A Mama and Papa Ozo Challenge
September 9, 2010 by Herzl Camp Admin, under Letters from Alumni.
By Alex Locke
In trying to decide what I wanted my latest blog post to be about, I realized I like when they are interactive. And what gets people excited…. Ozos! And what do we all thrive on… competitions! So… let’s all collaborate and see how well we can do. The challenge: Let’s see how many Mama and Papa pairings we can come up with. I will start with as many as I can name. All you have to do is add any newer or older pairs by leaving a comment. Good luck to all of us… cannot wait to see how many we can come up with.
1987
Paul Schraber
Rondah Mutchnik
1988
Danny Kaplan
Lauren Berman
1989
Tommy Hoffman
Randi Bernstein
1990
Barry Golob
Tzivia Stein
1991
Barry Golob
Naomi Heller
1992
Josh Sohn
Annie Fischer
1993
Matt Lipschultz
Anna Simon
1994
Adam Chall
Ann Fiterman
1995
Corey Firedman
Stacy Kaplan
1996
Jesse Simon
Hope Frisch
1997
Alex Locke (That’s me!!!)
Mira Levie
1998
Danya Kornblum
Kevin Scharfe
1999
Danny Soshnik
Robyn Friedman
2000
Aaron Cukier
Jenny Javitch
And that’s all I can do. A pretty impressive list, if I do say so myself. So… can you add to the list?
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NEWSFLASH: Herzl Alumn Sends Son to Camp!
January 28, 2010 by Herzl Camp Admin, under Letters from Parents.
By Anna Simon
Ok, I realize that there is nothing new and exciting about Herzl Camp alumni sending their children to camp for the first time. This has been going on for years. For more on this topic, read Andy Halper’s blog entry about a girl named Sue (Waldman) Roether [Editor's Note: Or stay tuned for a special guest entry this Sunday...]. I guess it was just a really big moment for me when I registered Z for Taste of Herzl this year. I actually got choked up when I hit the send button. It was such a weird feeling. I wasn’t sad that he was going to be gone for an entire week because I knew I could deal with that. I wasn’t scared about sending him someplace new because we have spent the last two summers at Herzl Family Camp. I was just so overwhelmed with emotion knowing that he will be able to experience something that had such a deep, meaningful and lifelong impact on me. Even though he won’t find my name etched on a wall anywhere, hopefully, he’ll feel my ruach and spirit within camp.
As a former Herzl camper and staff, I hoped Z would WANT to go to Herzl. But, I was cautious about how much I suggested or pushed it. We all want our kids to enjoy the same wonderful opportunities we had when we were young. And, so often we hear about the how Jewish summer camp was one of the most profound experiences of their youth when adults are surveyed. But, you can’t force your child to want to do the same things you did as a kid. And you definitely can’t make them like those things.
That’s where Family Camp comes in. I’m grateful that we had the opportunity to attend it twice (and we’ll definitely be there again in August). Of course, from a selfish standpoint, I wanted to be in the one place in the world where I feel totally free, relaxed and safe. But, I also wanted Z to experience a little bit of the magic of Machaneh Paradise. Plus, the idea of sharing a cabin with Ann (Fiterman) Miller and her son made it even more appealing! We had other friends join us too…friends who did not attend Herzl and wanted to “taste” it before sending their own children. Family Camp was as much of an introduction to Herzl for Z and his friends as it was an opportunity for all of us to begin to let go of the reigns and let them discover camp on their own. As the kids became more comfortable in their surroundings, the parents relaxed a bit and let them run around with friends and the staff. At some point during that first summer, Z turned to me and asked if he could be a camper.
There are so many things I want to tell Z about camp, but I’m holding back. I want him to bring home his own unique and personal experiences. When that bus pulls into the parking lot in June after Taste, I will be anxiously waiting to give lots of hugs and kisses and then sit back to listen to everything that he has to say about camp. Maybe he will give me a list of what he learned at camp. More likely, he’ll share stories and sing the 2010 Ozo Song. It won’t be until much later in life that he will realize what he really learned from being at Herzl.
So, my camp friends, here are just a few things I learned from being at Camp:
- It is possible to be responsible and have ruach all at the same time as demonstrated by Danny Soshnik
- When it rains, go puddle jumping. Sometime during the mid-1980’s, during the all-camp color war, called Bikkurim, it started to pour (um, I mean Heavy Dew as it really never rains at Herzl Camp) just before the camp relay began. Staff could have just moved everyone inside to play rainy day games but they did not. Instead, they started an all-out mud-puddle-jumping extravaganza complete with shaving cream. It was the greatest day ever. I have since learned that in every bad situation or rainy day you can truly find a ray of sunshine.
- Attitude is everything and it is highly contagious
- Nothing compares to having Shabbat services outdoors
- Tan is not the same as white
- Grilled cheese together and tomato soup – what more do I need to say?
- Stepping back to understand the big picture is important
- Being with family at camp is precious, truly…especially when your brother, Jesse, is the co-director (with Beth Shapiro) of Nilakot and gives you a pair of funky, granola pants (yep, I still have mine)
- Community is crucial
- The Northview Drive Inn has the best blueberry shakes…ever
- Toran wheels are really beneficial
- Having a colleague at work as cool as Matt Lipschultz, Tommy Hoffman, Adam Chall and Marcy Simon just makes the job better
- Camp is a frame of mind
- It’s ok to laugh at yourself every once in a while
- If you are wearing a tie dye shirt you are on the tie dye team
- Spotting a bald eagle soaring in the sky is a gift from G-d
- Little things do count and should be celebrated
- Every time I read the word Bikkurim or announcements, I have to sing the songs that go with them
- Treat the earth with respect and keep it clean, even if you don’t get a t-shirt for doing it
- 12 Gates is funny even if you have no idea what they are singing about
- Never mess with Jesse Zimmerman or Ben Gray at camp…ever
- You can lose gracefully
- Flip Frisch’s voice makes me think of and feel Shabbos at camp
- Nicknames stick even after camp
- It’s not ok to jump on a table and yell loudly when there is a bat flying around in the (old) chadar, Barry Golob
- It is ok and highly encouraged to put potato chips on your sandwiches…thank you Stacy (Kaplan) Simon
- Talent shows are awesome
- Singing and dancing during breakfast is a fantastic way to get your day started
- That it is ok for Debbie Minkin or anyone else to break into song or dance at a moment’s notice
- You absolutely MUST sing the Herzl song every time you drive into camp
- Gaga is just plain fun…for everyone
- Flag songs are funny any time
- You have a lot to learn from people both older and younger then yourself
- Eating a freeze pop can make even the smallest bump or bruise feel better
- The Herzl Camp staff and Ozrim are some of the hardest working folks in the universe
- Once a camp friend, always a friend
- There is magic at Herzl
And, finally, here are a few things that Z would like to learn while at Taste this summer (in his own words):
- To canoe by myself
- To be ok with being away from my parents for a long time
- To walk around without getting pine needles in my sandals
- To make a 6-string lanyard
- Make new friends
Shabbat Shalom Everyone!
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I LOVE Herzl Camp
June 26, 2009 by Herzl Camp Admin, under Letters from Alumni.
By Danny Soshnik
It will come as no surprise to those of you who know me that I think about Herzl Camp a lot. By a lot, I mean every day. It seems the further I get from my time at camp – it’s been 10 years since I was on staff – the more I miss it.
Why? My longtime Herzl Heroes are old enough to have kids of their own at camp now. All of my friends who went there with me are long since gone. Even the youngest of Tasters who were there my final summers have moved through the ranks of campers, graduated to staff, Hanhalla, and moved on. It is truly a different era at camp. Yet I find myself longing to be at camp now more than ever. I love looking at the online pictures from the summer Herzl’s website. It may seem crazy to look at a bunch of pictures of kids I don’t know. But, when I look at the unfamiliar faces playing out the same roles I once played, it’s like looking into my own past. Take a simple picture of kids singing in the Chadar. I can practically hear the words of “Miriam’s Song” or “Master of all Things” through my computer screen. I can almost feel the sweat of the floor of the old Chadar beneath my feet on a hot summer day. I can feel the energy when I look at the picture of the kids pulling the tug o war rope as their Madrichim scream at them to pull harder. When I see the kids getting ready for caravan, I think of all the funny flag songs from my era. I still know most of the words to many of them.
There is a certain happiness I get by looking at pictures from today’s camp and knowing that it is, for the most part, exactly like it was when I was there. Invariably, some traditions have changed at camp. Chiri Bim Chiri Baum has long since been retired. “Round the Table you Must Go” got canned for “You Spilled, Hug a Poll”. N’divim and Maba? Gone. Nilakot? Gone and back again. The buzzards fell victim to the Avian Bird Flu. For every crazy Matt Lipshultz, there has been a Puchtel behind him. For every wise Herzl sage like Barry Golob, there’s a Zoe Stern or a Yoda. For every Flip, well, I can’t imagine a replacement.
Though I’m sure they get by. I’m sure most traditions live on, largely as I remember them. 12 Gates has to be the longest running story told in the history of mankind. World League of Herzl Sports, named for the defunct football league shown on the USA Network 18 years ago, continues to be the most popular Chug. Ultimate Frisbee still establishes supremacy. The Kadimah Wall will always be the objective benchmark for the group’s teamwork and collective athleticism. Looking at current pictures of camp gives me peace in knowing that Herzl Camp continues to provide today’s campers and staff with the same life atmosphere which had such a profound impact on my life.
I will be at Herzl Alumni Camp August 7 – August 9. I hope kids older than me are there to show me the way Herzl was before my time. I love Herzl History. And I hope the younger kids are there to show me how Herzl has taken the gifts my generation bestowed upon camp and improved upon them. I hope you’ll be there too – not as a board member, parent, visitor, staff member, or camper. But as an Alumni Camper, reliving camp exactly as you remember and love it. Reliving the Dream. I’m pretty sure that if you challenge me to a wild and crazy game of Hack ‘n’ Sack, that I’ll school ya.
I have no idea what the words are to the “Announcements” song, but you can bet that if you say the magic word, I’ll be the first one up to through your tuchus into the lake. And although I have never met her, I call shotgun in Pam Siegal’s Buick Regal Saturday night. See you in August. Shabbat Shalom!