by Rabbi Bill S. Tepper, Mizpah Congregation- Chattanooga, TN
This is the d’var Torah that Rabbi Tepper gave at his congregation on August 5th for Shabbat Devarim:
Applying my indispensable bug spray twice a day: before breakfast and then again right before heading to dinner; meetings with campers to organize morning or evening prayer services; B’nai Mitzvah tutoring, programs to plan or participate in, conversations with campers, staff and my rabbinic colleagues, afternoon swimming in the pool or lake, hiking across the camp’s expansive and winding acreage; red Georgia earth stuck to my shoes (shoes so worn out, by the way, that I didn’t bother to bring them back home), intensely hot mid-days; cooler mornings and evenings; and of course – no food like camp food.
Such are just a few of the experiences and moments that it was my blessing to undergo last week as a member of the rabbinic faculty at the Union for Reform Judaism’s Camp Coleman, located in the breathtaking North Georgia mountains a two-and-a-half-hour drive from Chattanooga; experiences that provided physical challenge and reward, intellectual stimulation, as well as immense spiritual and emotional satisfaction.
Whether it was a child from Yeladim or Bonim – the youngest of the camper-units, or the older ones representing the Tzofim, Nachshonim, Kesher, Chalutzim or Machon groups – the latter being the Counselor-in-Training unit, there was always something special happening from which one could both learn and derive enjoyment: creating miniature clay Golem – those strange beings of Jewish mysticism – in the camp’s spacious art center; partaking in a dynamic program on the role of water in our lives, led, appropriately, by members of the camp’s Israeli counselor delegation; witnessing three young people, a camper and two staff members, recite Torah on Shabbat morning for the first time in their lives; a simple yet meaningful late-afternoon storytelling session; or an informal dialogue involving campers, staff, fellow-rabbis and myself on the nature of peace, war, God and our Judaism.
Everything happens for reason so it is of course no coincidence that during the final one and a half weeks of Camp Coleman for this summer, the same period that encompassed my visit, our Shabbat Torah portions were Masei and Devarim. Masei focuses on the numerous stops, starts and journeys of the Israelites through the wilderness, while Devarim brings our ancestors to the banks of the Jordan River, preparing them for crossing over into the land promised to them by God. In assisting campers in preparing for the services they themselves would lead, I pointed out that the idea of “journeys” – the translation of Masei – served as a fitting theme with which they could approach the personal texts they would write and then share during the service with their peers: the journey to camp from home, the journey through their many camp adventures over the course of their session there; the journey of establishing and/or affirming friendships; the journey of emotional, intellectual growth; the journey of their development as Jews; and their eventual journey back home, adjusting to life once again with their families, preparing to move forward into their new school year while accepting all of its challenges and rewards. Here are excerpts of what campers wrote and shared with others regarding their journeys:
Shabbat Shalom, as we come together [dressed] in white we think about the journeys of the Israelites and of our own lives. Tonight’s service is all about journeys through this world, physically and intellectually…
Ma’ariv Aravim is prayer about Creation. Take a moment to think about what you’ve created on your Camp Coleman journey…
Camp Coleman, the Reform Jewish summer camp in our Southeast region of the country, offers our children some of the most enriching journeys they may ever experience in their lives: a journey through childhood and adolescence; a journey of lasting friendships and loving memories; a journey that is immersed within the sacred Jewish values with which every camp activity and program is imbued. My final few hours there, last Sunday morning, involved both emotional goodbyes and fervent pledges that sometime, either next summer or in the years ahead, either back at Coleman or somewhere else, we would once again cross paths and remember our many pleasurable, humorous and enduring moments together within the magnificent confines of our Reform Jewish camp.
Talk to your children, your grandchildren, and your friends’ children about Camp Coleman. Encourage them to experience, starting next summer, their own unique camp journeys. If you wish it, I am more than happy to join you in the conversation, so that our Mizpah children may join me there in 2012. You will be hearing from me again on this topic. The sticker on my car says it all: Follow me to URJ Camp Coleman.
Ken Y’hi Ratzon. May it be God’s will.
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