Jew camp.. An unforgettable experience.

Olin Sang Ruby Union Institute is one of the Jewish overnight camps affiliated with the reform movement. I have spent every summer there since I was 11 years old. OSRUI is a wonderful place where Jewish kids from all over the country spend 2-8 weeks being kids, making friendships of a lifetime, learning Hebrew, learning about Israel, making connections with their college ages counselors and continue to shape their Jewish identities.

Every day at camp is wonderful, but Shabbat is an experience that is unforgettable. Every Friday night each eidah (unit) has their own Kabbalat Shabbat services and then the entire camp joins together for Shabbat dinner and Kiddush. After we say the Birkat Hamazon (prayer after the meal) as a camp we then go to Shabbat Shira. Shabbat Shira is a time where the whole camp fits into this one tiny building and the song leaders lead us in song session that is an unforgettable experience. 500+ people in one room singing as loud as they can is an experience that is indescribable. During the middle of the song session the director of camp tells a story with some sort of a Jewish point or value, and every summer he tells the same story. Some of the stories are really good and some of them are not but they always have a Jewish message. For the older kids on Friday night after Shabbat Shira they move to the sports center for Israeli dancing.

While Shabbat is probably my favorite part of camp, the whole experience is one that I never want to forget. I believe that OSRUI I found my Jewish identity. I have always loved being Jewish and I have always embraced it. I remember the first T'filah (services) I experience there. I was only 11 years old and I was surrounded by 100 other kids my age and I closed my eyes and listened. I heard not only the voices of the 100 other kids, but the voices of our counselors, rabbis and the sound of nature. Over the years I have found myself praying in ways I never thought I could, learning Hebrew and speaking it with Israelis, and more importantly I found my reason for being Jewish, community.

Community! At camp the rabbis, educators, counselors and kids all become a community. From the first dinner together to our last Tfliah of the summer we are a community. We pray together, live together, eat together, learn together and have fun together. We study Tikkun Olam and what being Jewish kids and teenagers means as a community. I have never felt such a sense of completeness as I do at camp. I love being a member of my synagogue but the feeling you get at camp is one unlike any other community. I remember the summer going into my junior year of high school I was in Chalutzim, the seven week Hebrew immersion program. I didn’t know if I was going to find a sense of community because our counselors only spoke Hebrew to us. But that first night when we prayed all in Hebrew, I have never felt such a sense of community. There were new prayers that we didn’t know and for kids who didn’t read Hebrew that well it was a challenge but we helped each other and when we did know something we sang it as loud as we could!

OSRUI has taught me how to be a Jewish person. It is an experience that I will never forget! Now that I will be going to camp this summer as a second year counselor, I get to teach and instill that same sense of community that my counselors gave to me. While camp is not for everyone it is an experience that I highly recommend for any kid. It is because of OSRUI that I want to be a Rabbi. The Rabbis at camp have always been my remodels of how a Jewish person can become a rabbi and do so many good things for kids! I hope that someday when I am a rabbi that I will be able to instill all the things my rabbis at camp have taught me!

105 days left till camp!!!!!!