By Leah Sherin, Tiferet Rosh Eidah (Unit Head)
Our first week in Tiferet has been a blast, with our first few days of Studio, chugim (electives), mornings at the pool, and much more. On top of all this fun, this week has been all about building community. At camp this summer, we have been learning about middot (jewish values), and this week we have been particularly focusing on derech eretz, which we understand as “Community Mindedness.” In Tiferet we have been talking about what it means to be a good member of one’s community and how we want to build our community.
To really live these ideas, we have had tochniot erev (evening programs) this week that have been all about working in groups to get to know one another and build relationships with fellow campers. From silly “fractured fairy tales” where campers performed “Aladdin in the 80s” and “Shrek in outer space”, to minute-to-win-it games in teams, we have had lots of fun spending time together. In addition, Tiferet had our first week of studio, and all of the campers have been working on fun and meaningful projects related to our limud (Jewish learning) theme of Genesis Raba, as well as building community within studios. Today, visual arts studio finished their first projects and then shared with each other about their artistic process.
Drama studio has been working together to build an ensemble through practicing acting techniques, and lots of theater games. Music studio has been working collaboratively on an original group piece of music that they all composed and play together. While each camper expresses their art in their own way and has the opportunity to create individual artwork throughout the session, I find it is these collaborative experiences that shape our community for the session and make Tiferet such a special place on camp. I am looking forward to much more continued learning, community building, and fun throughout the next three weeks!
Leah Sherin, our Tiferet Rosh Eidah, is celebrating her 12th summer at camp, and her 6th on staff. In May, she graduated from Brandeis University, where she studied Sociology.