Shabbat Snippets 8/15

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Our final Shabbat services of the summer were led by Nitzanim on Friday night and Olim on Saturday morning. The theme of Nitzanim’s service was Ahava, or love. Olim’s theme was taking our blessings home. Campers shared beautiful words we would like to share with you.

Screen-Shot-2015-08-15-at-1.24.52-PMFriday evening

Jonah H., Bunk 18
Ahavat Olam talks about love between God and the Jewish people. There are many things I love and I am thankful for. I love sports, nature, food, drinks, animals, family and the sea. I feel love when we sing the prayers at T’fillah, like Mi Chamocha, Oseh Shalom, Modeh Ani, and Sh’ma. When we sing the Ahavat Olam, think about what you love here at camp and at home.

Lucy W., GVW
The next prayer is the Mi Chamocha. In the Mi Chamocha, we sing about how God released us from Egypt. I personally believe that this prayer relates to thanks. Here at camp, we thank God everyday: after our meals; during morning T’filah; and here during Shabbat services. When we recite these prayers, we sing about loving God and thanking God. Here at camp, we learn to love all of our bunkmates. We are very thankful for our friends, and that God taught us to love them and to give them ahavah.

Screen-Shot-2015-08-15-at-1.53.52-PMBecky A. & Tali B., GVW
B:
The theme of today’s service is love.
T: The next prayer we are going to say is Hashkiveinu which is about protection.
B: Protection and love were hard topics to put together, but we thought about friendship and we were able to figure it out. We love people because they take care of us.
T: We help people we love or care about when they are sick.
B: We tell them we love them.
T: We love camp because there are strong connections and lovely friendships, and we love each other.
B: During the Hashkiveinu, think about people you love, and what you would do to protect them.

Lily S. and Sarah C., Bunk 5
Lily:
The theme for this week is love. It relates to me because me and Sarah have a friendship that is really strong. Every friend I make is like family.
Sarah: The prayer Modim relates to me because I am thankful for my family and friends that love me and care for me. I’m also really thankful for Todd Yahney and Color War. Be thankful and love forever.

Talia R., GVWScreen-Shot-2015-08-15-at-1.53.14-PM
The next prayer is the silent prayer. Love is probably the most important key to silent prayer. If you don’t love and care about what you are doing, silent prayer is meaningless. At camp, love is also important. If you didn’t love camp, would you keep coming back? Love is the reason we come back again and again and again. During the silent prayer, we can pray the way we want to pray. When I read a prayer off a page, I don’t know what I am ACTUALLY saying. But during the silent prayer, I can really know what I’m saying and no one else knows. I love silent prayer because it’s a personal thing no one else needs to hear.

Ashlee K., GVW
The following prayer will be the Aleinu. This prayer talks about how we are all individuals, but we come together as one Jewish community. It’s kind of like how at camp, each person is unlike any other. We are unique, but we come together to make one camp community.

Saturday morning

Screen-Shot-2015-08-15-at-1.30.53-PMDaniel and Noodles
Daniel: The Olim service has always been something of an enigma for us. Year after year, we watched teary-eyed Olim campers take the microphone to share why Crane Lake has a special place in their hearts. Now upon us, what previously seemed like such a joyful milestone, now represents our bittersweet finals days at Crane Lake Camp.
Noodles: My first year—lower Nitz—I heard countless Olimers give speeches reflecting on friendships they created at camp. They all started the same way: One camper walking up to the other and saying “hello.” So on the first day of the 2nd session the next year, 2010, I decided to do the same, and made a lifelong friend in the process.
Daniel: Noodles coming up to me on that first day—me knowing no one going in—made my summer that year at camp, and every summer since. At his final service, we all have blessings on our minds. Six years ago, we were both blessed with something more meaningful than either of us knew: friendship.

Noodles: But don’t just remember this as a great story. Take it as a piece of advice from two brothers once in your shoes. Put yourself out there. Make a friend. And remember to count the everyday blessings in your life.
Daniel: Take it from Olim ’09. Take it from Olim ’15. Take it from Olim ’21.
Daniel and Noodles: Say hi to someone new.

Zachary B. and EJ., Bunk 29
Crane Lake Camp. CLC. 01266. This has been a crazy ride. We have started from the bottom (meaning from lower Nitz) now we are here. The ride has been filled with amazing memories that we will cherish forever. Our service theme is bringing blessings home with us. As we travelled through our camp journey we brought with us different traditions, such as the amazing Agazumba dance and wearing red on Sundays. We have stuck together though 7 years of camp, and we know not every moment was the best. All of these moments have prepared us for the big moments in our Olim summer as captains, just like the singing and meditations we do here before we get to the Barechu help prepare us for prayer. Going home we will cherish and look back on every moment of our camp careers, remembering that who we are today was created by our Crane Lake experiences.

Screen-Shot-2015-08-15-at-1.25.44-PM-1024x835Talia A., Arielle N., Sophie G. and Denali S., Bunk 12
As you grow older your definition of love changes. As our (8, 6, 4, 6) years at Crane Lake Camp have gone by we have learned just how much love we have for every single person in our unit. We always felt this type of compassion for the people in our bunk, but it wasn’t until this summer that we realized we could feel this way about every individual that makes up OXV. Walking through the rec hall during song, after four day of being divided, we cried and hugged everyone we saw. There was no longer a division between us, and our love for each other was incredibly apparent. The V’ahavta is a prayer about loving God and we can take away from it the importance of loving one another. That’s the blessing we’re bringing home. Olim ’15, thanks for all the love, You know you wanna be…

Screen-Shot-2015-08-15-at-1.28.32-PMLindsay S. and Samantha W., Bunk 12
Since our Olim summer has started, we’ve realized that there are a lot of lasts. Our last Fight Song, our last Rib Night, our last time at the lake, and finally our last Shabbat morning service. We will never be here in the same place with the same people ever again. We needed to take advantage of this time we have to be free as campers so we gather these blessings and pass them on to our campers. During the Mi Chamocha, think about how you can view the many freedoms you have as blessings and not take them for granted. Time passes quickly and you want to enjoy every moment.

 

By Lindsey Blackman, Communications Specialist