Ferris, Winona, Madonna and John Hughes…Welcome to the ’80s at Herzl
March 16, 2012 by Herzl Camp Admin, under General Posts, Letters from Alumni, Letters from Parents, What I Learned from Camp.
Eric, Randi & Claudia (Sohn) Richman
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.
Joel Richman, Barry Golob, Tony Shink, Eric & Jon Adelman
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.
Herzl Shabbat...Sponsored by John Hughes (If you don't know who he was...look him up and then watch all his movies)
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.
Barry Golob, Eric & Louie Dachis
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.
Is that Duran Duranl? Nope, just Tzrif 16. Best hair? Joel Leviton (3rd from L, back) or Jeff Rosenberg (4th from L, front).
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.
Eric & Tommy Hoffman
Shabbat Shalom.
With Ruach,
Eric
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Everything I’ve Learned About Life, I Learned at Herzl Camp: Love is Louder
February 24, 2012 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 1st 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.
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Soup Cheese and BUKKURIM
July 18, 2009 by Herzl Camp Admin, under Letters from Alumni.
By Marc Warren
So let’s set the stage, shall we? It’s the summer of 1992 and I was excited to plan a 10 day USY retreat called LTI. Then one day I received a phone call from Mitch Golob, Jesse Simon and Tommy Hoffman, telling me I should instead think about going to this place called “Herzl Camp” and apply to be something called an “Ozo”. Those guys told me a bit about the job, helped me write an application essay, and promised me that this experience would change my life forever. Well, I decided to take a chance and took their advice. Somehow I got the job, paid the then-$300 dollar fee, and began my first of many journeys up Wisconsin State Highway 35.
So there I was, in the middle of Wisconsin with 23 other young overly-spirited young adults, getting ready for what we were told would be the summer of our lives. And what a summer it was! Sure, 1992 had its share of ups and downs (Sorry Amy), but I look at my first summer ever at Herzl, with immeasurably high memories. I could not wait to tell all of my friends back home all the funny stories that took place, and felt the next summer could not get here soon enough.
Fast forward 12 months and there I am returning for the summer of 1993: Taste counselor (best program at camp), Maba, and one of my favorite cabins ever, Tzrif 3 Session 3. This is the infamous summer where I introduced color wars by screaming B-U-K-K-U-R-I-M over and over again, met Jeff Zoss and Jess Taran, and got to do the airport buses twice. Stories and memories were taking over my everyday conversation when I got home and once again, I could not wait to tell everyone about it and return for another summer
1994, man what a summer!!!!!! That summer everything was perfect. I was a part of a Kadimah staff that I would put up against any gathering of Herzl Alumni in history. That was the year we absentmindedly created a shtick with the “Hot Cereal” cheer, saw a Herzl legend return in Bruce Golob, I did Chiri Bim with Adam Chall … and Mitch Golob, Tommy Hoffman and E.J. Clyman stood on stage and performed the best 12 gates stories imaginable. It was the summer where my Tzrif 4 session 3 dominated everyone in sports (I mean I had Max “Tiny” Puchtel and David “The Putz” Bender, enough said). I look at that summer as the year everyone got along, everyone was there for the kids, and the year Herzl affected me the most.
The summers of 1995 & 1996 where different. 1995 I helped start a new program still in existence today, known as B’Yachad – and in 1996 I somehow was hired to direct another new program called Ha’atid. These are the summers where Herzl taught me that I can’t always be right, that you have to listen to your co-workers, and that someone may have a different opinion and to respect and listen to it. Sure, those words of wisdom may not have been realized until years later, but hey, that’s what being in your 20’s at Herzl is all about!
When I was asked to write this, I thought, what am I going to write about? I don’t have camper memories, and all of my stories come from the staff perspective of DO’s, PH, B&O, etc. But I am honored and proud to have made camper memories while being at camp. I didn’t love all of them, but I still keep in touch with many of my campers. And sometimes they will come up to me around town and remind me of the days I put a smile on their face and a joy in their voice. That feeling is one I hope you all are able to share with me.
When I went to the Herzl Staff of the 90’s retreat, I remember thinking is camp the same? Is the food the same? Does it smell the same? Then I remembered something Bruce Golob told me years ago. He said, “Herzl is such a hard place to change, it has so many traditions that once one stops, three more start.” Over the past 10 years camp has begun to transform itself for the future. The new chadar, a climbing wall, a new ropes course, these were just the beginning. Next summer we will tearfully say goodbye to the beloved orange cabins. I can’t believe in the 60 years of their existence, we haven’t painted them a better color! At this summer’s Alumni camp you and many others can have the opportunity to get one last look at the “old” place that made my memories so strong, before it is replaced by the “new” place that builds so many more for future generations. Thank you for reading my ramble and Shavua Tov!