Hebrew/ Yavneh Dictionary

To the non Yavneh people:

I have come to realize that there are a few of you out there reading this blog who have never been to Yavneh before. Through the course of this blog, I naturally use terminology that is either in Hebrew or directly associated with camp, which the common person is not familiar with. Therefore, on the right side of the blog, there is a running dictonary of words that are central to Camp Yavneh. I did not include all of the words I use, so if you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask (or send me an email)

To the Yavneh people:

If you think that there is a word that I should define because it is important for understanding our camp, let me know. I will add it. Even if you don't think its important, but you think the definition should be there anyway, also let me know. Either post in the comments section or send me an email.

Guest Post: Camp Names

For this blog post, I am switching it up a bit. I have a friend named Lucie who attended a Girl Scout camp in California, and through the course of a few conversations with her on the bus, I have learned a lot about how her camp works. I have asked her to write a post about something that her camp does that I find very intriguing. I would never say our camp should do this, but I think it has implications for us, and we can learn from another’s experience.

Throughout her blog post I want to you to be thinking about two things. One I want you to realize that what she is saying is certainly a very foreign concept for us, but at the same time, if she or anyone else who is not a Yavneh person were to come to our camp, they would find what we do quite strange as well. We have to realize that we exist in a bubble, but there are thousands of other bubbles out there that have their own way of approaching their issues. Second, on a deeper level, even though we don’t change our names, at camp we have the ability to change ourselves. At camp, we take on different identities, doing things we would never do during the year. I have heard countless times that people think they are a totally different person at camp than at school.  I know I am different outside of camp than I am in it, and this fact has taught me more about myself than I could have ever imagined.

Bio:  Lucie is one of Yoni’s fellow mechanical engineering graduate students at Northwestern.  She hails from California and has been involved in different Girl Scout camps in one form or another for most of her life, but the bulk of her camp experiences come from her three summers working at a residential camp in the Tahoe area. This camp’s summer consists of four to six sessions, each one week long, with a new set of campers for each session.  Staffers stay for the whole summer, and CIT’s stay for two, three, or four weeks, depending on their level.

Although I'd never even heard of Camp Yavneh before, I took an immediate interest in Yoni's blog because as a camper in Girl Scouts, I can relate to many of the stories and situations he describes.  So many camp experiences are universal that in reading his stories, I can find my own camp.  The games, the cabin names, the goofy songs and stories, the daily and weekly routines, the dramas, the skits, the things that change or stay the same from one year to the next, and yes, even the lice checks.

            But of course, at the same time all camps are run very differently, and the one aspect that Yoni asked me to expand upon was our convention of camp names.  I don't know how far this practice extends, but in Girl Scouts generally counselors, and occasionally campers, go by camp names.  Your real name you keep secret.  For instance, the name I went by as an adult: Willow.  Not very original in the way of camp names, but it suits me well.  Other names I can think of off the top of my head: Song, Tiger, Tutu, Gecko, Peanut, Bear, Sarge, Maverick, Goonie (shortened from Lagoon), Sasquatch, Skipper, Pinkie, Blondie, Indi and Jonsie (identical twins), Tic-Toc, Cheddar, KitKat, Jester, Dobbie, Gollum, Freckles, Doubledork...  I could keep going and going because for me each of these names holds the same emotional punch as for any person naming their camp friends.

            These names are in no way official, so people can and occasionally do change them from one year to the next.  But people generally stay with what their friends know them as.  Experienced staffers will show up to staff training with their names already in place, while the new ones spend the next few days choosing their own camp names.  Returning staff will tell them to pick their favorite candy bar, cartoon character, animal, or anything.  Sometimes names are chosen very quickly: I can remember one afternoon break a returning staffer reclining on a cot and doling out new staff names like candy.  "Got any Disney characters you like?" she'd ask, and within fifteen minutes, Abu, Chip, and Starfish were named.  Other staff members deliberate for longer, sometimes switching a day or two into a different camp name.  One staff member took the full two weeks of training to choose a camp name, and I was so used to her real one I kept accidentally using it in front of the campers.  Fortunately, though, her real name, Kat, short for Katharine, gave me some leeway.

            "Go give that to Kat." I instructed one camper.

            Her brow wrinkled.  "Who's Cat?"

            "Oh!"  My brain did a double take.  "I forgot.  Cat's not here.  Go give that to Twinkle."

            Because real names are such a secret, it's the goal of all campers to find them out.  Towards the end of the week, some campers will come straight up and ask us to tell them (often the answer is "Sorry, but no," or just "Guess,") but others will go to impressive and, yes, frightening lengths to uncover them.  Once an older camper approached me asking me for more staff names, and she showed me her notebook with all the staff and CITs listed in one column and most of the real names filled out in the next column.  She must have done some serious sleuthing because she even had the anomalous spelling of my name right, and I never give out my real name, a firm personal rule of mine.

            This conviction is rooted in my junior high and high school days as a PA, program aide, at summer day camp.  There it was the trend among PA's to give out fake real names if the campers pressed too much.  So I tried it once and gave one girl my middle name, Anne.  I immediately felt guilty, not only because I hate lying, but also I had the feeling that she'd remember it for a long time.

            She proved me right when I ran into her in the streets a year or two later.  As I passed her by she called out to me in a sing-song voice, "I know your real name!"  She leaned forward and whispered conspiratorially, "Anne!"  Too embarrassed to correct her, I smiled and nodded and passed on.  She probably still remembers that fake name, and I still feel bad.  So now if any camper asks, I just tell them I don't give out my real name.  I don't want to lie about it, and, as proven by the girl with the spiral notebook, any leak of the truth can travel far and fast.

            I suppose a lot of you reading this now are wondering, why this secrecy?  Why this separation?  From reading Yoni’s blog, it seems you all keep a strong connection between campers and counselors even well outside of camp.  The first reason I thought of was tradition.  Every Girl Scout camp I’ve been to has had these camp names, which includes the fun of choosing silly names and allows people to express a bit of their personality through their names.  However, then I remembered the older and much less amusing reason.  Because Girl Scouts is such a large and high profile organization, keeping our real names secret can offer some needed protection.  The smallest offense done by anyone can easily be blown out of proportion by the media or the population at large.  If the only name a disgruntled parent or camper can offer is a fake one, it could save us a lot of trouble.

            Despite their disconcerting origins, camp names are an endearing fixture of camp life.  Even staffers amongst themselves go by camp names, even outside of camp.  Look at my phone's contact list, and you’ll find names like, “Dapples” and “Stooge.”  There's this moment that happens at the start of every summer when you meet a new staff member.  If they're new to camp names, there'll be a beat when they introduce themselves as they wonder, "What name do I give?"  Returning staff will give you their camp name right off the bat because they know it's the only one that matters.  We hardly know each other's real names.  That is, until we friend each other on facebook once the summer ends.  But before that, unless someone started on their real name during staff training, we won't know anyone's real names until some afternoon on a lazy break in the staffhouse when the conversation turns to names.  The question, "What's your real name?" will be passed around, and everyone will comment, "Wow, you don't look like a Sally," or, "Yeah, I can really see you as a Becky."

            For me, though, camp names complete the transformation from normal life to camp life.  My "real" life is so different from my camp life that I do play the part of a different person, and the camp name helps solidify that.  Deep into the summer, I'll respond less readily to my real name and, like all names, start responding to words and phrases that sound like my camp name ("pillow" or sometimes even "hello" for Willow).  Willow truly is my alter ego, and when I'm in camp, my alter ego becomes Lucie.  As Willow, I can sing and dance almost anything in front of the entire camp, things I could never do as Lucie.  Getting called Willow for that first time in June is just another reminder of camp's myriad of other worldly possibilities.

The Meaning of Tradition

On one of the last days of June, you hop into the car/bus/plane with one destination in mind. Your heart races and your stomach does a flipturn with every minute that passes, as you journey on into more and more rural territory. The cows flash by and the cornstalks grow taller, and you know you’re getting close. As you see the sign for Camp Yavneh, your parents make a right turn onto Lower Deerfield Road, the boundary between the outside world and camp. You cross this threshold every year - it signifies the beginning of something great.   As you wait in line to go into camp, the Kerem girls’ counselors greet you. You recall how last year and the year before, the Kerem girls’ counselors are always the greeters. It’s something you’ve come to expect, part of the process of re-entering the camp world. You are then instructed to help the Kerem kids unload your bags into the appropriate pile in Sadeh Yarok, and then you’re sent to get a lice check under the Pavilion. As you walk to your bunk, you pass parents, campers and counselors, some of whom you recognize, others you don’t.  Your facial expression mirrors that of the other campers around you – a mixture of disbelief, pure excitement, and a hint of nerves. It’s the same every year.

The second you get through that screen door to your bunk, you encounter a mad house: parents trying to set up their kids’ areas, campers nervously meeting and happily reuniting, and counselors running around, trying to appease the parents. After all the parents have left, your counselor tells you to go down for Mifkad.   As you walk down the boys/girls path,find your place in line, and begin singing the Star Spangled Banner, it finally hits you. “I am in camp. I am ready for the start of the summer.”   The first day of camp – the first hour, even –has become a tradition for each of us, one that we take part in individually but we experience collectively.  It is a series of events that we expect every summer. The first-day-of-camp tradition opens up a summer full of traditions that define those 8 crucial weeks of the year.

It is tradition, Masoret, culture, attitude, or custom that keeps our camp, and every other camp, cohesive and comforting. If camp were a human, the buildings, programs and people would make up the body  but the history, customs, and traditions would represent the soul. Buildings are torn down and rebuilt, programs succeed and fail, and the people come and go, but  masoret is the thread of continuity that preserves Yavneh’s integrity and identity. We love camp because it is constant, reliable and dependable. We know Zimriyah happens first month, and Maccabiah second, and we know on Shabbat we get brownies before davening, and M&M cookies at seudat shelishit, and we know about the birthday Eurovision song, and “bumbumbumbum good Shabbas.” We love the consistency, the tradition. It’s like watching our favorite movie over and over again. It’s the same thing, but it never gets old.

It’s not only the intangible things, but the physical ones as well. Debbie Sussman recently told me a story about someone asking her when she was planning to redo the Kerem boys’ bunk. She didn’t tell me what she answered, but she did reveal that this person had never attended Yavneh. The Kerem/Maalot boys’ bunks are so enriched in years of tradition, which makes living on waterfront so special. It is not about living close to the middle of camp (even though this helps as well) that makes it so popular. It’s about knowing and valuing the sacredness of the building. I call this the phenomenon of ‘looking up.’

What do I mean by ‘looking up?’ As most people know, the Kerem and Maalot bunks contain names from the 1960s and plaques from the 1980s. When the kids arrive, they feel honored to be able to sleep in the same place past members of Kerem and Maalot slept. So what do the kids do? They read, reread, and re-reread every single plaque in these buildings.[1] They represent a portal into the past, a “synopsis” of that particular year. To creators and the readers of the plaque, this is what Yavneh represents, the names and the memories of past campers.

However, not all traditions are created equal, and a lot of them serve different purposes. I have divided camp tradition into three categories.

The first group consists of everything that falls into the subject of camp history. These are the stories, memories, camp lore, and conversations about camp. This is what the plaque represents to the Kerem campers, why people debate which year was the best Kerem ever, and is the only aspect of camp to which people can hold onto outside of the summer. My blog certainly fits into this category as well.  From a philosophical standpoint, tradition includes talking about camp customs and rituals just asthe foundation of Judaism is retelling the story of our ancestors. Therefore, I feel that the act of conversation revolving camp is part of the tradition.

The second category to camp tradition is everything relating to the mission of our camp. This is not limited to the five-paragraph mission that is on the camp website, even though this is important as well. Within the definition of Camp Yavneh I am including big programs like Maccabiah, Zimriayah, and KTV. Here, I’m including defining Jewish characteristics like pluralism, Shabbat, and our dedication to our heritage. This also encompasses the structure of our aydot, the daily grind of our schedule and our dedication to freedom and responsibility.  I would finally include the intangibles like building unshakeable friendships, the desire to remain consistent and just simply having fun. Without these traditions, these goals, Camp Yavneh would cease to be the camp that I know, that I love, that I cherish.

The final category, which most people identify as real camp traditions, are what I call memes. According to Wikipedia, a meme (rhymes with cream) “identifies ideas or beliefs that are transmitted from one person or group of people to another. The name comes from an analogy: as genes transmit biological information, memes can be said to transmit idea and belief information.”  There are a billion aspects of camp that are passed down from one summer to the next, from one generation to the next. Smaller ones include the counselor rad hayom, the Naaleh letter and M&M cookies. Larger ones include Relish, Havdalah, and a$$ ball. Newer ones encompass Tzipori, Mar Milon and the Yavnotes, where older ones include Kerem leading Zmirot, Yom Sport, and the Kerem play.  All of these things and countless others define each summer. As in the case of the older traditions, it might define ten, twenty or even the thirty summers in a row. However, the beauty of a meme is that once you are handed the idea, information or tradition, it is yours to own, and yours to change (on purpose or by accident). A tradition might be a particular way one year, and completely different another year - and that is perfectly alright.  For example, I was talking to a member from Kerem ‘05 who did not return to camp as counselor, and he asked about a$$ ball. I told him the rules about the bounces and touches, the fact that people play during the day, and the fact that it is mostly played with shoes. His response was something along the lines of, “It’s too bad, because when I was in Kerem, we played it a better way. This new way is totally wrong.” I disagree. Camp in 2005 is not camp in 2011. The campers and counselors of 2011 have  every right to take ownership of their summer and morph Yavneh into a better place. We must be able to recognize and appreciate that every year camp traditions change – and this is fine, natural, and good.

We need traditions at camp to provide continuity from summer to summer. But we need to realize that it is expected for our traditions to change each summer and facilitate growth. From year to year, the things we hold dear will not disappear[2] because that is what contributes to the good of camp. The structure of Mifkad might change a little bit, but I hope that the sense of the camp gathering every morning and evening will not. The superfluous parts of the memes will disappear, just as human genes evolved to dictate how we behave today.

I will never go back to camp and say I am upset about a changed tradition. I will be perfectly content to return to a camp where the everyday traditions are unfamiliar to me. My camp will always be in my heart, but my perception of camp is only mine; I should not be the one telling others what is good or bad about camp. As long as people are still telling and retelling Yavneh history and the camp continues to live up to its mission, Camp Yavneh will be my home. And as long as campers continue to get that jittery feeling of anticipation as they round the corner of Lower Deerfield Road on that fateful first day – the very same feeling I got each of the thirteen years I returned - I’ll know that Yavneh is not too far off from the place I know and love.

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[1] EDITOR’S NOTE: “The looking up phenomenon happens in girls' bunks too. It’s actually even more interesting because up until recently, the Kerem girls’ bunk changed year to year, so there are plaques all over the place. Because the plaques are so widespread in the girls' area, it can be argued that the looking up phenomenon starts even earlier than Maalot in the girls area.” I agree.

[2] Yes, the rhymes and the reference to On and On is on purpose. 

More Zman Chofesi Please? The Never-Ending Debate of Privileges at Camp

Camp, like any organization, functions properly because everyone has a specific role, each with its own responsibilities. The upper staff and administration spend the entire year planning for the summer; the counselors, roshei aydah, teachers and staff represent the workforce of the camp; the Kerem are the “emotional” leaders, the group that other campers look up to and want to be; and the campers are the reason that the camp exists in the first place. Within each group, there exists a purpose that the members strive to achieve. However, I have come to notice that there is often a breakdown of communication that exists between the different staff categories, causing a lot of unnecessary strife, reproach, and bitterness.

At some point during the summer there is almost always a significant breakdown in communication between Kerem and the upper staff. There are few meetings that require both of these groups together,, and when they do happen, they are usually for a specific purpose. Debbie Sussman, over the past few years, has spent an hour each month on Shabbat afternoon talking with the kids about topics they care about. In these meetings, Kerem campers have the ability to raise any camp-related concerns and issues they might have . There is no question that this is a step in the right direction; however, these short meetings represent only a snippet of the kids’ true perspectives. The counselors and rosh play a critical role when it comes to the communication between these two groups, however debate over a particular issue usually erupts when either side doesn’t understand the other’s point of view. The upper staff might the decide something that upsets the campers, leaving the counselors and rosh stuck in the middle: is their role to support the desires and needs of their campers or, as employees of the camp, are they the bearers of upper staff’s decisions?

What exactly is it that upsets kids so extensively, and with such predictability each and every year? Well if you didn’t read the title of the post, I will tell you: privileges. Every year, no matter what, kids expect to have more privileges by the end of the summer. In particular, they expect to have the things that they “thought” that they saw past Kerems get because that is what they were “promised”.  One example of this comes from a member of K’08:

“One negative thing about Kerem was the way in which upper staff would react to our role in camp. At the beginning of the summer they would always say, "If you are good, you will get more privileges," but I felt that couldn’t have been farther from the truth. After consistently showing ourselves as strong leaders of the camp, we were never rewarded (at least in the ways that former Kerems were). Even after a member of our aydah was kicked out, we responded without disrupting camp's normal flow, and were never once commended on how maturely we handled the situation as an aydah.”

The following demonstrates another mentality typical of campers entering their Kerem summer. This is from a conversation with someone who will be in Kerem ‘11.

“Some privileges that I am expecting are more freedom and trust from both upper staff and counselors...I think that we should be able to have as many BBQ’s as the older Kerems had…Its a bonding time between both the aydah and the counselors.”

For me, after living on the waterfront for years, this sentiment is in no way unique. This is how campers in Kerem feel about their privileges. The problem is that campers are misled into thinking this logic is true, when in fact, they are mistaken in thinking there are “promised privileges” in the first place. Upper staff usually contends that

A)   they never promise any increase of privileges at the end of the summer besides extended curfew during Macccabiah  The kids are often drawn into this logical fallacy when their counselors mistakenly make a promise they can’t fulfill. They say, ”You will get more things at the end of the summer,” as a way to rebuke the kids at the beginning, but have to deal with angry and upset kids at the end when the promise is left unfulfilled.

B)   The current Kerem almost always have an inaccurate understanding of how previous Kerems were rewarded. They remember mostly the last week - when Kerem is up late at night for Maccabiah - not the first seven weeks when they have to be in the bunks by 1030. Both upper staff and Kerem have valid perspectives, but since only one side makes the rules, the other feels immense frustration and vents to their counselors who have absolutely no control in the matter.

It is clear to me that this situation needs to be remedied, because the same exact problem happens every year. Nobody is happy with the situation as it currently stands: Upperstaff is improperly blamed for reneging on promises they never made, campers become angry and combative toward the administration and counselors, and the counselors and roshei aydah are stuck in the middle as the intermediaries, an impossible position to please anyone.

What do I propose to remedy this predictably unstable situation? A contract. The upper staff and the Kerem rosh would create this contract at the outset of the summer, outlining the expectations of the upper staff for Kerem and also acknowledging the outcome if Kerem follows throughand meets the agreed-upon expectations. What are some of the things that upper staff would require of Kerem? For starters: good behavior, good attitude, and commitment to the mission of the camp,but should also include something that can be qualitatively measured like programming. If Kerem is able to complete their tasks, they should be rewarded.I have been told before that this idea is juvenile because Kerem shouldn’t have to be rewarded for something they should inherently want to do. However, from Gurim to Kerem, upper staff uses the idea of reward-based incentives to entice campers to complete certain tasks, for instance, cleaning the bunk. After 5 straight 10’s in Nikayon, the bunk is rewarded with an ice cream party, after 10, a late wake up, and after 15, a movie in the bunk. There is no question that this is the motivating factor in keeping the bunks spotless each morning. They know that if they succeed, they will be rewarded. In fact, this works for Kerem as well.  The prizes are a little different, (they were given steaks instead of the other prizes) but given enough motivation, the task will be completed[1]. Kerem, throughout the whole summer, has many more responsibilities than simply cleaning the bunk each morning. And in order to succeed, motivation is crucial. This motivation should be two-fold; it should specify the reward in exchange for meeting a goal, but should also encourage Kerem to feel proud of their accomplishments, . There is no question that an agreement at the beginning of the summer would make the campers more positive, enthusiastic, and motivated, and would prevent the common negative interactions with upper staff and tug-of-war effect on the counselors.. A win-win and win situation.

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[1] It is important to note that after they were given the steaks (with 3 weeks left of the summer) their cleaning habits disintegrated and it was almost impossible to entice the kids to do a thorough cleaning.

Kerem's Anticipation Part 2 + Stats.

Before I begin I want to say three things.

• A lot of people have been asking me about my stats. This is my rundown.
• Total Views: 2731 as of 4pm EST, January 6th. 
• Day with most views: December 15th (day I launched it) 395
• Average views per day:  120
• Average views per days I post: 244
• Any other specific questions, post it to the comments.

• Just from the conversations I've been having on Facebook, it is clear to me that a lot of you feel strongly one way or another about individual posts. However, there have been fewer comments than expected. If you have an opinion either way, or just want to say something unrelated, please comment. I love to hear what you think, and the more people that talk, the greater the conversation becomes. 

• I was searching "Camp Yavneh Theory" in google and I came upon a website called, Networkedblogs.com. Anyway, some how my blog is on the network "camp" and right now I am ranked 28th EDIT: 13th EDIT: 8th. They way I climb the rankings is if people hit follow next to my blog. Its really easy, you just have to be signed into Facebook to do it.  I would really appreciate your help. All we need is 37 other people to follow it and then Camp Yavneh Theory will be the most popular camp blog on that website. Pretty cool! Anyway, here is the link: 

http://www.networkedblogs.com/topic/camp/

Beginning of the Post:

(This is a continuation of last post) 

Strive for happiness. That was my answer. This was the only way I knew I could prevent disappointment.  In general, happiness is a very broad topic that many people have researched and discussed.[1] However, in this context, the universal question of happiness was not my concern. I needed to identify the points in camp that caused unhappiness, and devise a strategy to avoid it.  After many conversations and a lot of thinking, I thought of three main things that made the average Kerem camper unhappy.

 The first point came to me the summer before my kids were in Kerem. As a rosh of Maalot 2009, when second month came, I was forced to relocate to Ben Zakai because our bunk was too crowded. One afternoon in the middle of the month, I walk into the bunk and one camper says to me, “Yoni, you are making a cameo appearance here, and I mean it in a bad way.” I asked him to clarify, and he told me that I was never around anymore, and it seemed as though I didn’t care about the bunk. Now, rather than being defensive like many would be when a fifteen-year-old camper reprimands you, I apologized, and told him I would work on it. But surprisingly, that conversation, more than anything else, made me feel good. He showed me that he really cared that I was invested in their everyday lives, and when I didn’t show it, I lost his trust in me.  Campers always have a right to demand counselor’s full appreciation and fairness.

With this conversation in mind the summer before my campers began their Kerem summer, I developed a few strategies to show them I cared. First, I started writing them emails every other week before the summer. I also had my staff each write an email of their own so my kids knew how excited their staff was about the upcoming summer. If the kids don’t think you are eager about their Kerem summer, you’re setting your standards for a below-average summer. At camp I did several things to show them I cared:

•        I tried to sleep in the boys bunk at least once a week. The aydah suffered an unfortunate loss when a camper had to go home for personal reasons in the first few days of camp, but I was able to take advantage of the vacant bed. The boys loved that I ‘roughed’ it with them, and I got to hang out late at night with them, which provided critical bonding time.
•        I visited the girls bunk as much as I could, including every Friday Night after our tisch. Not only were my counselors happy that I would ‘sleep-in’ every Friday night, but I took this as an opportunity to show the girls that I was their rosh too. As a single rosh, it is incredibly important to foster a good relationship with the opposite gender. As a male, it’s really easy to get caught up in all of the boys’ activities and pay less attention to what the girls are interested in and are feeling. By doing this, I tried as hard as I could to show them I was committed to them as much as the boys.
•        As mentioned in my post about secrets, at the beginning of the summer I made a rule about no secrets. This paid off when my campers knew the Kerem staff was open and transparent when it came to announcing their daily activities.
•        I complemented my campers individually and as group when they did a good job, and told them what I thought needed improvement. This showed that I was actively watching them and cheering them on from the sidelines, but also showed that I cared about their growth when I suggested improvements. No one wants to hear criticism, but when it is offered in a constructive way, It is often better received, as a tool of guidance rather than disapproval.

The second taboo for Kerem summer is limiting free time. Kids come to camp to hang out, and if you take this privilege away from them, they become more and more upset and disappointed. I witnessed this first hand in 2007 and from afar in 2008 and 2009, and I learned that constant meetings and activities characterized all three summers in the first few weeks of camp. In fact, Kerem ‘09 had a meeting with their counselors and rosh in the second week of camp complaining about the unending influx of meetings.[2]

The problem is that saying, ‘Lets get rid of all of our meetings and give them free time’ is not possible. It seems as though every year another big responsibility is tacked on to the Kerem experience, and the camp fully expects everything to be accomplished. For example, the third week of camp for Kerem is often characterized by multiple aspects of  Zimriyah, the play, planning peulot for other aydot, leadership activities, etc. All of these require Kerem’s time and energy, and the only way it can all be done correctly is through planning and discussion in a meeting or committee. I needed to figure out a methodology to curb all of the time spent at meeting to devote to more free time, but also get everything accomplished that the camp expected.

•      During the first day of camp for Kerem 2009, I observed that the conversations about the ‘things’ Kerem needs to do took up a lot of the evening. It just seemed like a drag. I wanted the first day, for my kids, to be as memorable as possible. I told the play director and a few other people that I would not allow them to talk to the aydah about anything relating to Kerem responsibilities or expectations. 
•       One of the first days of camp, I made a rule that really helped restrain the relentless meeting problem. I informed my kids that there is no decision that Kerem makes that would require everyone to be there, including all things pertaining to Zimriyah. A vote could consist of 20 people if thirty people were running around and doing something else, and that would be the final call. This led to the understanding that the kids should expect multiple things going on at once, and that they would have to pick their battles when it came to taking charge and decision-making. By having one (rather than three) peulah dedicated to planning in the afternoon, we had more time to do what we wanted. And whenever I had the opportunity, l let them have free time..
•       Every year, Kerem is responsible for planting the Kerem garden.[3] And every year it is always an issue of when is everyone going to go and weed the garden and plant the flowers. It is impossible to find a time when everyone can do it. So what did I do? During a meeting to discuss Zimriyah walk ins, I had 3 or 4 boys skip the meeting and plant the garden. The boys were happy that they got skip the meeting, I was happy because the garden was planted, and the kids leading the meetings were happy that they didn’t have to deal with the 3 or 4 boys in the meeting who probably wouldn’t be listening. Talk about a win, win, and win situation.

I can sum up this point with a quote from Elie Lerea during reunion weekend. “Other Kerem’s complained about how many meetings they had… I don’t think we had many at all.” Bingo.

My final point concerns the leadership aspect of Kerem. Coming into the summer, you are told that Kerem is the ‘leadership summer.’ It is designed for you as an individual and therefore you should expect to experience personal growth. The problem with this attitude is that there are 51 people in the aydah and not everyone can do everything they want. Not everyone can be a rosh for Maccabiah, not everyone can have a lead in the play, not everyone can run KTV, and not everyone can lead Zimriyah. If people are on the outside looking in, they struggle with the feeling of not having the opportunity to do the things they want. Parents pay a lot of money to send their children to camp, and when kids are thrown into this collective group without having the ability to express how they feel on a regular basis, nor have the opportunity to lead something they have dreamed of as their moment to shine, they feel cheated out of their summer, and Kerem, experience. Therefore I tried as hard as I could to make sure everyone was heard, everyone got a chance at something, and everyone felt that they were contributing:

•      I tried at the beginning of the summer to institute a new type of chug for Kerem, in which they could designa personal project for the camp’s benefit. I had wild ideas for the kids from a camp newspaper to running a party for the camp. It did not go nearly as well as I wanted it to, mostly because I wasn’t able to devote my time in the morning to them, but one group was able to run with their own project. They decided they wanted to beautify the camp by hanging Hebrew words of encouragement in central locations. It was completely self-run, and they had full ownership of the project.
•       A take off of a staff initiative in Kerem ‘07, I decided to have my staff have individual mentor meetings with every kid in the aydah.[4] We each had our own group of ten campers, and every Shabbat we would schedule 5-minute meetings with each of them. In the meetings, we would touch base with the camper and get their overall impression of the summer, likes and dislikes. It was a great way for everyone to voice their option, and a great way to find out what the issues were in the aydah so that we could address them appropriately. These meetings strengthened our individual bonds with each member.
•       Another idea I got from ELi in Kerem ‘07 was the concept of golden stars, golden rocks, or what I called chanichim mitztayim.[5] I would give out these types of awards so that my campers would feel appreciated for the hard work that they put in to their Kerem summer. As one of the only formal peulot that we would have during the week, I required that every Friday afternoon, everyone in the aydah would get together before shower time so that I could distribute these awards. Every week I would give an award to 7 or 8 people who had done something in the past week that had really helped our aydah. Everyone ended up getting one by the end of the summer.

I go into such great detail here in order to highlight the importance of strategy in planning a successful Kerem summer. I am certainly not saying the summer did not go by without a hitch or two, but I think for the most part the general outlook was always positive, and I hope future Kerems can take this into consideration and build upon it for even greater success.

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[1] One of my favorite discussions about happiness can be found at http://www.ted.com/talks/dan_gilbert_asks_why_are_we_happy.html. In this video, Dan Gilbert argues that happiness is attained by not having choice and being forced down a particular path. As he explains, research shows that a year after someone wins the lottery, someone who is paraplegic is happier than the lottery winner. 

[2] It is extremely ironic to have a meeting about frustration with meetings. It
’s like planning a time to plan. Gets me every time.

[3] Kerem garden is the memorial garden by the agam. It might have started with Steve Shimshak in Kerem 1994. While watching the videos with PJ I remember seeing him working in the garden.

[4] This became so popular that Maalot started to do it as well.

[5] This is a take off of madrichim mitztayim, the counselor greats that are awarded every Saturday night.