of the Tribe).

Point being, being loud was something that struck a chord with me early, making noise, and not caring about who heard it. It allowed me to recognize a freedom of speech other than the 1^st Amendment. Learning how to scream taught me how to push my boundaries. Each year I got louder, and each year more kids loved it, and more kids complained that it hurt their ears.

It didn’t matter either way. I love to be loud, especially when it comes to being loud with others! When I coached youth basketball, I would line my kids up and ask them to scream. At 14, there was some inevitable shyness abound. I’d tell them, “You either scream as loud as you can, or you run.” This produced glass shattering results. The point of the exercise, other than its insanely fun nature, was to get the kids to open up together, and to feel comfortable exercising a muscle that perhaps they haven’t paid much attention to.

Being loud can be uncomfortable, and so can standing out. I notice that the louder I am, the more comfortable others feel to be loud as well. It as though everyone wants to scream, but no one wants to be the loudest, or stand out from the crowd. Perhaps this is the greatest lesson I ever received. Don’t be afraid to stand out or be the loudest, because you allow others to push their limits simply by being yourself.

An excerpt from “A Return to Love”, by Marianne Williamson:

“…as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we’re liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others”.

To each and every camper and staff member who will be taking place in the magical summer of 2012, I wish you the loudest, most adventurous, love filled summer of your lives.

Scream until you can’t. L’chaim!

Shabbat Shalom.

Tags: Adam Levien, Chuck Lyons, Danny Soshnik, E.J. Clyman, Jared Steyaert

5 Comments

Summer Camps Make Kids Resilient

17 February '12 by Herzl Camp Admin, under Benefits of Summer Camp, General Posts.

Originally Published on February 5, 2012 by Michael Ungar, Ph.D. in Nurturing Resilience on Psychology Today.

I recently spoke to 300 camp directors about how to make children more resilient to life stress. Summer camps, we discovered, are perfect places to help children optimize their psychosocial development.

After all, summer camps are places where children get the experiences they need to bolster their range of coping strategies. There are the simple challenges of learning how to build a fire, going on a hike, or conquering a high ropes course. There are the much more complex challenges of getting along with a new group of peers, learning how to ask for help from others, or taking manageable amount of risks without a parent following after you.

The best camping experiences offer these opportunities for manageable amounts of risk and responsibility, what I term “the risk takers advantage” (see my book Too Safe for Their Own Good for more examples). The worst camps pander to children as if they are entitled little creatures whose parents are paying big sums of money. Children at camp can’t be treated like customers if they are going to get anything out of the experience. They need to be treated like students whose caregivers, the counselors, know what the kids need to grow.

Camps that pull this off and make kids, especially teens, put away the makeup, stash the iPods, get a little dirty and even a little frustrated while having fun and making new friends, are the kinds of camps that offer children the best of what they need. Looking at those experiences from the vantage point of my research on resilience, I know that camps help our children develop great coping strategies when they provide seven things all children need:

1)    New relationships, not just with peers, but with trusted adults other than their parents. Just think about how useful a skill like that is: being able to negotiate on your own with an adult for what you need.

2)    A powerful identity that makes the child feel confident in front of others. Your child may not be the best on the ropes course, the fastest swimmer, or the next teen idol when he sings, but chances are that a good camp counselor is going to help your child find something to be proud of that he can do well.

3)    Camps help children feel in control of their lives, and those experiences of self-efficacy can travel home as easily as a special art project or the pine cone they carry in their backpack. Children who experience themselves as competent will be better problem-solvers in new situations long after their laundry is cleaned and the smell of the campfire forgotten.

4)    Camps make sure that all children are treated fairly. The wonderful thing about camps is that every child starts without the baggage they carry from school. They may be a geek or the child with dyslexia. At camp they will both find opportunities to just be kids who are valued for who they are. No camps tolerate bullying (and if they do, you should withdraw your child immediately).

5)    At camp kids get what they need to develop physically. Ideally, fresh air, exercise, a balance between routine and unstructured time, and all the good food their bodies need. Not that smores (marshmallows, chocolate and graham cracker treats) don’t have a place at the campfire, but a good camp is also about helping children find healthy lifestyles.

6)    Perhaps best of all, camps offer kids a chance to feel like they belong. All those goofy chants and team songs, the sense of common purpose and attachment to the identity that camps promote go a long way to offering children a sense of being rooted.

7)    And finally, camps can offer children a better sense of their culture. It might be skit night, or a special camp program that reflects the values of the community that sponsors the camp, or maybe it’s just a chance for children to understand themselves a bit more as they learn about others. Camps give kids both cultural roots and the chance to understand others who have cultures very different than their own.

That’s an impressive list of factors that good camping experiences provide our children. Whether it is a subsidized day camp in a city or a luxurious residential facility up in the mountains, camps can give our kids a spicy combination of experiences that prepare them well for life. Add to that experience the chance for a child’s parents to reinforce at home what the child nurtures at camp, and maybe, just maybe, we’ll find in our communities and schools amazing kids who show the resilience to make good decisions throughout their lives.

Michael Ungar, Ph.D. is a Marriage and Family Therapist and the Lead Investigator for the Resilience Research Centre at Dalhousie University. His research on children, adolescents and families includes partners on six continents in more than a dozen countries. He is also the author of ten books including his latest, The Social Worker: A Novel. His non-fiction works for parents include: The We Generation: Raising Socially Responsible Kids and Too Safe for their Own Good: How Risk and Responsibility Help Teens Thrive.

1 Comment

Prayer of a Herzl Madrich

10 February '12 by Herzl Camp Admin, under Letters from Staff.

By: Aiden Pink

Dear God,

Give me inspiration to come up with new and creative ideas for chugim and evening programs. Show me a sign that I’m on the right path, following in the footsteps of Herzl Legends.

Help my team win Bikkurim.

Watch over all of my campers. Help Taste be less homesick. Help Noar make new friends. Help Ha’atid be open to new experiences. Help Tzofim appreciate their individuality, and not succumb to peer pressure. Help Kadimah deal with their hormones. Help B’Yachad be a dugma to the rest of camp. And help Teva Trek not be eaten by bears.

Give me patience when my campers break the rules, and compassion when they need a shoulder to cry on. Give me the strength to survive the long hours, planning programs late into the night and waking up early in the morning. Failing that, give me a large supply of 5 Hour Energy Drink.

Having my campers fall asleep during minucha might be too much to ask, even from You, so at least help them recognize the virtues of silence, if even for an hour a day.

Help me appreciate T’fillot, Shabbat, T’sha B’Av, and all of the unique Jewish experiences at Herzl, and help me share that appreciation with my campers.

I know ghosts don’t exactly square up with Jewish mythology, but even so, can you please make Rosemary leave me alone when I’m shmiring? It’s even creepier now that the Old Chadar is gone.

But most of all, thank You for giving me the opportunity to come back to my favorite place in the world. Herzl is where I feel closest to You, and every day I’m at Herzl is truly a blessing.

Amen.

Tags: Aiden Pink

No Comments

“Once there was a tree…and she loved a little boy.”

03 February '12 by Herzl Camp Admin, under General Posts, Letters from Parents.

By: Anna Simon, Community Relations and Event Manager

Tu B’shevat, the 15th of the month of Shevat, is celebrated as “The New Year of the Trees” and is when the earliest blooming trees in Israel emerge from their winter sleep.

Reflecting back on when I was a child, I recall memories of eating figs, dates and starfruit at Hebrew School on Tu B’shevat. In my room, I proudly displayed a beautiful certificate acknowledging that my grandparents planted a tree in Israel in my honor. And, I read Shel Silverstein’s, The Giving Tree.

In high school, I had the opportunity to dig a hole in the dirt and plant my very own sapling in Israel in the weeks following Tu’ B’shevat. After so many years, of receiving certificates from the Jewish National Fund, it was very powerful to finally be able to put my hands in the dirt and plant my own tree in Israel. It was the first time I had ever planted a tree and it instilled in me a much deeper desire to protect the earth and the trees.

By the time I got to college, I was immersed in the hot environmental topics of the day. I decorated my backpack with earth-loving-tree-friendly buttons. If I saw garbage on the sidewalk, I’d pick it up and put it in my bag to toss at a later time (I know, gross, right?). I was a fierce recycler. I actually hugged trees. I walked everywhere (ok, who didn’t walk everywhere while in college).  I read books by Aldo Leopold, Edward Abbey and Rachel Carson and quoted John Muir.  By then, I had all but forgotten about Tu B’shevat. But, wasn’t it enough that I was trying to save the world and protect the trees?

When I became a parent, Tu B’shevat took on a very different meaning because I wanted to teach my son all about our “New Year of the Trees”. So, naturally, what did we do? We ate figs, dates and starfruit and talked about planting trees in Israel. But, we also took the time to talk about what we could do to help protect the earth…and, of course, we read The Giving Tree.

What is it about that story? It’s so simple, yet so powerful. As a child, it was just a lovely story about a tree who was friends with a little boy. As I got older, it became a story about something much bigger…the trees, the environment, the world. Every summer, as I packed up my bags to head to Herzl, I always had that bright green book in tow. I would sit in the grass, with my back against one of the massive trees at camp and read it to my campers. I lent it to other staff so they could read it to their own campers and we used it as a theme for Shabbat Sichot discussions on a regular basis. Last summer, the bright green book was back in Webster with me again and it will be in my bag when I return to camp this summer.

So, even though I didn’t technically celebrate Tu B’shevat every year growing up, I did it in my own way. My deep connection to the earth was inspired by digging my hands into the soil and planting my first tree in Israel. And, it was nurtured while spending summers at Herzl in the fresh air, among the trees. Maybe I actually have been celebrating Tu B’shevat on a regular basis.

Tu B’shevat begins at sunset on Tuesday, February 7. So, what are you going to do?

Why not try something new? Go outside and hug a tree. Host your own Tu B’shevat seder (check out Hazon’s resources including a family friendly Tu B’shvat Seder Haggadah). Make a list of your “Tu B’shevat Top Ten”: 10 things you can do every day to help protect the earth. Or check out this video in which Shel Silverstein narrates an animated version of The Giving Tree in 1973 and then take some time to think about what you can do to make a difference on this earth.

Shabbat Shalom. And, Happy New Year to all the trees.

No Comments

Herzl Campers Unite…in Morocco!

27 January '12 by Herzl Camp Admin, under General Posts, Herzl, Beyond Webster, Letters from Staff, Where Are They Now.

By: Jonathan Edelman

Herzl Camp staff members Jonathan Edelman and Yonatan Dotan are living in Israel for the year while participating in the KIVUNIM program. KIVUNIM, a program in international Jewish education, provides an intensive academic and experiential encounter with Middle Eastern, North African, Asian and European cultures. 

Tags: Jonathan Edelman, Sam Kaplan, Yonatan Dotan

No Comments

How Far Are You Willing to Push Yourself for Tzedakah?

18 January '12 by Herzl Camp Admin, under General Posts, Herzl, Beyond Webster, Letters from Alumni.

Alumni Joey Finkelstein, Daniel Usem and Adam Grossfield have been selected to participate in the Walk of Shameless Competition presented by Showtime Entertainment. Inspired by the strength and courage of their own Herzl Camp counselor, they have chosen dedicate 5 days to a charity that is near and dear to the hearts of many Herzl Camp alumni….Winning for Winston. 

By: Joey Finkelstein, Daniel Usem and Adam Grossfield

To all Herzl Alumni, Staff, Board Members, Campers, Parents and Future Campers,

We have been selected to compete for big-time tzedakah in what is sure to be a physically demanding and emotionally draining competition over the next 5 days. No, we are not talking about Bikkurim. We are talking about the Walk of Shameless Competition. What is this, you ask? The Walk of Shameless Competition is a live, physical competition where six teams of three individuals will compete to raise money for charities and win money by being the last team standing. Participants take turns walking on a treadmill from 8 am – 8 pm, EST (that’s Eastern Time Zone, not camp time) for 5 days straight. Yes, that’s right people. 5 days straight…on a treadmill. Wednesday, January 18 – Sunday, January 22.

For every minute we are on the treadmill, Showtime Entertainment will donate $1 to a charity of our choice (more on that below). The last team standing will not only win a cash prize for themselves, but will receive a $10,000 donation to their chosen charity! We have been given the team name “Team Carl” based on one of the characters of the show “Shameless.”

We have chosen to raise money for the ALS (commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease) Therapy Development Institute in connection with Winning for Winston. Michael Winston, a former counselor at Herzl (Dan & Joey’s, actually), was diagnosed with ALS at the young age of 24. Michael’s strength and courage inspired his friends and family to create Winning for Winston, a fundraising group dedicated to raising funds for ALS.

So, we need Herzl friends and family around the world to help us WIN this competition for Winston and for ALSTDI!

How can you help? From Wednesday, January 18 at 8:00 am EST through Sunday, January 22 at 8:00 pm EST, we need YOUR votes! Voting is extremely simple. Simply send a text message with the text “Carl” to 74688 or click here and then click the Support #teamcarl Tweet button. There is no limit to the number of times you can vote, so vote early and vote often! In the event of a tie, the winner will be determined based on how many tweets and text message votes each remaining team receives.

We can personally guarantee to each and every one of you that we will NOT get off the treadmill, no matter what obstacles are thrown our way. Your votes will help keep us motivated…especially when we see our vote totals at the TOP OF THE LIST!

Please help us raise $10,000 for ALSTDI and Winning for Winston by voting as many times as possible.

Shamelessly Yours,

Joey, Daniel, & Adam

 

Follow us @TheTeamCarl on Twitter

Tags: Adam Grossfield, Dan Usem, Joey Finkelstein, Mike Winston

No Comments

Who Are YOU?

06 January '12 by Herzl Camp Admin, under General Posts.

Every Friday, you visit our blog in anticipation of what’s next. Is Anne Hope going to post tips for becoming a successful camp director? Are Zach and Max Puchtel going to entertain us with their stories from the glory days? Is Danny Soshnik going to coordinate another Herzl Bracket? Are we going to learn about the history of the Kadimah program? Maybe we’ll see photos of the swimming pool in the Ozo Mo (not likely)? Or, perhaps, we’ll hear advice from a veteran camp parent about what it’s like to send your child to camp for the very first time?

There are so many choices. However, this week we decided to make our blog all about YOU…our loyal readers. We want to know all about WHO you are and learn WHY you read this blog. And, we want to know how we are doing and what topics interest you. Why? So we can make sure we are writing blog posts that inform, educate, enlighten, entertain, amuse or inspire our Herzl family and friends.

So, dear readers, we ask that you take just 5 minutes of your time to complete a brief survey that will help us learn more about you. We promise, we’ll share the results in a future blog so you can see who else is checking in on a weekly basis. Click here to access our survey. The survey will remain open through Thursday, January 12. Thank you so much!

If you would like to learn more about becoming a guest blogger, please contact Anna Simon at asimon@herzlcamp.org.

 

Tags: Anne Hope, Danny Soshnik, Max Puchtel, Zach Puchtel

No Comments

Does Summer Camp Give Kids an Advantage in College?

30 December '11 by Herzl Camp Admin, under Benefits of Summer Camp, General Posts.

Originally Published on December 2, 2011 by Steve Baskin in S’mores and More.

When I started my career as a camp director in 1993, my mother (the “Silver Fox”) shared the following thought with me: “summer camp is like college, but just a little bit early”.

Being a strong believer in my mother’s wisdom, I found myself thinking about this statement fairly often. Summer camp had been a huge part of my personal development as a young man, and had even found its way into my college and graduate school applications. Yet the idea that “camp was like college” did not seem to make sense to me at the time.

Over the past 16 years, I have found that this idea is actually a profound one.

Three years ago, we were talking with a friend whose daughter was in her first year at college. Both mother and daughter had struggled mightily with the separation. “During the first semester, we would talk everyday, sometimes 5 or 6 times. She was so sad and uncomfortable away from home. It really affected her grades and social life. She is better in her second semester, and she only calls once or twice a day. I still worry about her though.”

This conversation reminded me of a speech I heard by Dr Wendy Mogel a few years ago. Dr Mogel is a nationally-known clinical psychologist and educator who wrote the best-seller parenting book “The Blessing of a Skinned Knee”. She shared a story about a good friend of hers whose daughter was a freshman at college at Sarah Lawrence.

Unlike my friend, this woman’s daughter thrived in her first semester in college. She earned exceptional marks (making the Dean’s List) and she became president of the freshman class. During Parents weekend, her mother met the mother of a senior who was president of the entire student body and was weighing various job offers. The two mothers were sharing stories about their daughter’s college experience when the mother of the senior shared an unexpected thought:

“I bet your daughter went to overnight summer camp.”

“She did, but what makes you say that?”

“I am not surprised. I have noticed that my daughter’s friends who had strong freshman years all went to overnight camp at some point. The ones that really struggled did not.”

The contrast of these two freshman experiences (our friends and Wendy’s) compelled me to think about why this might be true. Here is what I came up with.

Going to college presents many challenges, three of which jump out at me:

1. Increased academic rigor (college work is simply harder than high school work)
2. Being away from home and your traditional support system (family, friends, familiar places)
3. Dealing with large amounts of uncertainty (what will classes require, how will I fit in socially, can I deal with this new roommate)

Of course, overnight camp does little to deal with the first challenge of academic rigor, but it helps substantially with both of the other challenges.

Camp helps students adjust to being away-from-home by giving them practice being away-from-home. Campers coming to camp (often as young as Kindergarten or 1st grade) get to experience being separated from home successfully. Certainly, most campers have some homesickness, but the supportive camp community and the fun activities help ease them through this initial challenge. Homesickness is natural. Children will miss their parents.

Further, we live in a society that sometimes suggests to children that they are only safe within eyeshot of their parents. Yet, we parents want our children to grow in confidence and independence so that they can live productive, fulfilling and joyous lives. Camp enables children to experience successful independence. Like college, they are away-from-home. Unlike college, they are in a community committed to their physical and emotional safety.

Camp also helps campers deal with uncertainty. The first week of camp is full of uncertainty: Who are these counselors? What are these traditions? Where do I go? Who will be my friends? Will I be successful? Just like college, there is schedule-related uncertainty (where to go and when) and social uncertainty (who, among this group of relative strangers, will be my friend).

The camper gets to experience overcoming this uncertainty. I like to think of it as strengthening the “resilience muscle.” Having done so, the next experience of uncertainty is easier to handle. The camper who comes to camp for several years gets multiple opportunities to strengthen his or her resilience muscle. By the time they go to college, they are much more confident and resilient.

So the former summer camper arriving at college as a Freshman can focus his or her energy on the challenges of academic rigor, but not worry about being away from home and the uncertainty of a new environment. Other students face all three challenges. Seen this way, it is not hard to understand how camp can help later with college.

Last summer, a long-time camp mom shared her thoughts about her oldest son going out-of-state to college. I asked her how she felt. “I’m going to miss him.”

“Are you worried about his first semester?”

“No way. He has already gone to camp for 9 years, so I know he will be fine. He is so excited to face this challenge. Camp has also helped me – I have had practice being separated from him. He is going to shine at school!”

Later that evening, my wife and I agreed on three things: First, this was one of the nicest endorsements of camp we had heard. Second, we are so happy to think that the campers who have become such an important part of our lives will have an advantage in college. Finally, the “Silver Fox,” once again, was right.

Steve Baskin began his professional career as an investment banker, but chose to leave finance to pursue a career in summer camp and outdoor education. He and his wife are the owner/directors of Camp Champions in central Texas. He is also a co-owner in Camp Pinnacle in North Carolina and Everwood Day Camp in Sharon, Mass. Steve serves as the Treasurer of the American Camp Association and has presented as a speaker at multiple conferences. He believes that the summer camp experience can be the most powerful growth opportunity available to children other than their parents.

Tags: Danny Zouber, Ed Hoffman, Jesse Simon, Tommy Hoffman

No Comments

• HEY HERZL FRIENDS, ALUMNI, CAMPERS, STAFF, PARENTS AND VOLUNTEERS!
• Welcome to the Herzl Camp blog! No matter where you are in the world or how you are connected to Herzl today, you'll find a little piece of Machaneh Paradise here. You'll find stories of Herzl legends, Herzl history, thoughts from camper parents, updates from camp, information on the latest in Jewish camping, parenting tips and more!
  
  Do you have an idea for a blog topic? Would you like to contribute?
  
  Email us!