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Dear NCSY Camp Sports Parents,
Last Shabbos was unbelievable, with tons of singing, davening and dancing at the meals. On Friday night, we had a oneg run by our advisors, they shared with us their stories of challenge and how they got through them in high school. We also had delectable food at the oneg, including deli roll and hush puppies, all sponsored by David Cutler, Director of NCSY Summer. We had a relaxing shabbos day with learning, games, and time to rest. On Shabbos afternoon, we had our traditional famous Rita’s ices, great shiurim and a meaningful “As Shabbos ebbs away” with Rabbi Dani Cooper. Saturday night bowling and pizza were awesome as usual.
Sunday morning started with interactive small learning sessions with all of the campers and members of the upper staff. Campers were able to ask any questions they had, and we spent time addressing each question. After learning we went to Camden Yards to watch the Orioles play the Texas Rangers. It did not look good for the O’s after the first inning when the Rangers hit a Grand Slam. It did look good for camp when our advisor, Reuven Markowitz, caught the Grand Slam. The Orioles came back to win a great game and we then had a scavenger hunt at Baltimore’s Inner Harbor. The amazing day came to and end with a barbecue and siyum on Masechta Makkos from camper Drew Sadikman!
Monday morning started with our daily learning groups and then leagues. After we showered and changed from a hot day of sports we had an amazing night activity. Zucker Wars had all of the campers watching some of their friends compete in some zany games. In between we had our talented NCSYers perform in a talent show. From comedy to song we saw and heard some great talent.
Tuesday we heeded the warnings of the forecast of 100% thundershowers and had one of our favorite trips….to the Jewish bookstore. Thanks to a tremendously thoughtful gift from Lander College for Men, every NCSYer got to pick out one sefer at the bookstore!. When they finished they got on the bus to spend the rest of the afternoon at Lasertag. It was a great day but it did not rain until we got back!
Wednesday was another one of our amazing trips with tons of stops. We started in Washington, D.C., where the boys could choose to go to the Air and Space Museum, Holocaust Museum, the Senate or a trip to the Kosher Krispy Kreme. After the weather cooled down a little bit and our museum visits were done, we went to Hayne’s Point on the Potomac River for a BBQ. The trip ended with a late-night trampoline park called Skyzone in Columbia, MD.
Thursday was a classic Camp Sports day with learning groups and some of our last league games. The day ended with some tight playoff races as we headed into the last game on Friday. During the day we were honored to host Mrs. Miriam Pfeifer one of the chairs of the NCSY Summer Youth commission. She was joined by her husband, Allen and they both got to see the magic of Camp Sports. They surprised the NCSYers with donuts and they gave the staff members much strength as well from their kind words and presence at the camp. At night we finished our 5 on 5 basketball and frisbee contests. Mishmar was full of spirit and raffles and culminated with ice cream sundaes.
Today we had learning and the final league games and spent the rest of day getting ready for Shabbos and Tish B’Av.
We are looking forward to a great Shabbos, as well as a meaningful Tisha B’Av.
If you got all the way to the end of this letter and want to see these words come to life I highly recommend watching our weekly videos at our website (https://campsports.ncsy.org/). If you have not already done that. Jeremy Lewis has put together some wonderful videos and I hope you enjoy
Rabbi Jon Green
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