Kehillah Kedoshah

In the past few months, Cantor Clissold and members of our temple youth group have introduced several new songs. During Shir Chadash, our monthly musical service led by the Cantor and teen musicians, we heard Dan K. lead the song "Kehillah Kedoshah." This song was written and originally performed by Dan Nichols, one of the top songwriter/singers in Reform circles today.

Camp Harlam has been hosting Dan Nichols for the past two days. Tonight, I had the chance to join Carmel (youngest campers) and Arava (7th graders) for an intimate Dan Nichols concert in the "New Beit" auditorium/gymnastics arena. I recognized his second song immediately:

Another great thing about camp: exposure to so much music, so many songs, so many new melodies for worship. I'll need to email the cantor and songleaders from this session to remember them all!

The Meetings Will Continue Until Morale Improves...

In one of my first jobs after college, my boss had one of those office novelty desk plates that said, "The beatings will continue until morale improves." It was a joke that contained the kernel of truth: morale was not good in our office.

Here at Camp Harlam, the morale is very high. It's so high, in fact, that instead of beatings we have meetings. Sure, we have the usual morning faculty meeting and daily gatherings with our assigned camp unit. But we also have a steady stream of visitors who want to meet with us - "machers" from the movement, URJ department heads and others from Union HQ and "the field" (Rabbi Mike Mullen of the URJ Youth Division will be here tomorrow, Rabbi Rex Perlmeter, our new regional director is here today, Abbye Eisenthal, our regional youth director and her equivalent from the PA region have come through), Jewish recording artists come for artist in residence gigs (Dan Nichols is here now), etc... We have "meetings" with all of them to share best practices from their experience and ours. We seek synergy in our efforts and push each other to keep climbing to new heights.

I didn't stay in that first job too long. The endless beatings and data crunching weren't the biggest problem. It was the lack of morale and my realization that nobody wanted to meet with us because they'd rather beat back low morale than meet it (and potentially catch it). It's nice to have so many meetings. I assume they'll continue as morale only improves.

Meet Rabbi Frank, Meet the Camp

Yesterday we had an afternoon meeting with all faculty members and Rabbi Frank DeWoskin, Camp Director. It was unlike most Jewish professional meetings. We meet on the porch of Rabbi DeWoskin’s bunk in our shorts and flip-flops, snacked on Choco-Tacos and cold water while kids played on the field in front of us. Rabbi DeWoskin meets like this with each set of faculty at least once. As an employee of the URJ, he speaks to us about the state of the URJ camping program and answered questions about youth programs and Union stuff in general. As congregational rabbis, cantors, and educators, we give Frank direct feedback on how Jewish camping fits into our visions and programs at home, what we see at camp that “works,” and what could use some improvement. It is a great collegial exchange that produces constructive, forward moving ideas for all of us. I knew Frank as a student (he was two years ahead of me at HUC-JIR in Cincinnati) and I am very proud to see his success and be part of the vital role he plays in educating our children.

We reviewed the latest research about the impact of Jewish camping on the Jewish identity and practices of young people (see the book, “How Goodly are Thy Tents,” or the study, "Limud by the Lake," and the work of the Jewish Foundation for Camping). We talked about the financial and structural state of the camps (Kutz Camp in New York faces challenges, Camp Kalsman in Washington State is booming, Harlam is right on target). We also talked about the financial needs of our campers' families and the importance of scholarships like the JFC’s Campership program and the Jewish Federation of Washington’s Camp Scholarship program. This is our challenge: while camp is one of the most effective means for instilling strong, lasting, positive Jewish identity, it is also one of the most expensive. Camp Harlam has just hired an associate director who will take charge of future fundraising efforts, but the task is Herculean. Camp could use $3 million for facility improvements right now (bunk refurbishing, facility expansion and updating, regular wear and tear replacement)… not to mention scholarships. We talked a lot about Jewish identity, parenting, teaching, and creating a vitalized Jewish world. The bottom line is that Camp Harlam is in great shape and the Union’s camp programs are becoming more and more of a lynch pin in our vision for youth programming and education. I can not urge you strongly enough to come see this camp and send your kids here. The camp’s literature asks: what kind of Jewish children do we want to have? The camp’s program builds those children.

Later, I’ll post one of the great lessons from the meeting: it grew from the field before our eyes as we spoke. But now, we have a dinner out of camp with Rabbi DeWoskin and some other staff members to continue yesterday's conversation and thank the faculty as we approach the end of our tenure. New photos are posted on the album (click here or at right).

Shabbat: A taste of the world to come

An ancient talmudic tradition says: "Shabbat may-ein olam ha-bah (Shabbat is a taste of the world to come). Three things characterize Shabbat at Camp Harlam: Song (Shira), Spirit (Ruach), and Sweetness (Metukah).

The Torah's description of creation says that before everything, "ruach elohim merachefet al pnai hamayim - Divine spirit hovered over the surface of the waters." When Moses passed the leadership mantle to Joshua, the Torah says that the "ruach (spirit)" passed to Joshua. Throughout our tradition, there is a sense that Shabbat taps into that primordial spirit and renews the spirit within us. The spirit of Shabbat at camp is sometimes contemplative and sometimes raucous but always strong and meaningful. The song session at Friday night dinner best exemplified the energetic and exciting spirit that (literally) screams, "Am Yisrael Chai - The Jewish People are ALIVE with pride, love, joy, and community!" This video says it all:

I am so proud to have four MRT campers here to share this experience, proud that MRT supports them with scholarships and my presence here, and proud of my colleagues and all the college aged staffers who work tirelessly to build a strong Jewish future. Am Yisrael Chai!

Rabbi Roos with tonight's havdallah song leaders for the Galil group (Rabbi Doug Sagal of Westfield, NJ is just behind us with helmet and bike). You can see more photos of camp in my camp photo album.

Camp is Two Thumbs Up!

These MRT students (if you know them, you know which ones they are) are having a great summer! No lie... Rachel says, "Camp is awesome! I'm having the best time!" Sara says, "Two Thumbs Up!" Both girls report they are sleeping well (they slept right through a thunderstorm last night), eating well, making great friends (just look at 'em here), and "so excited" they came to Camp Harlam. I told you that you should consider sending your kids here, but don't take it from me. You can see it on their faces.