By Alyssa Kress

Like any good Jew, kvetching comes naturally to me. I whine when a meal at camp isn’t what I’m in the mood for. I bemoan a rainy day, knowing that Mother Nature doesn’t really care for my complaining. I get frustrated when the campers I supervise make mistakes and I have to have a conversation with them.

Instead, I could be grateful to have food in front of me, grateful for the rain that cools things down, and grateful that I have the opportunity to help turn mistakes into learning opportunities. But this doesn’t come naturally to me. Why is it that for many of us, it takes tragedy or hardship to make us take a step back and show our gratitude for the simple things – the air in our lungs, the people we surround ourselves with, the ability to come to this utopia that is Camp Harlam? What could the world look like if we simply showed our gratitude for the many blessings in our lives every day? Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel said, “Just to be is a blessing. Just to live is holy.” If just to be is a blessing, then just to be at camp is an enormous blessing, as here, we can be our best selves.

Last week, I attended a program in K’far Noar about privilege. With great respect and vulnerability, campers acknowledged their own privileges and recognized types of privilege they may have never thought about, like if they’ve ever had to rely solely on public transportation, if they always assumed they would be going to college, or if they’re afraid to walk alone at night. At some point during the evening, I leaned over to my colleague Cori Miller and whispered, “This is why we do this.” Working at camp isn’t always easy. The days are long and there are always a million things on our to-do lists, but it is moments like this – helping kids realize all they have to be grateful for – that make this job so meaningful.

Being at camp is a privilege and we are so lucky to be here, in this space, together. So on this Shabbat, I want to recognize some of the privileges afforded to us here at Harlam – the things that we often take for granted and don’t take the time to appreciate enough.

Here, we are free to be joyful. There is an immense amount of laughter at camp. For the belly laughs and sleepy hahas, I am grateful.

Here, we are free to make mistakes and learn from them. For a culture of growth, I am grateful.

Here, we wake up every morning and take a breath of fresh air. We lay under the stars, sit in the shade of the trees, and are encircled by seemingly endless mountains. For the beauty of our surroundings, I am grateful.

Here, we have people who care about us. From the counselors to the Leadership Team, from Camper Care to the nurses, from the kitchen staff to security, there are hundreds of people looking out for all of us all day, every day. Not to mention the bunkmates who become our family in just a few short weeks. For the gift of feeling safe and loved, I am grateful.

Here, we interact with people who look different than us, who think differently than us, who pray differently than us, who love differently than us. For the diversity of our community, I am grateful.

Here, we are able to pass tradition onto the next generation. On the Leadership Team this summer are my former camper, my Carmel buddy, and two of my camp friends’ younger brothers. There are campers I’ve known since they were babies. There are the people I met for the first time this summer who will be in my life forever. For the deep and personal connections that we build here at camp, I am grateful.

Here, we are free to express our Judaism proudly. For the freedom to pray and sing and celebrate Jewishly, I am grateful.

Here, we get to be ourselves. We get to know the unique value that we bring to our bunk, to camp, to the Jewish community, and to the world. For those who have helped validate my value to our community and for the things each of you bring, I am grateful.

Here, everything is a gift if we make the choice to see it that way. Kvetching has its place, but our days will be happier if we see challenges as a chance to learn, if we see that unfamiliar food as an opportunity to try something new, if we see disagreements as a way to understand another person’s perspective, if we see every interaction as a chance to build a strong and enduring relationship. And with these privileges we are given also comes great responsibility. We must use our privilege to make our world a better place, to fight for those with less, to educate others about their privilege, to remember that just to be is a blessing.

For each of you, for this place, for the summer of 2019, the summers before, and the summers to come, for the ways in which you will take your experiences this summer and help make the world a little more whole, I am grateful. Shabbat Shalom.

Alyssa Kress is one of our Assistant Directors at Camp Harlam. She oversees Camp K’ton, Senior Camp, the CIT program, and communications.