Machane Herzl, you are so full of Shtick!
May 27, 2010 by Herzl Camp Admin, under Letters from Alumni.
By Mike Neiman
What are Herzl staff known for, greater than any other camp staff? I know what you are thinking, “Mike, obviously Herzl is about the grilled cheese and tomato soup!” … well yes, Alan Garelick would agree with that, but its not where I’m going here. Herzl Camp staff have thrived (thriven?) for over 60 years on one very special quality … Shtick.
You can’t really define “shtick”. It basically is EVERYTHING we do at camp. From our breakfast routines, to programming events, to story-telling, to flag songs, to event introductions, staff games, cheers, chugs, programs, bus rides, waving goodbye to bus rides … everything Herzl does is laced with that wonderful little sweetener … Shtick.
I never realized how big a part of our camp life it is until I spent a summer working on the east coast at a camp that “thought” they had the most creative program in the country. Oh really? You guys have color wars? And you think it would be creative to announce it with a boring son at flag raising? Wooooooooow. Those staff thought they were the greatest creative minds on the planet. And although my summer of ’04 was a fun time, it doesn’t hold a candle to one Shabbat at Herzl. Just think of all the creative uniquities (yep, its a word) along that encompass 24 short hours in Webster. From Aaron Rischall’s 2000 Ozrim “I love Shabbas” introduction at Friday lunch to the 2005 Ozrim tribal drum-beat Havdallah performance, one thing stands out every single summer… Shtick.
I love it. Literally everything Herzl does is enhanced by our creative staff and love for shtick. You can actually find it in every part of the daily schedule. And don’t think that’s a bad thing! Shtick is the heart and soul of Herzl Camp. Its our identify, its our memories, its the tradition and passion that keeps us coming back year after year. Think about it, every part of the day is full of … Shtick.
(i can’t remember the actual schedule, but work with me here!)
7:30: Creative shtick-induced wake-up from your Ozrim
7:50: Flag raising, with (since 2005) … cabin led “shtick”
8:00: “Hey Kadimah, today for t’fillot, we’re doing the whole service backwards!”
8:30: Hot Ceral for breakfast? Someone get Jesse Simon a mic…
9:20: “For today’s Nikayon, the Rate-a-room theme is Saved by the Bell”
10:00: Chug Aleph. Other camps have Aerobics … Psh, Herzl has “Navy Seal Training”
11:00: Chug Bet: Harry Potter Chug is actually playing real-life Quiddich? I’m going to that one!
12:30: Lunch, this can’t possibly have shtick? What’s that Aaron Gelperin? “Cheese is great, I really love it, its’ yellow and orange and green…”
1:30: Minucha. No shtick here. WRONG! Tzrif 11 is reading the blueprints and working out the strategy for tonight’s kitchen raid.
2:00: Chug Gimel. World League of Herzl Sports, need I say more?
3:00: Taste of Herzl is finalizing their dance moves to N’Sync’s Bye,Bye, Bye while B’yachad works on their Avodah ring
3:50: Nosh. Save your milk cartons, we want them for a lifesize statue of Theodore Herzl we are building in Ozo Park
4:00: Roni (Kornblum) Falk, what’s your favorite part of camp? Sadnaaaaaah!!!
5:00: “Hey Tzrif 5″, “Hey What”, “Roof Ball, Tzrif Time, be there” “We’ll School ya!”
5:50: Flag lowering, again with (since 2005) … cabin led “shtick”
6:00: “You spilled, you spilled, hug a pole, hug a pole”
7:00: Ha’atid staff are busy setting up Tochnit Erev, where Nate Wohl will finally get to “wed” his secret love, Rachel Javitch.
8:00: Tochnit Erev! Can you name a program without shtick?? And when its over, get in a big circle and cross your arms, right over left for “Rod Hayom, Shemesh Dom…”
9:00: Lights Out. Tzrif 11′s Black Ops plan to infiltrate the kitchen store room is ruined by a locked door, damn. But wait, Ozo Zander found a key someone must have left behind!
9:30: Laila Tov to David Bender’s rendition of “Go to Bed” (sang to the tune of Semisonic’s Closing Time)
And don’t get me started on specialty days…. (sigh) I love this camp. Shabbat Shalom!
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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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Ross Tulman’s recipe for the ‘Shabbas Sandwich’
February 4, 2010 by Herzl Camp Admin, under Letters from Alumni.
By Mike Neiman
Throughout my tenure on staff, there has been one standard: Shabbas is best celebrated with Ross Tulman. Of the 60 Shabbatot I’ve experienced at Herzl, at least 27 of those were spent sitting across from my aforementioned partner in crime. Sometimes tradition is important, and we had our Shabbas traditions indeed. Sure we would wear our Bon Jovi outfits, or send a camper on a “mission” to steal an extra challah bag, or even demonstrate to the entire chadar the right way to eat a Matza Ball (they’re bite size!) … but the best tradition? The Shabbas Sandwich. I reached out to my good friend Mr. Tulman, and he agreed to make public his genius creation to the world. Warning: Consumption of Shabbas Sandwiches may be hazardous to your Minucha.
The Shabbas Sandwich by Ross Tulman
Ingredients:
3 slices of challah
6 chicken nuggets
Carrots (cooked)
2 potato wedge hashbrowns
BBQ Sauce, Mustard, Ketchup, Honey, etc
Direction:
- When choosing your 3 slices of challah be sure to choose pieces from the middle of the challah, or else you will wind up with an uneven sandwich
- Spread BBQ sauce, Honey, ketchup and/or mustard evenly on the top piece of challah and on the bottom piece of the challah (leave the middle piece plain)
- Place the potato wedges on the bottom piece of challah to make a rectangle
- Place middle piece of bread on top of potato triangles (this part of the sandwich acts as the base)
- Place chicken nuggets in a single file line on top of the middle challah. Do not stack…do not act treif at Herzl
- Slice carrots in half vertically; place the flat side down on top of the nuggets
- Place last piece of challah on top of the carrots to complete the sandwich.
- Enjoy
Update: In recent years, current Herzl’ers Ezra and Adeev Potash have helped keep the Shabbas Sandwich tradition alive. If you find yourself at Camp this summer look to them and their recruited members of the “Super Secret Shabbas Sandwhich Society (a.k.a SSSSS) for a chance to indulge.