Sisters Hannah T., 12, and Nora T., 8
Nora:
I like Shabbat because it’s a time when all of camp does things together. Shabbat starts with Friday night services, when we all dress up in all white. After a short service, we have Shabbat dinner with tons of delicious challah.
After dinner, the activity is Folkdance in the gym and the whole camp gathers together. Everyone participates in line dances to different songs that we have learned at camp and have done for years. When the younger girls don’t know the dances, we teach them. We also have Song Session and sing Jewish songs that are fun and meaningful. Friday night after Folkdance we have Oneg Shabbat, where we get really yummy cookies and fruit. That’s my favorite part!
Hannah:
Shabbat is a time where everyone gets to spend a lot of time together. We pray, and get to be there for each other. Every week, we have a different “Middah of the Week” for campers to demonstrate. The first week was kindness, second week was gratitude, third week was leadership, and fourth was teamwork. Throughout the week, campers and counselors nominate peers who demonstrated the Middah of the Week. At Friday night services, they call up everyone who was nominated and you get to help light the Shabbat candles and get a cool white bandana!
Saturday night at Havdallah, we watch a slideshow with pictures from the whole week and reflect on what a great week it was. We also welcome in the new week and hear about the next Middah of the Week. It’s a great, fresh start to the next fun-filled week at camp!
Shabbat at camp is really special because we have bonding time with our counselors and celebrate Shabbat differently than we might at home. At camp, we celebrate Shabbat and do fun activities all day, while at home most people just know Shabbat as services and Havdallah!
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