This week upper and lower Bonim led Shabbat services on Friday night and Saturday morning. The themes celebrated this week were Tikkun Olam, advocacy and philanthropy. Bonim wrote beautiful writings for the services and we want to share them with you.
By Lillian R.
For our art project, we decided to decorate puzzle pieces with problems and solutions in our world. The puzzle pieces represent how everyone can make a difference to make our home a better place. As you can see, there is a missing piece in the puzzle. This shows how there is always more work that can be done. Tikkun Olam means repairing the world. Together, we can fix the earth one step at a time.
By Grace and Jackie
Grace: Tikkun Olam always starts with yourself.
Jackie: When you start with yourself, you help the people around you, and then the good deeds spread even farther.
Grace: Hashkiveinu asks for protection and shelter. You ask God to keep you and the people around you safe. It is OUR responsibility to do this, too. The prayer mentions a Sukkat Shalom, a sukkah of peace.
Jackie: Here at Crane Lake Camp, the Bubble is our Sukkat Shalom. Everyone is family here; everyone cares about each other. You don’t have to worry if you do something wrong, because we’re friends forever.
By Micah A.
We’re about to chant “Adonai S’fatai,” opening up our lips to pray to God, or speaking out. There are many other important ways to speak out, such as petitioning for a good cause, or helping the less fortunate. Speaking out when something is not right is a major part of Tikkun Olam. All advocacy is a form of speaking out. So, speak out everybody, because for every good idea, we must make sure that the good idea gets out there. So, SPEAK OUT!
By Rob and Lilly
A wise Jewish thinker, Albert Einstein, once said “the world is a dangerous place to live, not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don’t do anything”
The theme of tonight’s service is tikkun olam. In order to repair the world, we need to be the people who step up and act when something is going wrong.
We come from different sides of the ocean and we have also approached the problem of pediatric cancer from different sides.
Lilly worked on fundraising and raising awareness through walks.
Rob worked directly with children with cancer at hospitals.
Although these activities involved different skills and happened in different places, we were still working towards a similar goal of making the world a better place for people to live in.
This week and after camp, we challenge you to approach an issue you care about. Sometimes it can seem daunting but every fire needs a spark in order for it to fully ignite. You don’t want to be that person that Albert wouldn’t approve of.
By Olivia G.
This artwork is based upon the Ten Commandments in the Torah, which appear in this week’s Torah portion. We chose to draw pictures of each of the Ten Commandments of CLC. Together, we came up with:
- Community
- Friendship
- Responsibility
- Trust
- Sportsmanship/teamwork
- Respect
- Fun
- Keeping Healthy
- Keeping Green
- Torah
We hope that you take a moment to look at all of the ways that Lower Bonim finds meaning in Crane Lake Camp.
By Zoe M. and Maya K.
Zoe: The next prayer we are about to recite is the Barechu.
Maya: The Barechu is a prayer asking the congregation if they are ready to pray.
Zoe: The theme of our service today is about being Jewish all the time.
Maya: As we say the Barechu, think about this question: How can we be Jewish if we are not even ready to pray?
Zoe and Maya: Please rise for Barechu.
By Grace N. and Rachel C.
Both: Our next prayer is Sim Shalom
Grace: Sim Shalom teaches us about peace. Peace is important in friendships. If you fight all the time, you won’t have a good relationship.
Rachel: To Us, Sim Shalom means that we should pray for peace. Peace relates to us at camp because we need to get along with each other to make a good community.
Both: As we sing Sim Shalom, think about how we can spread friendship to help make peace throughout the world. Please join us in singing.