| Dear {{first_name}},
I’ve been back in the office for over a week now and I’m still processing my experience from the past month at Camp Ramah Darom. Numerous studies have been conducted over the years to determine what communities can do to ensure our children have a positive connection to their Judaism. Each time those studies point to three things: Jewish youth groups, Israel trips and Jewish summer camp. All three of these have an enormous positive correlation in Jewish affinity and involvement for numerous reasons. They all empower young Jews. They all expose young Jews to a larger community than they have at their daily disposal. And they each provide a Judaism that is not only accessible and fun, but one that has deep meaning.
As a kid, I was blessed with two of the three items mentioned. I was deeply involved in BBYO from middle school through high school and I went to Israel on March of the Living. I do not doubt for a moment that my being a rabbi today is directly related back to both of those experiences. My older sister did not enjoy Jewish summer camp and so my parents assumed (wrongly) that I would not enjoy it either. They didn’t offer to send me to Jewish camp and instead I went to band camp for three summers (I do still love being a musician). As I grew up, I was constantly the jealous one who wanted to be at camp. In rabbinical school, I took every opportunity I had to work at camp. Since I became a rabbi, I’ve taken every opportunity I have to be at camp in any way possible.
The rabbi experience at camp is very much the same as the campers, and very different, all at once. We have the chance to bond with others, learn, grow and enjoy time away from home. All these things are similar to the experience of the campers. But as adults in general and rabbis in particular, we have so much more to gain and bring home to our communities. As a rabbi, I have the opportunity to test out new lessons and refine them before using them at OVS. As a rabbi, I have the opportunity to spend each day learning with colleagues and other gifted Jewish professionals to find new and improved means of doing the work of our community. As a rabbi, I have the opportunity to begin to explore the high holidays and what they will look like for our community. And, as a rabbi, I have the opportunity to recharge my battery and grow in a beautiful setting only two hours from my home.
This year at camp was a bit different for me as I’m now a rabbi from Atlanta. An overwhelming number of kids and staff are also from Atlanta so I had the ability to work with colleagues and lay people from our local Jewish community. Having the opportunity to represent OVS to the broader Atlanta Jewish community is a great responsibility, but more accurately it’s a great honor. Each time a kid from Atlanta would ask me where I’m a rabbi I would smile a big smile and say “OVS.” The same was true with the staff and parents I interacted with.
In this week’s Torah portion, Va-Etchanan, we have two major texts: the second listing of the Ten Commandments and the Shema along with the first paragraph of the V’Ahavta. Inside the V’Ahavta we learn “teach them to your children and speak about them, when you are sitting in your house and when you are on your way.” In order for us and the Torah to thrive, we must nurture it from our homes and out into the world. We must live our lives at home guided and inspired by Torah, and then put all those values and worldviews to work in the real world. At camp this summer, we had the opportunity to take what we do at home, and at OVS, and push it to the next level into the broader community. I can’t wait to share with you all I learned in our summer home at camp and have brought back with me on this side of the journey.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Hearshen
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