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Dear NCSY Camp Sports Parents,
As we head into our last Shabbos, it is once again exciting to look back at the busy week we had here at Camp Sports.
Shabbos just keeps getting better - we danced, sang and smiled from Kabbalas Shabbos through the meal and all the way to the Onegs late into the night. We had smaller Onegs this week to create more opportunities for each NCSYer to shine. Shabbos day we tried something new after our pre-Mussaf Kiddush. We divided into two groups for an “ask the rabbi” session. It is always amazing to hear the great questions and to be challenged to find the answers. We also used this opportunity to let every NCSYer know that they should not leave camp without asking their questions during the remaining week and a half.
Motzei Shabbos we prepared for the fast while playing “Minute to Win It” and feasting on lasagna, pancakes made fresh on our propane griddle, and ice cream. It was really hot on Shabbos and Sunday and we made sure everyone kept hydrated to prepare for the fast.
On the fast day, we spent the morning learning about the laws of the Three Weeks and then had a special chabura to learn more about our Love Ya Brother theme I mentioned in last week’s letter. After an afternoon rest and some optional movies and Shiurim in the afternoon, we came together for a powerful program. The first part of the program was spent learning about the incredible chesed that came out of the tragedy of the loss of Rabbi Reuven Bauman. We watched some news clips and videos and then heard from Sam Schnitzer who is an NCSY Camp Sports alumnus form Baltimore who went down to search and was instrumental in locating the body. He was with a friend when they got a ride from a police officer to help search on the beach. The officer told them he had done many searches and they needed to move the search a mile further to sea. Sam let the search teams know, and this helped them directly locate the body less than an hour later. Sam told us some of the stories of the search as well as why he went. As someone who knew Ari Kahn, he also tied this into the Love Ya Bother theme of the summer.
Following this part of the program, we joined together with camp Ohr Haner. They are a small group of young men from Mexico and Venezuela who share our campus. We had a kumzits together, which was a fitting way to end the fast - showing love to our brothers who may not even speak the same language as us. We had the honor of being addressed by Rav Aharon Feldman, the Rosh Yeshiva of Ner Israel, during the kumzits.
After the break-fast, we got treated to Dunkin Donuts and almost went out to play basketball and Frisbee, but a passing lightning storm left us just eating more donuts!
Monday we woke up ready to learn and then headed out to paintball and ropes. The leaning went well but the paintball and ropes got postponed because of flash flood warnings in Pennsylvania. Thanks to some quick thinking, some nice people at the bus company and a new trampoline location, we changed the trip to head to Washington DC and then Get Air. Thank you to all the parents for helping out and filling out the waivers.
Tuesday allowed us to finally get back out to the sports fields - even a little morning rain could not stop us! Tuesday night also featured a pool party for some special campers who won raffles in the morning learning program.
Wednesday we once again got excited about paintball and ropes and this time we divided into three groups. One group went hiking, another to a rope course and the third and largest group went to paintball. After an exhausting day for everyone we all ended up at paintball for a camp bbq and to watch some pretty intense 3 on 3 paintball games. I think most of the camp fell asleep on the way home as it was an exhausting day no matter what choice you made.
Thursday was another busy day at camp with learning and sports. After dinner we had some time for open sports and the 5 on 5 basketball league championships. We then got treated to our annual advisor skit. Our talented staff put on a great show and we laughed a lot at ourselves!! Our last mishmar of the year took place after the skit and it was fabulous. Rabbi Zucker and his son, Rabbi Zucker led a beautiful oneg at the end of mishmar before we drew some amazing raffle prizes and feasted on a late night barbecue.
After learning and sports, we are looking forward to our last Shabbos of the summer with even more ruach than the last three!!
Have a Great Shabbos!
Rabbi Jon Green
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