An Ode to Herzl Traditions
June 21, 2009 by Herzl Camp Admin, under Letters from Alumni.
By Zander Abrams
Herzl is having a weekend for Alumni of all ages to relive their memories and help sustains their traditions. Traditions? What is a Herzl Tradition? Over Shabbat this week, I contemplated how that word really fits into Herzl for us Alumni that experienced them. Some regard cheers as traditions. Is the Chadar really the Chadar without ruach? Others believe that activities, such as picnic-lunch on Fridays or whites on Shabbat, which have been going on before I was even born, are traditions. So often when arguing about decisions to be made in camp operations people assert that their position is a Herzl tradition and therefore must win out. What they want is what has always been done, and so it should always be done.
As a camper, I was very aware of Herzl traditions. Bender’s “Do It” was an institution in my eyes, as was a Dodi Li challenge to Danny Soshnik. Brandon and the kitchen staff were terrifying, even as a PD I never liked to go into the kitchen alone in fear that I wouldn’t come out! The tradition of Herzl was very important to me, and not straying too far from what I viewed as “Herzl” was my guiding principle as I transitioned to Ozo and bunk staff. With “12 Gates” I always tried to keep the show grounded in simplicity by sticking to the traditional jokes and try not to overdo the production. In fact, my Ozo summer I received feedback from Papa Neiman and Mama Jess that I try to do things too much like how my counselors did, and to me at that time it was not a criticism, rather a complement.
During my years on staff, I saw a transition take place. Silly things that I did with my campers, or with other staff regarding programs or cheers, kids came to see as Herzl traditions on their own. Somehow I had become what my counselors were to me … an conduit of tradition. Therefore, it would seem that “Herzl Traditions” are not static as I thought for well over a decade, but rather dynamic to the wonderful people Herzl employs. They are ever-changing.
So what is a Herzl Tradition? I guess I have only established what it is not. In my opinion, there is only one Herzl Tradition. It is not something tangible, but is what I consider to be the Herzl Canon. The only tradition at Herzl is for camp to be a place where both staff and campers come to be themselves, to be adventurous in a safe Jewish environment, and to be a better person when they get back to Beth El Synagogue at the end of the summer. This change happens over time, be it years or be it decades, but the Canon has remained constant and is the inception for what many have considered to be Herzl Traditions. Remember this Canon and come experience it first hand for the Alumni Camp reunion in August. Relive those traditions so important to you, and see what new ones have evolved since. Sign up now and join your peers for a Shabbat to reember in 2009. Shabbat Shalom!