This summer, the weekly Torah portions were mainly from the book of Dvarim/Deuteronomy and included chapter 8, which clarifies what the Israelites’ perspective should be when they settle in the Land of Israel. The portion warns that even when the Israelites have accumulated enough food, houses and wealth, they should not claim credit for all their success.
Verse 17 states:
Ve'amarta bilvavecha kochi ve'otsem yadi asah li et-hachayil hazeh.
“[When you later have prosperity, be careful that you not] say to yourself, 'It was my own strength and personal power that brought me all this prosperity.”
We are so thrilled with having welcomed 30 brand new campers to Camp Givah and upped our measure of enrollment (camper weeks) 14 % since summer 2017. As I reflect on the successes of this past summer, I am so grateful for the dedication of our loving staff. It’s the hard work of so many people who help support our mission.
Verse 17 states:
Ve'amarta bilvavecha kochi ve'otsem yadi asah li et-hachayil hazeh.
“[When you later have prosperity, be careful that you not] say to yourself, 'It was my own strength and personal power that brought me all this prosperity.”
We are so thrilled with having welcomed 30 brand new campers to Camp Givah and upped our measure of enrollment (camper weeks) 14 % since summer 2017. As I reflect on the successes of this past summer, I am so grateful for the dedication of our loving staff. It’s the hard work of so many people who help support our mission.
“Re’eh anochi noten lifneychem hayom beracha uklalah.…”
“See I place before you today a blessing and a curse….”
-Dvarim chapter 11 verse 26
There is an apparent grammatical issue in this week’s parsha, as the command God issues (re’eh/see) is singular while lifnaychem/you is in the plural form. The sages share that this in
intentional, in order to teach us that God not only values us as a nation (plural), but also values each individual.
At Camp Givah, we value groups (in their plural form) as we cherish their collective performances at Oneg Shabbats, the ruach that they show in shira classes with Aviva and rikud classes with Noa, etc. All the while, we strive to meet each camper’s needs and notice if any camper requires any extra TLC/support. This summer, I’ve witnessed individual campers push themselves to new heights while rock climbing or spelunking, coming out of their shell to participate in
our Cue theater drama elective, mastering new Israeli dances and so much more!
“See I place before you today a blessing and a curse….”
-Dvarim chapter 11 verse 26
There is an apparent grammatical issue in this week’s parsha, as the command God issues (re’eh/see) is singular while lifnaychem/you is in the plural form. The sages share that this in
intentional, in order to teach us that God not only values us as a nation (plural), but also values each individual.
At Camp Givah, we value groups (in their plural form) as we cherish their collective performances at Oneg Shabbats, the ruach that they show in shira classes with Aviva and rikud classes with Noa, etc. All the while, we strive to meet each camper’s needs and notice if any camper requires any extra TLC/support. This summer, I’ve witnessed individual campers push themselves to new heights while rock climbing or spelunking, coming out of their shell to participate in
our Cue theater drama elective, mastering new Israeli dances and so much more!
AThis week at camp, Rachael and I were flowing with ketchup and mustard in support of both teams-the Mowglis and the Simbas (we can’t be biased)! At the same time, our “seven kinds” (Gan, 1-2, 3-4, 5-6, Na’arim, Bonim & staff) were split into the two teams to compete in our annual Maccabiah. Our ruach got to its peak level as our rockin’ Bonim group led the yellow vs. red teams in tremendous competitions. I see parallels between the above narrative and this week’s Torah portion, Eikev. In it, Moshe described the land the Israelites were about to enter as flowing with milk and honey. He listed the Shivat HaMinim/seven kinds (wheat, barley, grapevines, figs, pomegranates, olive oil and dates). While our Shivat HaMinim (7 groups of Givah) are not the same as the biblical ones they do have similar characteristics: From standing tall in new leadership roles (wheat) to being extra sweet to our Shoftim (dates) they really made us proud.
After arriving home from Tuesday’s Great Escape trip, I asked Evan how the trip was for him. Evan replied, “I still think that Givah is better than Zoom Flume or Great Escape.” While he had a great time riding rides, swimming in the wave pool and eating Dippin Dots, it’s nice to know he relishes being back at Givah as I know the rest of our chanichim do as well! I’ve been thrilled to see so many happy faces this week, even despite some inclement weather. Check out the pictures below this article and peppered throughout the Givahton. They show campers enjoying rainy day rotations including Operation, Headbanz, Guesstures, Trouble, Let’s Go Fishin’, coloring, Jenga, chess & checkers. Additionally, campers played mud soccer and four square, along with many other great rainy day activities. I am proud of our staff who kept campers engaged even during challenging rainy days.
Throughout the summer in Limud (Judaic Education) we are focusing on Jewish values. This week in our classes, we learned about generosity/charity. Jamie and I taught about Maimonides’ Eight Degrees of Tzedakah and the campers had an opportunity to debate the order of the eight levels. We discussed how the top level can be related to the old adage: ‘if you teach a man to fish.’ The next few levels include scenarios that preserve the recipient and/or giver’s anonymity. Finally, the levels include how willing/kind the giver is. I was thrilled to hear lively discussions about the order of giving levels and some shares about charitable practices among our campers’ families.
This week, we put the value of generosity into practice, being generous with our time. It was a pleasure to see our youngest campers sing, dance and visit with the residents of the Massry Residence. As well, it was so special to have our 3rd-10th graders help out with packing food packages for the needy at the Shalom Food Pantry. Thank you to both organizations for “hosting” us. The campers definitely earned their “rewards” (seeing a movie and rockclimbing/spelunking).
This week, we put the value of generosity into practice, being generous with our time. It was a pleasure to see our youngest campers sing, dance and visit with the residents of the Massry Residence. As well, it was so special to have our 3rd-10th graders help out with packing food packages for the needy at the Shalom Food Pantry. Thank you to both organizations for “hosting” us. The campers definitely earned their “rewards” (seeing a movie and rockclimbing/spelunking).
As I write this article, I’m witnessing smiling faces of campers and counselors as they ride down water slides and splash in wave
pools. While children can get to amusement parks like Zoom Flume with their family or with other organizations, there is something
magical about attending with Camp Givah. What was so special about this trip is that, prior to heading out for a fun-filled field trip, we
took a moment to learn about the parsha and daven shacharit. After gathering in Temple Israel’s small sanctuary, I asked the
campers if they knew the weekly Torah portion. Campers were able to correctly answer that, in fact, there were two Torah portions this
week. We discussed how the Torah is split into 54 portions, but with only 50 or 51 Shabbats in a year and some cases in which a holiday
falls on Shabbat so that the normal portion isn’t read, there are some interesting alterations to the one-parsha-per-Shabbat plan. One of the solutions is to create double portions such as this Shabbat’s Torah readings. Following this Torah trivia learning session, we began our Shacharit service. Campers sang along (and some helped lead) a rousing prayer session. During it, I told about my best friend who
had visited Zoom Flume before and said the “own” sound upon seeing a huge ride and the “reeesh” sound when going down the ride.
Those of us who have attended Givah in the past likely know where this story is heading……I then explained that there is a song that was
crafted to honor my friend’s experience: Reeshon! Emet Emet
Emet…..
Thank you to all staff who made this trip (and another week at
Camp Givah) so successful!
Announcing our New Givah Babysitters! Feel free to have a night
off and call one of our amazing campers!
Netanel S-[email protected]
Sam T- [email protected]
Zak F- [email protected]
Noa W- [email protected] (available after Labor Day)
Freya D- [email protected]
pools. While children can get to amusement parks like Zoom Flume with their family or with other organizations, there is something
magical about attending with Camp Givah. What was so special about this trip is that, prior to heading out for a fun-filled field trip, we
took a moment to learn about the parsha and daven shacharit. After gathering in Temple Israel’s small sanctuary, I asked the
campers if they knew the weekly Torah portion. Campers were able to correctly answer that, in fact, there were two Torah portions this
week. We discussed how the Torah is split into 54 portions, but with only 50 or 51 Shabbats in a year and some cases in which a holiday
falls on Shabbat so that the normal portion isn’t read, there are some interesting alterations to the one-parsha-per-Shabbat plan. One of the solutions is to create double portions such as this Shabbat’s Torah readings. Following this Torah trivia learning session, we began our Shacharit service. Campers sang along (and some helped lead) a rousing prayer session. During it, I told about my best friend who
had visited Zoom Flume before and said the “own” sound upon seeing a huge ride and the “reeesh” sound when going down the ride.
Those of us who have attended Givah in the past likely know where this story is heading……I then explained that there is a song that was
crafted to honor my friend’s experience: Reeshon! Emet Emet
Emet…..
Thank you to all staff who made this trip (and another week at
Camp Givah) so successful!
Announcing our New Givah Babysitters! Feel free to have a night
off and call one of our amazing campers!
Netanel S-[email protected]
Sam T- [email protected]
Zak F- [email protected]
Noa W- [email protected] (available after Labor Day)
Freya D- [email protected]
Seventeen days ago, I sent out an email to registered families to share some basic ‘week 1 information’ and referenced that I
was looking forward to saying Boker Tov to 95 people on Day One. I was being a little sneaky: counting the ~25 staff members in
my count of people I’d be greeting in the morning. Little did I know that our registrations would continue to soar as we
approached our 2018/5778 season at Camp Givah. On Monday, June 25 I wished a hearty Boker Tov to 122 smiling faces
including 89 campers, 30 staff and 3 bus drivers. As we are getting close to wrapping up the book of Bamidbar (Numbers!), we are
overjoyed that we have so many chanichim with us. What is more important than a number is that we have had so many smiling
faces who are enjoying a Jewish camp experience. One parent shared with us that,when putting his daughter to bed, she
insisted on singing the Shema because “I’m a Givah kid.”
was looking forward to saying Boker Tov to 95 people on Day One. I was being a little sneaky: counting the ~25 staff members in
my count of people I’d be greeting in the morning. Little did I know that our registrations would continue to soar as we
approached our 2018/5778 season at Camp Givah. On Monday, June 25 I wished a hearty Boker Tov to 122 smiling faces
including 89 campers, 30 staff and 3 bus drivers. As we are getting close to wrapping up the book of Bamidbar (Numbers!), we are
overjoyed that we have so many chanichim with us. What is more important than a number is that we have had so many smiling
faces who are enjoying a Jewish camp experience. One parent shared with us that,when putting his daughter to bed, she
insisted on singing the Shema because “I’m a Givah kid.”
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Rachael and I looked at the forecasts and,
On advice of Our resident meteorologist Howie Goldberg, we decided to Transport Givah to Temple Israel midday this past Monday. But what I’m most proud of, is the staff who displayed their best Effort to create an amazing afternoon in the AC. Even DJ GG (Leon Halpert) joined in, leading karaoke sessions for Ruach-filled campers to belt out their best tunes. Forget not the rocket building led by Gregg, the Bar/Bat Mitzvah Like games led by Dahlia and Eliana, the Omanut projects led by Rivi And board games galore. To top it off, sports specialist Dane led indoor soccer. So, from the bottom of my heart, thanks all for a smooth afternoon. |
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