Shabbat Devarim 2016
The most bittersweet letter to be written this year. The last Shabbat Letter of the summer. What an amazing summer is has been! So many new friendships and old friendships renewed. So many fears and challenges conquered, so much self-reflection and finding one’s self. So much innovation, imagination, and exploration. So many returning to their summer home and their summer family, and so many more discovering their new home and a new summer family. Before we look forward to Summer 2017, we take a look back at the last week at camp at Olin-Sang-Ruby Union Institute.
What an incredible eighth and final week it has been at OSRUI. We cannot believe that closing day will be here on Sunday. Where have the 8 weeks, the 55 days, the 1320 hours, the 79,200 minutes, the 4,752,000 seconds gone? We think Ferris Bueller said it best “OSRUI moves pretty fast, if you don’t stop and look around and see the smiles, smell the challah, hear the shira, laughter, and ruach, you might miss it.”
After a week of trips, marathon week, Carnival, water parks, roller coasters, wave pools, lazy rivers, water balloon fights, etgar, limudim, ivrit, t’filot, pools, lakes, water slides, horses, and so much more, Shabbat is here, a sacred and beloved time at camp.
Before we get clean and we put on our Friday night best one last time, before we join together in prayer, before we tune our guitar strings and warm up our voices, before we prepare to rest, we take a look back at the incredible week that was Week 8 of Summer 2016.
Moshavah embarked on their final trip (read all about the trip locations here!), going hiking, biking, climbing, and canoeing. Everyone is back at camp safe, happy, and clean! Mosh enjoyed a much deserved sleep in on Thursday. They had the unique opportunity to take before and after trip photos and while you can almost smell them through the photos, the only big difference is that, if it was possible, the smiles got even bigger. They had a fascinating social justice limud discussion and prepared for Saturday when they will take down the tents and return Mosh back to its fall/winter/spring state of ten non-descript concrete slabs, and two empty wooden structures. They will move into their temporary home for the evening at the sports center as they prepare for banquet, friendship circle, and final Havdalah. There will be tears and there will be laughs!
Gesher’s week started and finished strong! On Sunday, they joined Tzofim and Tiferet at Mount Olympus in the Wisconsin Dells for a day of fun and games! Their final erev tzrif was one for the ages, with events like trivia with Albert, pool parties, boat rides, and bon fires with s’mores. Gesher’s limudim this session focused on judges, prophets, and kings and having political campaigns for the future leader (sound familiar). The final limud consisted of a final debate between their two candidates. Gesher spent the week building sets, painting signs, setting up booths, rehearsing songs, practicing dances all in preparation for…CARNIVAL: SURVIVOR!! The entire camp spent Thursday evening dunking roshes, jumping in the moon bounce, eating cookies, kicking soccer balls, setting up tents, playing Minute to Win It, and more! Gesher will come to a close on Sunday, but it has been an incredible summer for (for the first time ever for Gesher) eight amazing weeks!
Tiferet marathon week started strong with a trip to the water park in the Dells and now the work is here in preparation for Showcase on Saturday, where they will present everything they have been working on in studio to their families! The theme has been “Roadtrip on Route 66” and it has been, pun intended, an incredible trip and journey! They have enjoyed spontaneous sports, root beer floats, and a BBQ in Mosh! The eidah was split into their royal families during medieval night, which included jousting and a rousing food fight! The music studio took some time off from their Showcase rehearsing to take a pontoon ride across Lac La Belle to the Oconomowoc bandshell to hear the American Legion Band perform. Tiferet has had an amazing summer full of exploration, innovation, and discovery!
In Kibbutz HaTzofim, all you need to know is that it was a final week for the ages downstairs in the tents! It all began with a trip to Mt. Olympus waterpark in the Wisconsin Dells. On Wednesday, the 7th graders left for their annual hiking trip to Devil’s Lake, while the 5th and 6th graders enjoyed Yom 5/6 which basically could be titled Yom “Everything that is fun about camp”: sleep in, breakfast for lunch and dinner, slip n slide, tubing, and so much more. They went geocaching for an evening program, a new activity at OSRUI. Geocaching is an outdoor recreational activity, in which participants use a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver or mobile device and other navigational techniques to hide and seek containers, called “geocaches” or “caches”, at specific locations marked by coordinates all over the world. They had erev chug where they tried once-in-a-lifetime and once-in-a-camp-session electives with amazing activities like song leading, splatter paint, science, hiking, and paper airplanes. They ended the week with an incredible game of British Haganah! What an amazing four weeks it has been in Tzofim, with incredible activities, amazing memories, and lifelong friends.
Kallah Atid opened this week to much excitement, ruach, and fanfare and did not waste a moment enjoying everything that OSRUI has to offer! Tubing, horseback riding, tower climbing, face painting, drum circles…all within the first 3 hours. The first night was capped off with a BBQ at Susan’s house with dance parties, dessert burgers, and a bon fire with s’mores. They decorated their sh’ma pillows cases at their pajama party so that they can have sweet dreams of many more summers at camp!
Tour La’Agam finished their amazing journey, spending the week riding through Michigan, then ferrying back to Wisconsin for their final ride home. They rode into camp this afternoon (check our Facebook page for the video),exhilarated from their 1,000-mile ride and what they had accomplished, and ready to share their stories and their final Shabbat with all of camp.
It has been an amazing and exciting eighth week here at OSRUI! Sadly, this Sunday is closing day for all of camp. We had an incredible time – getting to know our campers, and showing them all the amazing things we do here at 600 Lac La Belle Drive! This is not goodbye, but l’hitraot, see you next time, at OSRUI 2017!
Shabbat Shalom from all of us at OSRUI!
Jerry Kaye, Director Susan Alexander, Associate Director Albert Marks, Senior Assistant Director