Summer always conveys memories of summer camp. I always tell Chuck and my kids that my greatest times were at camp. I began my camp summers at Pembroke when I was seven years old. In those days, you went for eight weeks. After the initial week of slight homesickness, I was smitten. I loved the daily routine, heading to breakfast and then cleaning duties in the bunk. I became an expert on toilet cleaning and broom sweeping! Instructional swim, free swim, arts and crafts, dodgeball, volleyball, Israeli dance, these were some of the activities. Color War is what we lived for.
Shabbat was celebrated by the entire camp and we shone brightly in our white shirts and shorts.
My parents wanted a more Jewish experience for my sister and me so we were shipped off to Camp Ramah in Palmer, MA. Thus began my journey into Judaism like I had never experienced before. Boys wore yarmulkes everyday and we learned how to crochet them as well. There were morning services before breakfast each day, blessings before and after each meal, and robust singing of Hebrew songs after dinner at night. The spirit and energy in the dining hall grew stronger each week.
There were daily classes in conversational Hebrew, Jewish history, and other subjects. We put on elaborate plays in Hebrew; Mary Poppins, Hair, West Side Story. Everyone participated.
Judaism was quietly woven into every part of our day and night, be it a bedtime story like The Diary of Anne Frank, read by a counselor, or learning our lines for the play in Hebrew.
We looked forward to Shabbat and embraced the beauty and restfulness it brought to our lives. We sang, we prayed, we read books and relaxed.
When it was time for Havdalah, hundreds of campers gathered in a huge circle with our arms around each other’s shoulders, singing and swaying to the closing blessings of Shabbat.
These wonderful memories are as clear today as they were back then. They make me smile and give me hope that together we can build and create new memories that will inspire us for many years to come.
May you all have peaceful, restful and spiritual Shabbat.
Sharon Diamond
Co-President
