Festivale is something very special for me. Festivale meant that my mother came to see me at camp. Festivale meant another fantastic day with my madrichim and chaverim (and now with chanichim!). Festivale meant (and still means) that I got to do my favorite thing at camp: Israeli dance. Every morning, on our migrash, we start our day with Israeli dance. Festivale takes the ruach from each morning and puts it into a kassum afternoon.
Festivale is also very special for me because our Rosh Rikud is someone whom I have known for almost all of my life, someone who loves Ramah even more than I do and has been there for 30 years. She is the rebbetzin of my shul, and she and her family are very special people. They have been great recruiters for Ramah Nyack and thus have made our shul home to a Ramah community that I love. (Insert here me trying not to be sad about leaving my shul - and saying l'hitraot to this family - as I go off to college.)
Today, at Festivale, I was teary-eyed, not just because of the above, but also because camp ends tomorrow. This summer has been amazing for me; I've taken a lot of risks and done things I've never even dared to do. A few months ago, if you had asked me to teach sports, I would have said, "Are you out of your mind?" Now, if you ask me, I'd say, "Let's get going!" I can't even light a match but I can help build a strong fire. I am incredibly happy and I don't want that feeling to go away.
A few weeks ago I gave the dvar at my shul for Parashat Ekev. I spoke about the messages of Birkat Hamazon and how they related to camp. Here is the end of my dvar:
"There is a reason that so many campers keep on returning to Ramah: they love the community. As a camper and as tzevet, I have been conscious of camp as a kehillah kedosha, a holy community, one where God is present. For me, holiness was expressed not just in how we did tefillah or oneg shabbat, but how we played kadur regel (soccer) with smiles on our faces, or in the details that I put on my karamika (ceramics) projects, or in the hugs I got from my madrichim (counselors), or in the gathering of the entire camp at Zimriyah (our annual song festival), or especially in the dancing we did every morning to begin our day. Today, Zimriyah and dancing in the morning still are holy. So are the hugs that I get from chanichim (campers) who come to Teva and low ropes. This past week was probably the best week in camp for me this summer; at the end of one day, I was pelted with hugs from three of my former campers. If that doesn’t lift the spirit, I don’t know what else would! I can only hope that the chanichim see what I see and feel as I feel. Ramah should also be their special home, home to their best summers.
"I may never know how Ramah will influence the children I meet every day. I pray that one day, each chanich will realize that God was always present in everything they did at camp, from their first interactions with madrichim and chanichim to their last day at camp. Each chanich is touched by the presence of God. In my realization of that fact, I have developed my thinking about just one prayer. If their realization helps to change even the smallest corner of their world, I believe that I have done my job."
I am extremely grateful to Ramah for the environment it has always given me. Ramah has always helped me to grow. So here I am, excited for college but not anxious for camp to end. If camp ran all year long, I don't think I'd mind at all. I hope every camper feels that way; one of my campers last year was excited for kindergarten, but she couldn't stop crying on the last day of camp. I couldn't blame her.
I'm not ready to leave. But maybe I'll just have to put my finger on the pause button and pick up right where I left off next June. I'll be ready to grow even more and to see the smiles on the faces of over six hundred children. After tomorrow, I'll start counting the days again just as I did when I was a camper and bring Ramah with me wherever I go.
Shkoyach!
ReplyDeleteBaruch t'hiyeh!
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