Who Are YOU?

January 6, 2012 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.

 

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Everything I’ve learned about Life, I learned at Herzl Camp

February 14, 2011 by Herzl Camp Admin, under What I Learned from Camp.

By Max and Zach Puchtel

(An Ongoing Parenthetical List)

Part Infinity

So there we were, Max and I, I and Max, going to see the new IMAX movie. It was supposed to be huge, not to mention that this trip from camp was extra special because never before in the history of Camp Herzl had people gone to see the IMAX, and now Max and I were going.
They wouldn’t tell us the name of the movie we were going to see, but I remembered seeing an ad for the theatre before we had gone to camp that summer. There were three options as I remembered them: Whales, Antarctica Winters, and Batman. Max couldn’t take it any longer. He stood up on the bus and announced to everyone, “I, Max…” I quickly responded, “Yes, we’re going to the IMAX”. He replied with, “Shut upa your face.” I was confused because he was now speaking with an Italian accent, and as far as I knew, we didn’t have any relatives from Ireland.  Luckily we did have a cousin near us who we thought might have an answer. I climbed halfway out the window and shouted to Gelperin, who had latched himself on top of the bus, “Aaron, what movie are we going to see at the IMAX?” He answered, “No, you’re Zach, your brother is Max.” That wasn’t helpful. I threw him an apple, which he caught in his mouth and swallowed whole.

Back inside the bus, Max was nearly hysterical without the certainty that we were going to see Batman. I told him it wouldn’t be so bad if we didn’t see Batman, the other shows were probably great. “I am Batman,” was his response. “No, you are Max.” I said. “I Max?” He said. “Yes, you are Max.” I replied. Gelperin showed his head in through a window, “I told you, he Max.”
This went on for a while longer until we had it straight. I asked Max, “Can I see your iMac? Maybe we can find a schedule on the internet.” Tripper Bobby said, “You want Max’s iMac to check the IMAX?” “Yes,” I responded, “I do.”

He handed me the iMac and asked me who the son of Abraham was. I responded, “Isaac”. Gelperin showed his head, “Yes, you Zach, he Max.” I opened the iMac, thoroughly distracted but determined to find out if we were going to see Batman or not. The IMAX website was down, or the internet was out, I forget which, but we couldn’t find the answer, so we went back to being confusing.

Max said, “What does IMAX say?” I said, “What?” He said, “The IMAX…” I replied, “I’m well aware that you are Max, we’ve been over this. I Zach.” He came back with, “No, you are not Isaac, you are Zach. Take the iMac, look at IMAX for me, Max.”

Roni Kornblum turns around, “We’re seeing Whales.”

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Herzl Camp’s Competitive Eating Challenges

January 2, 2011 by Herzl Camp Admin, under Top 10 Lists.

By Ross Tulman

When I think about being at Machaneh Herzl, both as a camper and a madrich, my mind quickly turns to food and games.  If I wasn’t eating it’s because I was asleep, and if I wasn’t playing it’s because I just got nosh and I was taking a break.  Food and games, either one can provide excellent memories guaranteed to fill your belly or your heart.  But I was never a fan of choosing between my favorite things, more often than not I would find a way to ‘sandwich’ them together (get it?).

Therefore, allow me to introduce you to ‘MAN vs. FOOD: HERZL ADDITION.’  For those of you not familiar with the TV show ‘Man vs Food’ the following detailed description will get you up to speed.

‘Dude eats food.’
-WikiLeaks

All clear?  No?  Google it.  Moving on.

Although the goal of ‘Man vs Food’ is to eat an unhealthy amount of edible craziness, that is not the Herzl way.  In my over-active, over-nourished, under-appreciated  childish playground of an imagination I have devised a series of food challenges that can be participated by almost everyone.  Some are quantity, some are quality, and some are character challenges.

Note: The more difficult challenges require a permission slip signed by a Puchtel.

1.) The Spaghetti Regata – I know it doesn’t rhyme, it’s just a way to have fun with it.  (please refer to first paragraph).  What I love most about Herzl spaghetti, is that it is seemingly neverending…HA, take that Olive Garden.  I also love that Herzl spaghetti is a welcoming meal for everyone.  Whether it’s your 1st, 10th, or 100th session at Herzl, spaghetti will always be there to welcome you.  That is why this challenge is a character challenge.  It is about how, not how much you eat.  It’s your first meal at camp away from parents, so you should not have forgotten all your manners just yet.

Therefore in honor of spaghetti hospitality, the rules for the spaghetti regatta are as follows:

TOP BUN
KETCHUP
TOMATO
LETTUCE
BAKED BEANS
GRILLED ONION
VEGGIE PATTY
SLICED OPEN HOTDOG
MUSTARD
HAMBURGER
BOTTOM BUN
HAMBURGER
MUSTARD
SLICED OPEN HOTDOG
VEGGIE PATTY
GRILLED ONION
BAKED BEANS
LETTUCE
TOMATO
KETCHUP
TOP BUN

Rules for the ‘Mirrored Sandwich.’

1. Must wait until everyone has gotten food, the sandwich is a greedy pleasure.
2. Eat sandwich before leaving the Waterfront.
3. The stacking order must be palindromic (I don’t care what spell check is telling me, it’s a word).
4. Thank the Waterfront Staff.
5. Save room for baked bananas/apples (if no baked bananas/apples are available, stinks to be you).

4.) Bikkurim Lunch Challenge – Shhh … I’ll tell you when the judges aren’t listening…

5.) Chanut Basket Challenge – Because everyone knows the walk back to your Tzrif for after lunch is notorious for causing hunger pains.  This challenge has yet to be attempted, mostly because it is unscrupulously evil, but if you feel the need to try the impossible…

1. Eat everyone’s candy before making it back to the Tzrif. (good luck Tzrif 2)
2. Convince your tzrif mates you were robbed.

6.) Shabbat Lunch – The nugget challenge.  Enough said.  Don’t hurt yourself.

7.) Bikkurim Lunch Challenge – The day everyone looks forward to.  When the spelling bee chanting starts it’s the cue for the entire camp to go nuts for donuts, if in fact the kitchen is serving donuts that day.  The day is nonstop childish intensity.  If there was a Jewish Christmas I imagine it would be spelled B-I-K-K-U-R-I-M. In honor of the energy required to keep up with the most festive of all nonsensical ways to spell Color Wars, I present to you the Shasta Pyramid.

1. This is a team challenge, mostly because there are never enough.
2. The pyramid must be 3 dimensional.
3. No burping, it is quiet lunch.

8.) Final Banquet – Final Banquet is all about feeling special.  We break out the untouched outfit we saved for the last night of camp.  We sit next to our best friends and dine by candlelight.  This final challenge, if you choose to accept it, is to be more mature than the person seating next to you.  No gorging, spilling, dripping, dipping, double dipping, double egg rolling, fighting, biting, lying, pringling, noodling, or being mean.

Food and Games, everything else is just silly.  So remember, there are seemingly infinite places in the world where you could eat a grilled cheese sandwich, but only one place that reminds you that the only thing better than a grilled cheese sandwich is 3 grilled cheese sandwiches.  For those of you yet to graduate from 5th grade, grilled cheese is a metaphor.  But it doesn’t stop there, it is also my subliminal gift to all of you.  After reading this entry, all of you who once loved this meal as I did will be thinking about it until you spend a night at home cooking up a slew of sandwiches and a pot of soup.

You’re welcome.  Happy New Year, and Shavu’a Tov!

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Where Are They Now: Yossi Kakou

December 2, 2010 by Herzl Camp Admin, under Where Are They Now.

By Yossi Kakou

Before I start … a short summary of what I have been doing. Since December 2008, I have been in Yeshiva Ohr Somayach in Jerusalem.  I came on a three week winter break trip, and decided it was more beneficial in the long run for me, and my future family and community, if I took a break from college, and learned what it means to be a Jew. The past two years have been a quest to fill myself with as much knowledge of the Torah as I can, and to deeply embed within myself Jewish values, laws, and traditions, to influence my thought, speech, and deed, and to carry with me my whole life.

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Herzl Magic Bracket: Round 2, Vakedma Region

February 25, 2010 by Herzl Camp Admin, under Uncategorized.

By Danny Soshnik

As you may know, a couple months ago, we launched the “Herzl Magic” Bracket. In a “March Madness”-like bracket, the goal is to discuss and ultimately vote on what makes Herzl so special.  I discussed the Yama region’s first round match-ups here and today will dissect the Vakedma Region.  I want your votes, as my commentary is just a starting point and hopefully not the final determinant.

1    Shabbos Caravan
16  “Swimming” Before Shir Hamalot

This is a classic #1 vs #16 match-up.  You basketball fans out there know that a #16 has never upset a #1, and it isn’t likely to happen here.  I’ve always thought the swimming was slightly entertaining, but the real question is why we are ever swaying in the first place.  The preceding song, “Hiney Ni Muchan,” isn’t pretty enough to warrant swaying, is it?  I always thought swaying was for the Debbie Freedman Havdallah or something else truly beautiful.  Danny’s Prediction:  The big White Snake

8    Thursday Night Cookouts
9    Fish Stick/Chicken Nugget Eating Contests

This is a classic match-ups.  On the one hand you have a great break from the grind of the normal week at camp.   Giving the kitchen staff a night off and getting to watch some poor Madrich struggle with charcoal and undercooked hotdogs while trying to keep the Frisbee out of the fire is great  But, so are the eating contests.  Intermittently banned at camp, the eating contests allowed the boys to separate themselves from, well, the other boys.  Didn’t a Puchtel eat almost 100?  [Editor's Note:  The epic Puchtel vs. Puchtel nugget battle of 2000 may go down in history as the single most amazing chicken consumption experience of all time]. I’d like an update on the current records.  My personal record?  I almost finished 1 fish stick in 1997.  Gross.  Danny’s Prediction:  For me, it’s a toss up.

5    Kitchen Raids
12  Hazak V’almatz

Truth be told, I don’t know how either of these have changed in the modern (New Chadar) era.  Not sure if the kitchen is “raidable” and I would assume Hazak V’almatz is still done, but the new acoustics may have changed things [Editor's Note:  A new Chadar is no match for creative staff and hardware stores that replicate keys]. I remember my first kitchen raid vividly.  It was an all-boys Machaneh raid, led by David Schwartz in 1990.  We successfully snuck in through the Chiri Bim window and took all kinds of good stuff.  Then we heard Mary Lou in the distance and made a beeline for the Sifriyah. Hiding in the dark, we heard Schwartzie get chewed out and fired on the spot.  Boys were crying.  Ricky Ofstein peed in his pants.  But, alas, it was a joke.  Amazing fun.  It should be noted that there was a way to actually sneak into the kitchen involving climbing over shelves near Chadar Bet.  We were taught it my Deaver summer in 1993, and we took literally everything in sight.  What we needed a 5 pound tub of mayo in our Cabin for is beyond me.  Hazak V’almatz is one of those traditions that you have no idea what it means, where it came from, or why we do it.  For all we know, it means “I’m an idiot and here’s why…”  Some of them were creative and funny, but more often than not, the cabin leading couldn’t coordinate 12 voices into one and make coherent sense.  Danny’s Prediction:  This one has to go to the raids.

4    Tzrif Introductions in Ulam
13  Rhythmic Clapping between Lists of Peoples’ Names

There is never a time in the summer with more energy than the Tzrif introductions.  Not even when Bikkurim is announced.  Remember your first summer, sitting there, slightly to totally overwhelmed by all this singing and dancing?  Wondering which crazy counselor would be yours?  Hoping they wouldn’t forget to call your name?  The rhythmic clapping is another one that I have no idea where it came from.  It has evolved.  It used to be a clap in between the names.  Then Jesse Simon made an art form of it and read the lists in an almost rap-like manner to fit the words around the clapping.  Then the clapping took over and didn’t go between the words but concurrently with them, making the speaker virtually worthless because nobody could hear. [Editor's Note:  Or my personal favorite, Ross Tulman version which would simply have him nonchalantly request to "hold all applause until the end"].  Danny’s Prediction:  I like the clapping but I love the introductions.

6    Knock Knock
11  Shake your Booty

Knock Knock is a newer tradition (I think early 90s) during Saturday lunch.  Not sure where it came from but I’m pretty sure it involved Marc Warren.  It got the creative juices flowing for the 30 or so kids near the two yellers on either side of the Chadar.
“Hey Marc Warren!”
“Hey What!”
“Knock Knock!”
“Who’s there?”
“Owl”
“Owl who?”
“Owl bet you’re not reading this Blog!”
“OKAY!”
Shake your Booty is noise pollution – ruach for the sake of ruach.  Don’t get me wrong.  I have asked more people to shake their booty in my lifetime than I have to shake my hand.  But it’s not uniquely Herzl at all, and doesn’t compare with Knock Knock.  Danny’s Prediction:  Okaaaaaaaaaaay!

3     Ozo Play
14   Announcements

The Ozo Play is great.  An opportunity to make fun of the staff, while making campers believe they know what the skit is about.  The best scenes were always the improv ones.  As a staff member it was always entertaining to see the Ozrim imitate you.  Larry Stein did the best Danny Soshnik impersonation ever in 1996.  Announcements would be better if ANYONE knew the words [Editor's Notes:  To fix this very real problem, recent years have actually had the Ozrim teach the song to campers every year at least once]. It’s not uniquely Herzl and now it’s just yell “Announcements” and sing a couple words and get the speaker wet.  Not uber creative.

7     Morning Music and Dancing
10   Mega Lunch

I want to make it clear that I am old school and have always thought breakfast is about the Ozrim rising to the ruach occasion while the rest of camp sleep walks.  It always drove me crazy when an Ozo group would play music so loud that campers couldn’t even converse.  David Schlosberg and I challenged many a boom box to a ruach contest and I’ll have you know that we never lost.  But something good happened over time – like any good Herzl tradition, the boom box evolved.  The music drowning out conversation has been replaced by elaborate all-camp dances … Amazing.  Also, I love mega lunch.  From the reading of the airport bus list, to the lost and found, to the song session countdown, this lunchathon seemed to last for two hours.  I know that on my final day at camp, there’s nothing I’d rather do than sit in an overcrowded, hot, smelly Chadar.  Who need Chugim or Minucha when you can have mega lunch?

2     Flag Songs
15   Elbows on the Table

This one is almost as easy as the first match-up.  Flag songs are amazing.  It used to be that some cabins did flag songs, and others did Israeli dancing at the flag circle after caravan.  Then someone wised up and realized how great flag songs are.  I remember many of the songs I helped write and sang.  Drives my (non-Herzl) wife crazy every time I hear one on the radio and sing my own lyrics.  Elbows on the table is like shake your booty.  It’s not really Herzl.  It’s noise pollution, but it does break up the routine.  Anyone else remember when Bobby Shapiro (Fun Bobby) tried to convince camp that we were singing the elbows song incorrectly?  His version went something like, “Right elbow up. Down! Left elbow up. Down!”  That was in 1995, my Ozo summer.  Guess who played Fun Bobby (brilliantly, I might add) in my Ozo play?  Danny’s Prediction:  “Ha’atid, we’re Leaving, we’ll be back … next summer” (to the tune of Free Falling)

So there you have it.  I don’t see major upset potential in this region, but I’d love your opinions and stories!  Please leave comments below with your votes!

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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!

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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!

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Everything I Need to Know I Learned from Herzl

June 19, 2009 by Herzl Camp Admin, under Letters from Alumni.

By Ross Tulman

I’m 28 years old (biologically speaking of course), and I can honestly equivocate who I am thanks to my years spent at Herzl.  As a camper, an Ozo, and long time staff member, I’ve seen how time progresses and the Herzl World around us changes … but the one thing that hasn’t changed is how much we learn about the world, the wise, the birds and bees, and the bee’s knees while spending summers in Webster, WI.  Truly, “Everything I Need to Know I Learned from Herzl…”

• Boy or a girl … facial hair for a 14 year old is a big deal.
• Everyone runs back to their cabin from the North Hox at least once because even though you are convinced it was a story, thier just might be a clown in the woods.
• Matzah balls regardless of size are always ‘bite size’.
• Waterfront Director is the best job ever invented by g-d … but the girls working Chanut have more power.
• It is NEVER ok to leave peanut butter on a knife before bussing my dishes.
• If you swim the chug before lunch be ready to eat tuna melts in swampy conditions.
• The original title of the movie was “Wet Hot American Herzl”.
• Painting yourselves like X-Men characters for Friday picnic lunch is not only allowed, it’s encouraged.
• Even though you don’t know why, everything is funny on 3 hours of sleep.
• Bikkurim will never be mispelled (unless you are Marc Warren).
• Golda Meir is a handsome woman.
• If you don’t see a Puchtel in front of you, it means they are behind you and you probably have 5 seconds left to live.
• If you are going to fake an illness at camp, make sure the good room in the marp is available.
• Every medical condition at Herzl can be solved with one of three things:  Band Aids, water, and more sleep
• Herzl is one of the few tri-national zionist camps (USA, Israel, Canada)
• ‘Defiance’ is a wonderful movie, but a terrible idea for Chug Gimel.
• Never jump off the chadar into a pile of cardboard boxes, the principles of gravity do not change at camp.
• Everyone is smart until asked to convert their world to “Herzl Time”.
• Vegetarian friends are the best you could ask for … especially Saturdays at 1pm
• Even though “tin” is a very soft and maleable metal it is somehow able to protect a single soldiers flee from endless mountain/valley battles.
• Minucha is like a fine wine, better with age.  As a young cmaper, its a time to play freely and let loose, as you get older it is a time to write letters or court girls, and as a staff member its a much needed hour of zonking out!

I have spent more summers in Webster, WI than in any other city in America.  I can’t think of any place I’d rather be as the sun sets on a Friday evening than walking around the dirt path to the flag circle.  If you miss it as much as me, call up your friends and see who would be willing to walk beside you and sing “Bim Bom” as Herzl Alumni “Relive the Dream” this August.  Shabbat Shalom everyone.

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Buddy Check! 1 … 2… 3… 4… 5…

June 16, 2009 by Herzl Camp Admin, under Letters from Alumni.

Buddy Check sound off!

Check back every Friday before Shabbas, and every Saturday after Havdallah for a special tidbit from your favorite past Herzl buddies.  Did Max Puchtel ever jump out from under the pontoon to scare you during The Lumberjack?  Do you remember when ScottMary ruled the new Chadar?  What about when the Buzzards were a weekly Friday afternoon physical debacle (and Marp/ER visit thereafter)?  Come back each week and let your friends and staff tell you their stories first hand.  And that’s just the beginning, share in them first hand on August 7-9th at Webster when you Relive the Dream.

Draw!

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