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May 11, 2012 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.
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Two Miles North of Webster, Turn Right onto “Memory Lane”
March 2, 2012 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!
"Here's to Dear Old Herzl..."
Shabbat Shalom.
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The Ultimate Song Session Setlist
March 24, 2011 by Herzl Camp Admin, under Top 10 Lists.
By: Aiden Pink
One of my most cherished memories in my years at Herzl Camp was getting to play piano and sing “Can You Feel the Love Tonight” during Song Session on my last Ozo Shabbat. This is dear to my heart not only because I’m a total ham who loves performing in front of people, but also because Song Session is by far the best part about Herzl, no matter what the Herzl Magic Bracket might say. It has everything that makes Herzl great – continuity with the past, deft mixing of Jewish and secular content, incredibly gifted campers and staff, and little campers sitting a bit too close to fire.
I’ve been lucky enough to have been at Machaneh Herzl through the tenure of six immensely talented Roshei Shira – Flip Frisch, Bryan Grone, Noah Sugarman, Dan “Gordo” Goldschmidt, Jonah Chilton, and Bobby Lewis. Each of them has introduced amazing songs – and in a few cases, wrote new Shironim. So I attempted to the ultimate setlist for Friday Night Song Session, one that would mix Hebrew and English, and older classics with contemporary hits. Bear in mind that my first year of camp was 2001, so I’m not aware of some songs people might have sang back in the day. Also, I’m pretty sure my list would make the lengthiest Song Session ever, but I had an incredibly difficult time cutting it down. I really have a new appreciation for the work that goes into essentially creating a concert every week. Anyway, without further ado, here are my choices.
- “Mitachat Lashamayim” by David Broza. A good, solid pick to start the Song Session, with an added bonus of being easily mashup-able. By the way, look up the English translation to the lyrics; you’ll be surprised to find out that all this time you’ve essentially been singing the Hebrew version of Marvin Gaye’s “Let’s Get it On.”
- “Fire and Rain” by James Taylor. One of my favorites, for no other reason than substituting “Moses” for “Jesus” in the third verse.
- “Waste” by Phish. This one’s not in the book, although for the life of me I can’t understand why. Great guitar solo.
- “Sabbath Prayer” from Fiddler on the Roof. A great duet, and those minor chords are very poignant. This is the second-best song from the best musical ever (the best is “If I Were a Rich Man,” obviously, but that wouldn’t really work on Friday night).
- “Simple Twist of Fate” by Bob Dylan. Yes, I know there are more popular songs by Bobby Z in the canon, but I’m picking this precisely because it’s one of his lesser-known songs. I remember seeing it in the old blue Shironim, but I can’t remember anyone ever playing it. Help me out, alums. I’m really curious: Was it ever sung? Did it sound OK? Any effort to expose campers to obscure Dylan tracks is fine by me.
- “Al Kol Eileh” by Naomi Shemer. Does anyone know why people go “Pshhhhhh” during the chorus? For those who don’t know, the Official Herzl Version™ of this song now has people clapping their hands in air and making a noise like a waterfall. I’ve always wondered who the first guy to do that was. Did everyone at his table give him dirty looks, or think he was crazy? I guess it’s one of those Herzl shticky things.
- “Falling Slowly” by Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova. To the best of my knowledge, this has never actually been sung on Friday night. I think that’s a shame. If there’s one Oscar-winning Irish duet about boats that needs to be sung in the Chadar, it’s this one.
- “Ani V’Ata” by Arik Einstein. By the way, it’s about at this point that the Tasters are asleep.
- “Gravity” by John Mayer. This was probably the coolest single song I’ve ever heard at Song Session, sung by Bobby Lewis and Jonathan Alter with dueling guitars on the first Shabbat of 2010. People were snapping so loud at the end of the song, I thought the roof was leaking.
- “In My Life” by the Beatles. This beautiful song about appreciating friends and memories is incredibly meaningful when being sung to campers and staff who don’t see many of their friends 10 months out of the year. I know it gets me every time.
- “The Circle Game” by Joni Mitchell. This narrowly beats out “Cat’s in the Cradle” to win the “song about growing up way to fast” slot, only because the last verse of “Cat’s in the Cradle” is incredibly depressing, and “The Circle Game” ends on a much more hopeful note. Seriously, I don’t want to leave the Chadar ruminating on parental failure – it’s a total downer.
- “Leaving on a Jet Plane” by John Denver. Yes, I’m assuming that this is the last Shabbat of the summer. Make sure you have a box of Kleenex handy.
- “Tfilat HaDerech” by Debbie Friedman. Really, is there any other choice?
Kadimah, stick around for Israeli dancing. Everyone else, back to your tzrifim. What songs would you put on your ultimate Shabbat setlist?
Shabbat Shalom!
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Top 5 Questions if Thanksgiving happened during Camp
November 21, 2010 by Herzl Camp Admin, under Top 10 Lists.
By Zander Abrams
In the past when I’ve done top 5 lists, they’ve been about things that have happened or currently happen at Camp. But this one is about hypothetical questions, the ‘what ifs.’ So here are the top 5 questions that I would have if Thanksgiving happened during Camp.
1. What would we wear?
On special occasions we wear a certain color: On Shabbat we wear white, Tesha B’Av we wear black, and on Bikkurim we wear whatever team color we’re on. So on Thanksgiving it would make sense to wear a color. I think that orange would make the most sense. But given how hard it is to find white shorts, orange ones would be a real scavenger hunt!
2. Should we do Caravan?
I wrestled with this question for some time. On the one hand, Caravan is a time where hundreds of people come together and sing to bring in Shabbas; but on the other hand November is cold. There’d be more complaining than usual and we could loose a taster or two in the snow. In the face of practicality, I’d have to say no to Caravan.
3. Should we do a song session?
Typically, after a Thanksgiving meal the entertainment is the NFL. But at Camp, there are no televisions. At Camp, music is as much a part of the day as ruach at 7:30 am. At Camp, we find excuses so sing. Of course we would do a song session. This leads me into my next question…
4. What songs would sing at a song session?
If there’s a song session without James Taylor, I don’t want to be part of it. But after that, who would be included? There aren’t Thanksgiving songs and Thanksgiving is not a Jewish holiday. But at Herzl, we have a knack for music. The answer to this is best left up to you all. So what do you think? If there were a Thanksgiving song session, what would be played? [Editor's Note: I am sure Bryan Grone could pull off the Adam's Sandler hit "Thanksgiving Song" from his 1993 debut album.]
5. What would we eat?
Turkey of course!
Enjoy your time away from work and school. Enjoy your meal. Enjoy time with your family and friends. Have a Shabbat Shalom and Hhappy Thanksgiving!
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Herzl Camp Continues to Win for Winston
October 11, 2010 by Herzl Camp Admin, under Letters from Alumni.
By Zoe Stern
A few months ago, fellow Herzl alum Bryan Grone wrote about former camper and staff member Michael Winston and his courageous fight against ALS.
Last night over 350 people gathered from all over the country to help Michael continue his fight. The second annual Winning for Winston raised an astounding $200,000 and heightened the communities awareness of this horrible disease and what it is doing to Michael. To say the community “showed up” would be an understatement. The outpouring of support could not be missed, and was overwhelming. A large part of that community has a connection to Herzl Camp.
As is evident over and over again this group came together and rallied in support of someone who needs it. Included in the evening was a great presentation MC’d by Don Shelby and including a video made by Ben Cohen featuring Michael. Please take a moment to watch it and really understand what Michael goes through on an everyday basis.
To see the video, click here.
The evening wrapped up with a typical campfire song session (sans campfire…I can’t imagine Oakridge would have appreciated that) put on by Bryan Grone and Doug Baldinger. As expected, the singing went longer than scheduled and turned into a 12 Gates episode. I’m pretty sure us Herzl kids would have sat there all night if we could. ALS and what it has done to Michael is heartbreaking, his community will continue to support him in every way possible. Neither Herzl Camp or ALS research is possible without your support.
If you are able, please consider making a donation to Herzl Camp or ALS-TDI. Thank you for all of your past, current and future support.
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“may we be blessed, as we go on our way”
June 15, 2010 by Herzl Camp Admin, under Letters from Alumni.
By Bryan Grone
Many a Friday night song session came to a close with these words. I was blessed to hear them sung by one of the most soothing voices I have heard, and ever will hear, Flip Frisch. I was honored to be able to sing them to campers and staff for my numerous years at camp. And I find solace in knowing the tradition of that amazing moment lives on and on in the woods of Webster.
In writing this blog, I wanted to share how I have personally been blessed by all things “machaneh”, as I have gone on my way from the 54893.
Music is the center of my life, and it ALL started at camp. I was, at one point, a scared, geeky middle-school kid who “sang” Girls by the Beastie Boys at a talent show in the Ulam. I sat in Cabin Aleph with my friends Michael Winston and Doug Baldinger, struggling to pick out my first few notes on the guitar. And then it all began for me. The fireplace stage in the Chadar became my training grounds. Everything I did at camp prepared me for a life filled with music, from playing song sessions and creating music with kids, to generally increasing my comfort level of being on stage and thinking on my feet.
Flash forward to 2010, and all of these lessons learned are helping me in my current career in music. Though my 9-5 has me dealing with the business side of music, I spent the last year leading music for K-6th graders at Temple Israel of Hollywood on the side, thanks to a wonderful connection from Sarah (Raful) Whinston. Though it is nothing like a rowdy mega lunch song session at camp, its still very cool for me to see kids get in a single file line, hands on each others shoulders, parading around the room singing “Bunch, Bunch, Bunch…”, or getting questions from staff on where that amazing Psycho Killer-Eretz Tzavat mash-up came from.
Another Herzl-related blessing in my life manifests itself in my group of friends, a group spread out all across the country (not unlike all of yours), which finds itself always ready to pick back up where it left off. We have had two very large group trips in the last 14 months, each with over 25 in attendance, and nearly all of them Herzl alumnus. The driving force behind these trips has been to get as many of us as we could in one place to spend time with our close friend Michael Winston. As many of you may or may not know, Michael was diagnosed with ALS (commonly known as Lou Gherig’s disease) in October of 2008. Since that time, an amazing grassroots support system has developed in our community called Winning for Winston, a non-profit that works directly with the ALS Therapy Development Institute to help fund the search for a cure to this disease. I’d like to take this opportunity to plug the Winning for Winston site where we have raised over $140,000 so far!!
So thank you, Herzl camp, for all the things you taught me, all the ways you continue to play a role in my day to day life, and for all the ways you will affect me in the future.
“May this be our blessing, amen.”
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Everything I Learned in Life, I Learned at Herzl Camp
April 29, 2010 by Herzl Camp Admin, under What I Learned from Camp.
By The Brothers Puchtel
Part 5
“On the Caravan”
So there we were; me, the guy with the guitar, the girl with the guitar, 20 Herzl guests, Steve Mintz, Minced Meat, Anne Hope, Hope Floats, Bruce Golob, Anna Simon, Jesse Simon, Josh Simon, Simon says, Simon & Garfunkel, Simon Cowell, Nina Simone, Timone and Pumba, Rosemary, Jesse Zimmerman, Robert Zimmerman, Brandon Tagg, Mark “the Dink” Dinken, Bender’s tongue, Zach Freeman, Morgan Freeman, Morgan Fairchild, Mogane David, David and Goliath, Salt & Pepper, TLC, the Torah, and Bryan Grone. (#81, it was an awesome caravan.) Only 1 minute until launch, and Max hadn’t even gotten out of the shower yet. (#82, caravans always form last minute) I shouted towards Max’s room in the new Chadar, “Max, we’re leaving, afo ata?” (#83, Herzl builds Hebrew vocabulary) He shouted back, “Don’t wait for me, I’ll be there, trust me!” (#84 I’ve learned over time to trust this phrase, though it usually means Max is up to something)
We had no choice but to start. I knew the caravan rules, if you hadn’t joined by Tzrif 1, you couldn’t join at all! (#85, if you don’t join the caravan by Tzrif 1, you can’t join at all!) I looked back at the Chadar and out of the corner of my eye saw Max crawling out of his window, and onto the roof. Dressed in whites, and running full speed in Birkenstocks, he took off. (#86, Max has a knack for dramatic rooftop entrances (see Buzzards circa 2000)) (#87, for most this would equal death) A quick kick off of a tree then the climbing wall, and Max was in line a solid 10 feet before we hit Tzrif 1.
“Nice of you to join us Max,” I said casually. “You know me, never missed a caravan, not about to start.” I had to admit, it was a really impressive jump, but now he really smelled just awful. (#88, when you sweat before the caravan, you smell for the rest of the night) With that, Max administered a loving bear hug in hopes that some of my cologne would rub off. (#89, share and share alike) Because I love him, I allowed him to rub under my armpit, and we were on our way…
Passing Tzrif 1 fully entangled and in harmonic unison, I looked around the sea of white and was reminded why I love camp so much. (#90, I love camp so much) From Bim Bom to Shabbat Shalom to Kumbaya to One Tin Soldier, the songs emitted never-ending love as the caravan continued to grow. It seemed as though time, for a moment, was actually suspended within this tiny wooded clearing in Webster Wisconsin. (#91, scientists have concluded that the Herzl Shabbos Caravan does indeed affect the space-time continuum) Now a giant white entourage, we scooped up the last cabins, catching smiles and laughs as we approached the flag circle.
At last, it was time to unveil the flag songs which we had all worked on so vigorously for the half hour before we showered. (#92, all great flag songs are concocted in 1 hour or less) A beautiful creature emerged from the crowd, guitar in hand, harmonica in mouth. (#93, Aaron Gelperin cleans ups well) Goosebumps were stapled to my body as each group eternally solidified their camp experiences of the past week with love, music and humor. (#94, I still have all of my song sheets) (#95, Special shout out to Flip and Melanie Muscoplat, I loved when you guys would sing at camp, seriously, it made my experience, thank you)
Trying to hold back the emotion stemming from recalling Melanie’s version of the Sh’ma (#96, if you never heard this, you never really went to camp), I wrote onward…wow, does anyone have a tissue? Whew, deep breathe, ok I’m fine…(#95, sweet camp memories tend to make me ferklempted (#97, spell check had no suggestions for this word, but you get it, Yiddish, Mike Myers, etc…))
But I digress…where were we now? Ah yes, the caravan. The songs are done, the flags are down, and food awaits us all in the Chadar, where fancy dining tables are dressed to their best. The caravan now evolves from line to wave, as it rolls towards Shabbos dinner. There will be many more caravans before the night is through, some consisting of 4, 3 or as little as 2. No event at camp quite matches the mystique and allure of the caravan; let this be a lesson for all time. (#98, THE SHABBAS QUEEN, SHE LIKES IT CLEAN … and white.)
(#99, the best caravans are the ones that take place after dinner. Drunk with life from the song session, there are few feelings on earth that match being arm in arm, yad b’yad, singing about peace, unison, and love. If it were possible to capture this feeling and deliver it across the world, there would be no war).