I am excited to share my dvar or "piece," as we like to say here at CSL, for our first full Shabbat service of summer 2012. Our theme is "Hineini," "Here I am." It well reflects one of the core goals of the Judaica program - to help our campers (and staff!) think critically about who they are, where they are, and where they want to go today, tomorrow, and throughout their lives.
Shabbat shalom!
-Joy Getnick
CSL Judaic Educator
Summer 2012
Week 1: Hineini
Shabbat shalom, and welcome to our first full Shabbat at Camp Seneca Lake summer 2012. Each week we will recite traditional Jewish prayers, sing songs, and listen to each other’s thoughts on the theme of the week, or as Greg Kreitzer astutely noted last week during the conclusion of staff Shabbat, whatever we want to talk about with some loose connection to an abstract theme. The reality is that regardless of the weekly theme, most people see Shabbat as an opportunity to simply share what’s on their minds, to share a little bit of themselves with our incredibly open-minded, supportive camp community.
Period after period I’ve explained CSL “Judaica” to campers and staff. I’ve explained that Judaica periods are about creating safe space within the chaos of camp life to sit, reflect, share, and learn. It’s a time to ask the questions we don’t always take the time to ask, and in turn, to learn things about each other that we can only learn by asking. It’s a time to think critically about who we are, where we are, and where we’re going.
In this week’s parasha we read the story of Balak, King of the Moabites, after whom the parasha is named, and Balaam, a Moabite prophet. King Balak was fearful of the Israelites and their power, and decided to send Balaam to curse the Israelites so that they would not be able to defeat him in battle. Balaam started off on his journey but was soon stopped, first by God, who instructed Balaam not to curse the blessed Israelites, and then by his own donkey, who refused to go forward. Balaam became furious at the donkey for standing in his way, and began to beat the animal. What Balaam did not see was an angel standing in front of the donkey, reminding the donkey of God’s will to protect the Israelites.
Balaam’s experiences were not particularly unique. Time after time the weekly parasha tells of a conflict between a human and God, of a person wanting to do something one way, and God having other plans. The first example of this is Adam and Eve. Although instructed not to eat from the tree of knowledge, Adam and Eve gave in to temptation. As punishment, they saw themselves as they truly were – humans, naked, with weaknesses – and they became ashamed. God called out to Adam and Eve “Ayekha?,” Where are you? It’s not that God didn’t know where Adam and Eve were physically – God clearly saw them in the Garden of Eden, hiding behind the bushes. God’s “Ayekha?” was a more conceptual question – not just where are you physically, but more of a “Where are you in life?” Adam responded “Hineini,” “Here I am.” Similar to God’s question, Adam’s answer meant much so more than simply “I’m here.” That would have been “Ani po,” “I’m physically right here.” Rather he said “Hineini,” “This is where I am in life…hiding, because I’m afraid.”
Camp provides us with so many amazing opportunities to do things we don’t get to do the other ten or eleven months of the year. How many of us spend time on a ropes course outside of camp, or waterskiing on Seneca Lake? Bonding with our bunk, building a campfire, playing nuke-em? But one of the other wonderful things CSL provides us each season – something we don’t always have outside of camp – is space –space to be us, space to ask questions, and space to share honest answers to the questions others ask of us. But that only works if we start asking each other “Ayekah?” “Where are you?” That only works if we’re willing to say “Hineini,” “I’m here…this is me. This is where I am.” We may love our “hineini” answer, we may not, but only by first assessing where we are, who we are, can we get on track to live the life we want. So I ask you….”Ayekah?” “Where are you?” And if you don’t know, that’s ok. When I really think about the meaning of “hineini,” “I’m here,” I’m not always sure of my own answer. But I do know that CSL is a great place to start finding out.
Shabbat shalom.
