by Rabbi Ike Serotta, Avodah Segel (Faculty)
The weather in Oconomowoc is beautiful! The evenings have that end of summer feeling and the kids are putting on longs and longs in the evenings. More important is the feeling in the air as we enter the last week of summer at OSRUI. There is still a lot of fun to be had, but there is a little wistful feeling too. Though it’s only Tuesday, the anticipation for the last Shabbat is already growing.
The camp is a little quieter these days. The older campers of Chalutzim have gone home after seven weeks of speaking Hebrew. Many of those campers are now friends for life. The youngest campers from Kallah Gimmel have also gone home after three weeks of fun, learning and growth.
Moshavah campers are out of camp for a few days on their last rotation of hiking, biking, canoeing or rock climbing and aren’t due back until tomorrow. And some very young campers, Kallah Atid ( Kallah of the future) will be joining us that day as well.
I am working with the oldest campers, Avodah. I can’t tell you about how much fun they’re having at the pool, or on the Etgar (alpine tower), because that’s not Avodah. Avodah means work, and that’s what these young people are here to do. In the summer before they can become madrichim (counselors), they choose to spend four weeks at camp, working in the kitchen, cleaning the camp grounds, working in the misrad (office) and the mirpaah (clinic). Some work in the stables, some on the waterfront. They have been here for three weeks and while they may not do dishes or clean their rooms at home, they are learning some serious cleaning skills here.
They do it because they love OSRUI. They love the friends they’ve made here. They love the experiences they’ve had in the past and they are having a summer they will never forget. They work hard and they get tired, but they also have the satisfaction of knowing that they are making camp enjoyable for all the aidot (units) in camp.
These couple of days when three aidot have either gone home or are offsite, feel relaxed to the members of Avodah. They are the ones who get up earliest and get the outgoing luggage to the sports field for the chanichim that are going home. On Wednesday they will be the ones to schlep the luggage to the cabins for the new chanichim that will arrive. Today they only had to clean half of camp. That’s practically a day off!
In between tasks they learn with me, they lead and participate in daily services, they improve their Hebrew skills with me and with the Mercaz Ivrit (Hebrew Center), they find time to socialize and they show with their effort and enthusiasm that they are ready to become the madrichim of years to come.
This is my second year in Avodah. I consider myself blessed to have the opportunity to study with them. I see many of last year’s Avodahniks as they are Machonikim (first year counselors), and I am proud of them. I hope next year to be back with OSRUI’s next bumper crop. Each year it is a special group of teens, and their work, is part of the ruach (the spirit) that you can feel every day at OSRUI. In this last week of camp that ruach can be felt by everyone.
Rabbi Ike Serotta serves Lakeside Congregation for Reform Judaism in Highland Park, IL and is one of the faculty members in Avodah.