A Summer of Reflection and Connection

I have the privilege of serving on faculty at two URJ camps this summer, and with that seeing camp at the very beginning of the summer and at the very end of the summer. I got to help open URJ 6-Points Creative Arts Academy’s sixth official summer and, as I write this, I am preparing to head up to URJ OSRUI to serve on faculty for the final week of camp. While on faculty at 6-Points CAA, I spend much of my time helping to empower our arts mentors to bring Judaism to life, through the arts. At OSRUI, I will get to know our youngest and newest members to camp, seeing the joy of camp through first-time campers while helping to highlight the importance of Jewish camping and community.

On the final day of the first session at CAA, I led Mo Moments (our morning ritual featuring a combination of Jewish morning prayers and lessons focusing on our value of the day). The first and last days of camp always focus on the same value “the one you bring yourself” because, without each and every one of our campers, staff, and faculty, the joy of camp would not exist as we know it. It is each of us that helps to complete the puzzle, making each session unique in its own beautiful way. During Mo Moments, I asked the campers to help me complete a poem, based on the “I Am From” poem written by George Ella Lyon. This is what they wrote:

I Am From CAA
I am from bracelets,
From grit and curiosity.
I am from the chaotic, fun, creative, and sometimes loud
I am from markers and crayons, because art is fun.
I’m from tie-dye Fridye and Shabbat whites
From Jay (Rappaport, our Director) and Samantha (Eichert, our Assistant Director)
I’m from the pretty cool and another home,
From lilah tov and our amazing international staff.
I’m from Friday night Shabbat offerings.
I’m from West Chester, Pennsylvania, challah and pasta at every meal,
From the early mornings to the energy we put into our arts majors
The “transition, transition, transition,” friends that I have made, things I have learned from my major and getting more people to come to camp!
I am from CAA.

Camp, whether for our brand new campers or our oldest, most seasoned staff and faculty members, is a place where each of us finds ourselves, and brings our authentic selves to the table. Camp is a place where each person is embraced for who they are, and the journey that they are on. Camp is a place, where we come from, and where we go to each summer, each time bringing our own excitement for the experience that awaits us.

Rabbi Jessie Wainer ’16 serves as the Associate Rabbi at Congregation Etz Chaim in Lombard, IL.