As Thursday Mishmar came to an end, the thought of the coming Shabbos came into my brain and starting doing somersaults in excitement. The week itself had been full of exiting trips and sports galore, but I was in need of a desperate break and my body was sending messages that it was time to shut down.
Early Friday morning I woke up to the smell of dirty laundry and an amazing realization hit me. Tonight Shabbos begins and I told myself that since this is the last Shabbos of camp, I better make it count. Eager to get on with my day I raced to shacharis. After learning had been completed, I was blessed with the gift of playing softball, the sport that causes the average human to exert the least amount of energy possible. A very intense game of softball ensued and after a great catch by Rabbi Cooper, my team took the victory. It was simply a fantastic way to end the week.
Once the sports were all completed we set out for 7 Mile Market for pre-Shabbos shopping and to partake in a contest set forth by Rabbi Weiner to buy snacks for the oneg that night. I made a few great purchases and in the blink of an eye, I was right back at camp getting ready for shul.

Kabalas Shabbos was simply fantastic and inspirational, with singing and dancing to greet Shabbos. At the conclusion of Davening I went to the dining room for the Shabbos meal, which included very scrumptious food. And in the middle of the meal the other camp that shares Ner Yisrael with us called Ohr HaNair joined us in singing Shabbos zemirot. After the meal, the snacks from 7 Mile were brought out at the oneg and the significance of each one was explained.
The next morning tipped off with shacharis which was followed by a delicious meal filled with cholent, deli, and cake for those fortunate enough to have their birthdays during camp. The cakes scent was simply overtaking. After a great rest/ menucha, we davened and ate shalushudis and finished off the final Shabbos of camp with ebbing. It is sad to see camp coming to an end, but this Shabbos made me realize that we are one camp and one voice that we can really make an impact on one another and help each other grow.

-Efraim Weiner, Memphis, Tennessee

David Kornbluth has returned for his fourth summer as an advisor at Camp Sports. Hailing from the Five Towns, David attended Rambam Mesivta High School, at which time he also first experienced Camp Sports as a camper. Following high school, David spent a year abroad at Yeshivat Sha’alvim where he further developed himself as a Jew. David recently completed his fourth year at Yeshiva University where he majored in Physics and Pre-engineering. Next year, he plans to attend the Combined Engineering Program at Columbia University.
David learns with Elias Rosenthal (Santa Rosa, CA) and Bension Khaimov (Brooklyn, NY), two talented teenagers eager to learn. Together they have been learning Kitzur Shulchan Aruch, specifically the laws pertaining to public fast days and the Three Weeks. On Fridays they take time to review the weekly parsha. Every so often, Elias and Bension have questions and topics they’re curious about which lead to interesting and engaging conversations.

What a jampacked day it was on Wednesday here at Camp Sports! From learning groups to an amazing lunch followed by an awesome trip! Where else can you find a camp that does all that in one day? The day started with the usual wake up, with some of the most awesome counselors. After that, if you had not guessed already, was Shachris. After Shachris, we had a breakfast of cereal, sandwiches, soft and hard boiled eggs and some other delicious stuff that completed a great breakfast. After breakfast, we went back to the shul for our unique three person learning groups with a counselor. In Camp Sports we don’t learn like we would in a class. What makes it fun is that we learn the material as if we were in a race…a race to finish the CHALLENGES! On Wednesday, most of the camp was working on Challenge #3, where each learning group had to begin to draw a poster about a specific malachah. My group, which consists of Asher Stein, Leib Fant, and advisor Ariel Adler, began drawing a poster on the malacha of Boneh (Building). So far it looks great, considering the fact that we don’t have any artists in our group. After lunch, the annual three-on-three basketball tournament began. At the same time, the inaugural Camp Sports soccer tournament was going on, and a pickup football game for the tougher campers. Besides for pride, the winner of the basketball tournament gets a free meal to Dougie’s, and the soccer champions will receive a meal at Mama Leah’s. After the games were completed, we davened Mincha and then boarded the buses to go to the Hagerstown Suns game. When we got to Hagerstown, we had an awesome BBQ. At the game, my friend Gavi Glazer got to throw out the first pitch as a reward for his learning group having the best song in Challenge #2. He threw a perfect strike in front of a crowd that was mostly from Camp Sports. During the game, the camp decided we would cheer extra loud for suns catcher, Spencer Keiboom. We made funny chants, like “BOOM KAHBOOM!”, and “when I say KAH you say BOOM, KAH! – BOOM! KAH! – BOOM!” Even though the suns lost to the Kannapolis Intimidators, I think everyone had a great time there. When we got back to the shul, we davened Maariv and figured out that around half of the camp got a baseball that was hit into foul territory. Now that, my friends, is a typical awesome trip day at the one and only NCSY Camp Sports!

-Ethan Isakov, Queens, NY

Today’s trip, a major highlight of the summer, was paintballing. The day started normally, but as soon as Shacharit and learning groups were over, we rushed to the buses to get to paintball and the ropes course. It was a long ride, but the wait was well worth it. As we arrived those of us who were brave enough to go paintballing were taught the rules of “war” and were separated into teams. We played about 6 courses, each one more fun than the last. I survived through: D-day, Jungle Attack, Capture the Flag, Protect the Fortress, Town, and Speedball. I got shot at least 50 times, 25 of the shots coming from a machine gun and within ten seconds of each other. By the end of the day, I had scratches all over my body from crawling through all sorts of terrain, and welts covering me from knee to neck. Despite this, the feeling of accomplishment and victory made up for my tired brain and scars of war. Nearby, my friends at the ropes course also had a great time, yet without getting shot at. They had to navigate a wall of rocks, a tight rope, and a zip line that almost (based on who recounts the story) broke the speed of light. At the end of the day, the whole camp joined together for another amazing Camp Sports barbecue. All in all, another specatcular day at Camp Sports!

-Shaun Regenbaum, Dunwoody, GA

Ariel Adler is spending his first summer in Camp Sports. Last summer, he was a counselor at Camp HASC. Ariel is from Edison, New Jersey and went to JEC for high school. After spending two years studying in Jerusalem at Yeshivat Torat Shraga, Ariel then moved on to Yeshiva University, where he will be a junior in the fall.
The members of Ariel’s chaburah are Andrew Korman (Detroit, MI) and Shimmy Socol (Kew Gardens Hills, NY). The chaburah’s focus is on the rationale of mitzvos. After the chaburah tests their knowledge of the basic laws of the mitzvah they are studying, they go through various Rishonim’s opinions on the reason for each mitzvah. The Rishonim they study include the Rambam, Ramban, Sefer Hachinuch, Abarbanel, Ibn Ezra among many others. So far, the chaburah has covered all the mitzvos of Sefer Bereishis, and is currently covering the many mitzvos of Parshas Kedoshim. Every Friday, Andrew and Shimmy get to choose a mitzvah from anywhere in the Torah that they want to explore.
“By learning the reasons for so many mitzvos, I gain a greater appreciation for the mitzvos I am striving to perform every day.” –Shimmy Socol

Sunday began like any other Sunday in Camp Sports. The Beis was packed during learning groups and the sports fields were filled with intensity. However, once Sunday night came, we were in for quite the twist! On Sunday night Rabbi Zucker had the best night activity this summer – the Zucker Games. Many advisors and campers had opportunities to get involved in the entertaining and fun filled activities. The camp was divided into four teams and the teams picked campers or advisors to get involved in each game. One of the funniest games was when four advisors stood on chairs and four of the shortest campers had to feed them with bottles filled with root beer. The advisor who finished the bottle first was declared the winner. Another awesome game was when four campers had to eat a watermelon – with no hands. The final activity and best out of all the Zucker Games was when four campers had to put their heads in a bowl of flour to find a penny without using their hands. All in all, it was a hilarious night at Camp Sports, and an amazing way to kick start what is sure to be another great week in Camp Sports!

-Shlomo Hirschey, Elizabeth, NJ

The third Shabbos at Camp sports was INSPIRING!!! This week was extra special because of the presence of NCSY Summer director David Cutler. An uplifting Kaballas Shabbos was led by Yaakov Abramowitz. In Camp sports, you could really feel the enthusiasm in the room during Davening. After Kabballas Shabbos and Maariv there was the awesome dinner. Dinner is always great with the beautiful Zemiros and the inspirational weekly Dvar Torah, which was given this week by our Joseph Fink. After dinner, we had a special Oneg led by the Kollel and David Cutler. As always, the Oneg was amazing with the great tunes the great food, especially the beef jerky, specially sponsored by David Cutler. During Lunch, we had our wonderful deli sandwiches, our weekly birthday cakes which are always amazing, and more incredible Zemiros and songs. The afternoon is always filled with lots of free time to learn or sleep, as well as a nice selection of board games. As the amazing Shabbos started winding down, we had Mincha, and then Shalosh Seudot. As Shabbos ebbed away, the most inspiring part about Shabbos to me, started. It was very inspirational, we sang singing different songs together, and Rabbi Zucker spoke about what one little Chesed can do. Ebbing was great! We davened Maariv, made Havdalah, and then we went off to bowling followed by a Pizza Melava Malka. We are all eagerly looking forward to another exciting week here at Camp Sports!!

-Danny Friedman, Cedarhurst, NY

It’s hard to believe that it’s already the end of the third week of camp. This week was jammed packed with a meaningful fast day, sports, laser tag, a murder mystery, Washington D.C., trampolines and preparations for the arrival of David Cutler, our esteemed guest for this coming Shabbos.

Thursday began with the first learning groups finishing up their packets about murder and moving on to a new packet about Shabbos. After lunch, each team had two intense league games of either soccer, basketball, softball, ultimate or football. After a delicious dinner and mincha, a select group of campers who were arriving early to Shachris this week were treated to an awesome pool party. Then, after a video recap of the week and Maariv, the winners of the first learning group challenge was announced, which was followed by an amazing mishmar. This mishmar may have been the greatest yet, as it featured awesome prizes, a chulent contest and a whole lot of learning in the Beis Medresh.

Friday was another classic Erev Shabbos in Camp Sports. We had learning in the morning followed by Erev Shabbos cleanup of the Beis Medrash. We played one league game, as we do every Friday, and then the rest of the afternoon was open to preparing for Shabbos. There was time to rest up, run to Wal-Mart, Rita’s, & 7/11, whatever one needs to do to get ready for Shabbos in Camp Sports! We are all looking forward to what’s sure to be an incredible and memorable Shabbos!

You could tell that the much anticipated Washington, D.C. trip had arrived by the buzz of conversation in the Beit Midrash after davening. Many questions could be heard ranging from, “How could you not plan on making the 40 minute walk to Krispy Kreme?” to “Would you rather go to the Holocaust Museum or the Air and Space museum first?” Eventually we were able to put our money where our mouths were because, after a short bus ride, we were actually standing in the great capital city itself. From the beginning, the camp was split into three groups. One group went to the Holocaust Museum, the second group went to the Air and Space Museum, and the third group wandered around the city aimlessly, possibly looking for a nonexistent mall. I, along with many of my peers, started off in the Holocaust Museum. It was a chilling, but meaningful experience for all of us, and it was interesting to start off the trip with such a serious attitude. The Holocaust Museum gave me a more historical outlook on the Holocaust from what I usually encounter, and the up close feeling I had within the Holocaust Museum was an unprecedented one for me. One of my fellow NCSYers said to me the following about his experience there, “I think it’s really important how crowded it is today, all these people came here on a random weekday just to learn about the Holocaust.” After the Holocaust Museum, we walked around to many famous sites such as the Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial, White House, and Capitol Building. There was also an array of interesting museums in an area called the National Mall, which surprisingly is not a large building with many cool stores. We then boarded the buses and drove off to a nice park along the Potomac River, where we were able to chill after a long day and enjoy a BBQ dinner. To close off this fantastic trip, we went to Sky Zone, an indoor trampoline park, and we were able to test our skills at dunking, flipping, and for the kids less accustomed to trampolines, embarrassingly falling. If you ask any advisor, the highlight of the evening were the many rounds of advisor dodge ball from which the campers were strictly banned. After Sky Zone, we headed back to Camp Sports and, to Rabbi Green’s relief, fell asleep fairly quickly from a long tiring day. The Washington D.C. trip definitely lived up to all the hype and I’m glad I didn’t randomly get the flu and miss it!

-Asher Stein, Memphis, Tennessee