My Reflections-
Hi all – I’m back for one last post. I recognize that it’s
been a while since I’ve written, but I’d to leave you all with some final
thoughts as my short-lived career as a blogger comes to a close.
A few observations from the summer of 2011:
- It was a lot easier going back to Yavneh than I expected. Both times I visited last summer, it only took a couple of hours to readjust to being in camp. I guess Yavneh is just in my blood.
- The Zimriyah scoring system needs to change. Period. What happened to Kerem this past summer was just not fair, and I would love to see a system where one or two judges do not have the opportunity to completely sway the vote. Because they aggregate the total score from each judge, if one or two judges gives a wide range of scores than they will disproportionately allot more points to they aydah that they think won compared with other judges who think it’s alot closer.
- I liked Arayot a lot more than I imagined I would. I think that if I was not so obsessed with the Kerem experience, I would have loved to be an Arayot counselor and Rosh. I see why Aaron Lyon K’04 spent four straight summers in that aydah.
Enough of that. On to the real post.
Back when I was in college, I had a conversation with a
friend of mine about whether or not we would go back to camp. I was in the
middle of my run of as a counselor, so I was strongly advocating for it.
However, my friend, who was also a camp person at a different camp, said
something very interesting that I feel, only now a few years later, strikes me
as surprisingly wrong. He said, “By going back every year you relive your
memories, the times when you did this and that. But there comes a point when
the memory of you and your aydah is lost to the new generation. That is the
point when you know camp has changed and it is not for you anymore.” Up until
and through the summer of 2010, I agreed with this statement. As I got older, my
camp experience stopped being about me and my memories and more about giving
back and making experiences for others. I saw as gradually fewer and fewer of
members of my aydah went back, I realized that the new, younger flood of
campers embarking on their Yavneh journeys didn’t know what came before them.
But as I stepped into camp for the first time the summer of
2011, I felt as though nothing was different. I walked around and everything
looked the same. I saw kids walking to chug with their towels around their
waists. Kerem kids working diligently on their Shir Aydah only hours before
their performance. Gurim having a fantastic time at the agam while some of the
madrichim let loose and chatted with me by Estelle’s picnic tables. It was
exactly as I remembered. Camp is camp.
Later that night as people filed in to the Beit Am for
Zimriyah, I had a moment to myself to honor a personal tradition I had never
shared with anyone. Every year since 2001, the night before Zimriyah, I stood
in the center of the Beit Am, and looked up, asking God for the strength it
would take to deliver a victory. But I realize, it wasn’t about God. It was
about me. About my passion for my aydah, or my Kerem, or my kids. It was me
telling myself, “Yoni, let’s do it.” And as I looked around the Beit Am that
night, I realized more than ever before that I had done it. So many of those
counselor were once my kids. So many of those people out there I had taught and
nurtured. And most important was the fact that they were giving back to the
next group of kids. On and On. Dor L’Dor.
This upcoming summer will boast even more of my own campers.
Yes, Kerem ‘07 only has a few more remaining, but allow me to let you on a
secret. 92% of Kerem 2010 applied to be counselors. 46/50. Wow. That means that
a pretty significant majority of staff members this summer will have also be representing
Kerem 2010. However, even more important, is the fact that my own counselor,
Josh Micley, will be Rosh Kerem 2012. When he called me up and told me he was
going to be Rosh Kerem, I could not have been more excited. Here was my
counselor, who worked on my staff, havingthe opportunity to lead his own special
group of kids. It is the best job in camp, and for one of my own to have it, I
feel absolutely honored. I know that he and my campers will teach the things that
I taught them and that my own counselors taught me. It is because of this, that
I look at Yavneh, and I see my footprint. And aside from feeling unquestionably
grateful and appreciative, I know that the essence of Yavneh will prosper for
generations to come. On and On. Dor L’Dor.
It turns out my college friend is 100 percent wrong. Camp
doesn’t change. We change. We grow up. We move on. But, for the rest of my life
I will remember this place as the setting of some of the best experiences in my
life. My goal as a counselor for the past 6 years and as a blogger for 6 months
was to create this experience for all my campers. I can only hope those who
come after me feel the same as I do.
This is my final post, so I would like thank Laurel Marcus
again for all of her help and to Josh Micley for the poll ideas. Most
importantly though, thank you to those who have spent the time reading and
commenting on this blog. You have been my inspiration as I pondered, argued,
reflected and somehow got it all down on paper.
Finally, I would like to say good luck to Josh Micley, all
of the roshes, and Kerem 2012. It will be an awesome summer. All I can say is
that I’m jealous.
Much love-
Yoni
