By our Kallah Bet Segel: Rabbi Alan Cook, Rabbi of Sinai Temple in Champaign, Illinois, and Rabbi Phyllis Sommer, Director of Congregational Learning at Am Shalom in Glencoe, Illinois

Each of the roads on camp has a different name. The Hebrew word for road is Derech, and thus we have a multitude of paths that use this word in their names. For instance, the road that runs past the Mercaz Ivrit  (Hebrew center) is named Derech Ben Yehudah, in honor of Eliezer Ben Yehudah, who compiled the first modern Hebrew dictionary.

The road that runs straight through the heart of camp is Derech Rabin, named for slain Israeli Prime Minister Yitzchak Rabin. Kallah spends a lot of time on Derech Rabin moving from one activity to the next, so much so that it has even been incorporated into a new Kallah cheer.

So it is that even the roads on camp serve as a teaching tool, a means to elevate the simplest walk from tzrifim (cabins) to chadar ochel (dining hall) into a learning experience. The roads on camp can also serve to transport us to a different place spiritually and intellectually.

While walking Derech Rabin today, the two of us talked about how the Hebrew word “derech” shares its root with the word that we use when talking about our fabulous counselors. We call them madrichim, literally, “those who guide us on the way.”

All day long, the Kallah chanichim (campers) traverse Derech Rabin and all the roads of camp. These steps are guided by their madrichim, but these young leaders also help our children to embark on journeys that are far more transcendent. The physical travels are fun and engender enthusiasm, as the chanichim walk from the lake to the pool to the sports center to the stables and all over! But their bigger journeys are the ones that inspire us, the journeys to independence and growth, to new friendships and new experiences. Camp truly is a journey, and the in Kallah have only just embarked on it. Two weeks from now, as they return home and no longer trod Derech Rabin on a daily basis, we know that they will retain a lifetime of memories to serve as their guides on the paths of life.