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REFLECTIONS ON SUMMER CAMP
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Links:
Campership Recipient says "Thank You" with a Poem
Learning to Pray at Kutz Camp by Penny Jennewein
Campership Recipient Says "Thank You" with a Poem
CBI provides camperships to encourage young people to attend Jewish Camp. Rabbi Citrin recently received this thank you poem from an enthusiastic campership recipient.
This is a poem I wrote at camp where I had so much fun.
Thank you for supporting me,
Sincerely,
Mikayla Stern-Ellis
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I love Mountain Chai
so much I could fly
Lots of great friends
and the fun never ends
It’s the best place ever
No camp better
Ropes high and low
I’d never say no
Drama and dance
Taking a chance
Loving the climbing wall
it being so tall
When it is time to leave
I am very pleased
But it won’t be a bummer
because I will come back
next summer! |
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Learning to Pray at Kutz Camp
By Penny Jennewein
This summer I spent two and half weeks at Kutz Camp, a liberal, Reform Jewish camp for high school students. There, I was introduced to a new kind of prayer. Instead of reciting quotes and stories that had long ago lost their meaning, I was encouraged to look deeper –to find meaning in prayer as an individual.
I questioned the way I prayed. From the way I bowed (or didn’t), or sat, or rocked or hummed, I experimented with all customs to find the way I connected the best. Little was frowned upon and spontaneity was encouraged.
A program was set up with different stations that we rotated through. Each station had a significantly different tradition of praying. At the first station, we sat and sang a Niggun for five minutes. At the second, we took off our shoes and did yoga. The third was camp style, with a guitar and much singing. Then, at the fourth, the Rabbi and Cantor were on an elevated platform and controlled the entire service.
Each tradition was unique and presented without bias. The experience gave us the ability to choose what suited us in this point in our lives, and later what would work for us at the next stage in our lives.
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Penny Jennewein teaches challah-making to a developmentally disabled camper as part of her Mitzvah Corps major at camp. |
Kutz Camp, located in the New York state countryside, is a NFTY leadership camp. Campers specialize in leadership, song-leading, Mitzvah Corps or the arts. In my major, Mitzvah Corps, I worked with kids on the Autistic Spectrum and kids who are developmentally disabled. We designed programs such as field day and challah making for them.
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