Shabbat discussion periods were also very successful. Youngest and Middle Onondaga and Cayuga did paper bag skits of classic Jewish folktales, while Oldest Onondaga and Cayuga learned about the importance of working together as a community by putting together tangrams in silent groups. Youngest Seneca and Mohawk explored the idea of prayer space, and the importance of creating special space for prayer, Middle Seneca and Mohawk learned about the morning prayers and then made a remix of them using our CSL Songbook, Oldest Seneca and Mohawk learned about the Amidah, and Tusc learned about the ancient census, and what it means to give your "half a shek." A huge thank you to all the staff who helped to run these stations.
During Havdalah we celebrated the upcoming Rosh Chodesh by looking at the moon-less sky, and wished ourselves a good month here at camp.
Please see my dvar below, as well as a wonderful piece by Mohawk counselor, Jake Massa.
'Til next week!
~Joy Getnick~
CSL Judaic Educator
Dvar – Friday night – Week 1
Theme: Time
Shabbat Shalom, and welcome to our first Shabbat of the July session. Each week I try to connect both our theme and my talk to the parasha, or portion of the Torah that is traditionally read. Many of us know the first few parashot. We know the story of creation, of Noah and the flood, and of the complex family dynamics of our forefathers and mothers. But those stories are read in the fall, and by the time we get to summer, our knowledge of the parashot becomes a bit hazy. The premise of every parasha read during the summer months is the same: Jews wandering in the desert. Along the way they receive laws, are killed by plagues, wage wars with other tribes, conquer new land, and learn valuable lessons. Yet in the big picture each parasha concludes the same way it began, with Jews wandering in the desert.
We know that the Israelites wandered in the desert for forty years. During that time every person who fled slavery in Egypt died, ensuring that the new generation of Israelites who entered the Promised Land had only known freedom. In this week’s parasha, Chukat, Moses and Aaron are prohibited from entering Israel. There had been a great drought, and the Israelites argued for Moses and Aaron to quench their thirst. God told Moses and Aaron to take a stick and order a rock to yield water, thus again demonstrating to the Israelites the awesome power of God. Moses disobeyed God’s orders, and instead hit the rock. Although the rock poured forth water, God told Moses that his actions had displayed a lack of faith. As punishment, God decreed that neither Moses nor Aaron would be permitted to enter the Promised Land.
We now know that the Israelites wandered in the desert for forty years. We know of God’s master plan to create a first generation of the new Israelite kingdom that had never known the bitter taste of slavery. Yet what did the Israelites know at the time? When they entered the desert did they think “hmmm, it might be awhile…” or did they think they would reach the Promised Land within days? During this period of desert wandering, how did they structure their time? Did they plan ahead? If so, how far? One day? Two weeks? Five years? Did they wake up each morning hoping today was the day they arrived in Israel, or did they simply live in the moment?
Our theme this is week is the passage of time. Unlike the Israelites, we have a pretty good sense of for how long we’ll be at camp, and as we sit here today we are able to make both short and long-term plans. We can feel empowered to start a hobby, let’s say “swim the lake,” knowing that today we might only swim a few hundred yards, but in three and half weeks we’ll swim much further.
Camp provides us with this wonderful dichotomy between our ability as humans to understand and manage time, and the opportunity to live in an environment where the future is often unclear or unknown. As campers you know if you’ll be here for two, four, or seven weeks, but don’t really know what’s going to happen one day to the next. Although staff are provided with much more information and instructed to plan ahead, the weather is unpredictable, things come up, and plans change. The realities of daily camp life require extreme flexibility. So what do we do? How do we find that balance between a total absence of planning, and planning so detailed we’d be crushed if something changed? I’d like to learn from those Israelites in the desert, unsure of the future, but bolding traveling on, one day at a time. Just like them, while here at camp, I like to make big picture plans for the future, believing with all my heart that things will be wonderful. Yet simultaneously I remind myself that things can change, and that the best I can do is strive to live in the present, one day at a time, taking full advantage of everything CSL has to offer, as though this precious day at camp may be my last. Shabbat Shalom.
- JoyJacob Massa
Almost ten years ago, in 2022, when I was seven years old and in C-1, I sailed for the first time. The waterfront was smaller and sunfish were the main boats used. On that particular day, Sara Fuerstein took Billy Werksman and I out, all three of us crammed on the sunfish. She showed us how to sit to balance out the imaginary cow that was the sail, how to aim the boat across the lake, and when we got bored, how to sing that “Rambler Gambler” song.
Now, almost ten years after the first time I sailed, the waterfront has gained hobies, a party boat, and hunters. And finally I have become the teacher. Yesterday, I sailed a hunter with four Oneidans, demonstrating to them how to avoid capsizing, how to point upwind, and how to appreciate a clear, sunny summer day in the middle of Seneca lake.
As Sara taught me, and I taught those four Oneidans, I came to understand how these teachings transcend time. The information does not just dissipate; rather it constantly progresses from the past, through the present, and into the future.
