by Rabbi Batsheva Appel, Kallah Segel (Faculty)

I had the following email exchange with a congregant while I have been at OSRUI for the last two weeks:

Me – Am at camp, but if you go to this link, you can find what you are looking for.

Ploni – Playing baseball and volleyball?

Me – Teaching outside under a tree wearing a superhero costume is more like it.

I love being at camp. It is great to spend time with the chanichim (campers) as well as the madrichim (counselors) and be part of an experience that helps them grow as people, as leaders, as Jews. I love that I get to think really far outside the box about a possible best way to teach something and then get to enact it together with amazing educators who are also passionate about Jewish learning.

That I go to camp for two weeks every summer can be a puzzle to many people, particularly those who have never attended camp. They seem to think that being at OSRUI is some sort of rustic vacation.

The actual schedule for the segel (faculty) of Kallah is very full. We begin each day at 7:45 am with Tefillot (worship) and end the day with an asefah (unit meeting) just after 9 pm. In the hours between we are on the go, spending lots of time with Kallah as we are teaching, planning to teach, planning and attending Tefillot, helping chanichim or madrichim plan Tefillot, eating meals with the eidah (unit), going swimming or to etgar (ropes course) with one of the tzrifim (cabins), going to shira (song session) and just being around to talk.

We do lots of planning in the months before the summer starts, but there is always the need to tweak what we have to work best with the chanichim and whatever is happening at OSRUI, like the extra-hot day we had this week. So it isn’t unusual for us to stay up late working to get everything right.

In return we get the delight of presenting a lesson that sums up all of the limudim (learning sessions) about B’reishit: All in the Family, and seeing that the Kallah chanichim remember all of the different lessons of the last two weeks. We are touched as we hear the chanichim lead Tefillot sharing their thoughts about the prayer Oseh Shalom because of what they have written.

None of us would want to miss being at OSRUI for the weeks that we are here because of our passion for the important Jewish learning that happens at camp and the opportunity to make a difference. It may not be a rustic vacation and we don’t want it to be, because we are happy for all of the opportunities to teach outside under a tree wearing a superhero costume.

Rabbi Batsheva Appel [RavBat7] is the rabbi of KAM Isaiah Israel Congregation in Chicago and served as one of the faculty members for Kallah Aleph.