Hello Muddah

Two weeks at the Eisner Camp in Great Barrington, MA. In many ways, it was the most "routine" part of my sabbatical, in that I go to camp every summer to serve on faculty. By my rough estimate, this was my 25th summer spent all or in part at a URJ summer camp, in fact.

Perhaps that fact is what made it perfectly obvious that, whatever I would do differently this summer-- whatever I needed to let go of so that I could let God-- camp wasn't it.

I needed to be part of my extended camp family. I needed to give Elyssa the two weeks to pretty much sit under a tree and read 10 books that camp provides every year.

I needed to teach for 6 hours a day-- teach 9-16 year olds-- the next generation of the Jewish people. I needed to teach them and, as always, be re-energized by their passion for learning and growth. I needed to interact with the 18-25 year olds who comprise the bulk of the staff, doing what I could to nurture their continued Jewish development.

I needed to spend time with the close colleagues with whom we've been sharing this same two-week faculty slot for some years now. I needed to brainstorm High Holiday sermon ideas with that cadre (and now I need to write them!). I needed to play endless rounds of Apples to Apples (Jewish Edition, of course!) until all hours of the night with those same crazy rabbis, cantors, and educators.

And while it might not have been anything extraordinary to blog about (sorry for the lay-off, for those who have been following this blog), camp, too, was a part of what I needed during these months. The fact is, camp is a reminder that, although I needed this sabbatical leave, my work as a rabbi is also nurturing to me.

Today we came home with Ari in tow, after his 4 week stint at camp. After giving him two baths and a shower, he is beginning to smell like the boy we know and love. His laundry after one washing? I'm not so sure...

But we have little time to waste-- Thursday we depart on our month-long driving journey to the Left Coast. The preparations have already begun, as we gather gear, clothing, food, a tent (thanks, McVeighs!), music (thanks, I-Tunes) mitbrings (my grandfather's word for gifts), and all that we'll need to keep ourselves sane and happy for thousands and thousands of miles.