Rav Ropes: August 2008

Ok, this time I will give the pictures first - posting below!

Ghedalia Gold Pastor and Friends

Ari Meridy and Friends

Emma Neusner (center) and Shoafim in Zimkudiyah

Ari Meridy (in black) and Machon) in Zimkudiyah

Ghedalia Gold Pastor (center, 2nd row) and Bogrim sing in Zimkudiyah

Ari Meridy in ArtsFest dance in Zimkudiyah

Jeremy Halpern in the Nivonim Play (center, about to jump into crowd)

Jeremy and friends after the play

Micah, Elianna and friend Zoe Kulp prepare for Zimkudiyah (see below)

Gabriel Wolfson plays with Oren

Ghedalia Gold Pastor and friends

When it rains at camp, we do other group building activities, like this one where a group has to move a tennis ball on a ring from one cone to another, avoiding obstacles, without the ball dropping. These build trust and communication skills.

Ari Meridy returns from the Machon trip to Boston

Zoe Fox returning from the Machon trip to Boston

Gabriel Wolfson with his co-counselor

Jeremy Halpern plays with Oren

Elianna on the Wall

Marc teaches Micah what to do on the Wall

Micah on the Wall

Elianna on the way down

Miriam Blumenthal and her bunk play "Ha!"

Spotty internet availability from my cabin have made it a bit more difficult to update this site, so I apologize that it has been a while since my last posting. Camp has continued to be a great experience for me, my family and all of Ohr Kodesh campers and staff. Everyone's spirits are high as we enter the final few days of the summer -- an incredibly remarkable feat, especially given the fact that there has been so much rain (there were only 4 days all of second session where it didn't rain at all.

In addition to my work on the tower (where I have had opportunities to belay Miriam Blumenthal and Evan Szymcowicz in the last few days) and the climbing wall (where I was able to belay both Micah and Elianna), there are so many other wonderful opportunities here.

Last Shabbat, Bogrim (entering 9th graders) decided to have a hashkamah (early morning) minyan -- waking up to daven at 7:15 a.m. and finish by breakfast at 9:00 a.m., thereby giving them the rest of the day "free". I was asked to lead the davenning, with the request that it be both speedy and shabbasdik - my favorite style!

Tisha B'Av is always a difficult day at camp, as I suppose it ought to be for all of us, but the camp did a really nice job of having meaningful davenning, opportunities for study and plenty of options for fasters and non-fasters. I taught a session for a group of Machon/Nivonim campers comparing the rituals of the 3 weeks/9 days/Tisha B'Av with those of Shiva/Sheloshim/Sh'nat Avelut and also had the opportunity to lead the minchah davenning. A highlight of the day for everyone was a showing of Praying with Lior, a movie about a boy from Philadelphia who has Down's Syndrome and his preparing for his Bar Mitzvah. The director, Ilana Trachtman, came to lead a discussion after the film, which I think made the experience especially meaningful. I had mentioned in a previous posting that there are students with special needs in a separate program, but there are also several "inclusion" campers who also have special needs but live in the bunks with other "regular" campers, but have an aide. One of the "inclusion" campers commented after the movie that this was what he had been needing to see all of his life -- how to find his strength and find happiness in life despite his disability.

Last night was the Zimkudiah - a dance and song fest. Unfortuantely, my camera does not capture pictures well when the subjects are moving, so there are only a few that are worth posting here. The pictures do not do justice to the effort and fun that all the campers had.

We conclude camp with a banquet tonight, and then the final Shabbat, which will feature the Nivonim campers -- the oldest eidah, who will be celebrating (and crying through) their final Shabbat as campers. I will return home on Sunday and look forward to being back at Ohr Kodesh on Monday.

I hope you have enjoyed these postings and look forward to more next year!

Evan Szymcowicz on his way up the Alpine Tower

More pictures at the bottom!

After a very restful Shabbat (aided by an unfortunate afternoon thunderstorm), Sunday was a day of transition at camp. Kochavim, the 2 week mini-session for entering 3rd graders, ended, as did Kishroniyah, a specialty program for B-side campers, where Paula Shoyer had been teaching cooking for the past week. This year, we had 5 Kochavim campers from Ohr Kodesh - out of a total of about 30 campers in this eidah. With their departure, and that of the older Shoyer children, the number of Ohr Kodesh kids at camp went down significantly! It was great to have Paula and Andy Shoyer here for Shabbat and to see Andrea Neusner (who was here for a board meeting and to pick up Lilah), Aliza Lerner (picking up Lena) and Pam Edison and Hannah Halpern (who were visiting Jeremy). You will see all of them in the pictures below.

One of the special aspects of Camp Ramah is its programs for special needs children (Amitzim) and young adults (Voc Ed or Avodah). The camp services children with a wide range of physical, mental and emotional challenges and works hard to meet each of their needs. It is amazing to work with the campers and their staff. This past Shabbat, I had the opportunity to do a peulat Shabbat (Shabbat program) with the Voc Ed group and today several Amitzim campers were climbing on the Alpine Tower. It is truly inspirational to see these campers, some of whom are in wheelchairs, working their way up the tower. As I said to one of my colleagues on the Tower, it shouldn't surprise us that they are so great on the tower -- some of these kids face much more difficulty physical and other challenges every day than anything that the Tower provides.

I also had opportunities to belay two Ohr Kodesh students up to the top of the 53' Tower -- Evan Szymcowicz and Emma Neusner. Unfortunately, I only had the camera available for one of them.

Enjoy the pictures below.

Andy Shoyer enjoying a last camp meal with Jake and Joey