By Lisa David

Shabbat Shalom. Just standing here now, with all of you, for our first Shabbat of the session, brings me such joy. We waited a long, long time to be able to join in this moment of simcha.

Rabbi Jonathan Sacks once wrote about the concept of Simcha. What Rabbi Sacks shared is that joy is a state of mind or emotion that one feels as an individual. It is deeply personal and is felt by you alone. Simcha, by contrast, is not a private emotion. It has a more nuanced translation and means shared happiness. It is a social state – there is no such thing as feeling simcha alone. Tonight, here, in welcoming Shabbat in this special space, we feel both – joy as individuals and a sense of shared joy as a community.

I, like many of you, have dreamed and longed for this moment for almost two years.

In thinking about what I might say here tonight, in this moment that feels so important, I thought back, all the way, to the very founding of Camp Harlam.

Many of us know the story of Joe and Betty Harlam. They were a couple from Hazelton, PA, not far from here. They were very active in their close-knit Jewish community and shared a deep connection to their Rabbi, Rabbi Martin Rozenberg. As Joe and Betty thought about the legacy they wanted to leave, they considered their commitment to Jewish community and continuity. As they did not have children of their own, they thought about how they could support and connect future generations of Jews to each other and to Jewish values and ideas. Rabbi Rozenberg brought them to this place, here, in Kunkletown, PA, and showed them what was at the time a basketball camp. When they stood at the very spot where I am standing now, and gazed down at the fields below, they imagined a future home for Jewish kids to learn and live and be outside and connect to each other and to their Jewish identity in ways that were both fun and meaningful. Through their wisdom, and a generous gift, the Camp Harlam community was born.

And now, just over 60 years later, here we are. This week we were all like Joe and Betty, taking in camp for the first time. We feel in our heart what they felt: enthusiasm, hope, and so much joy. And while the Harlam’s likely could not have imagined the year we just had; I believe they would agree that we need this place now more than ever.

If joy is personal, and simcha is a shared sense of joy, then 2021 is the summer of simcha. This summer, we will celebrate, and celebrate together. This summer, we will lift each other up with the shared happiness we all so deeply need. While I loved seeing your faces on Zoom over the course of this year, it wasn’t the same. We’ve traded screens and breakout rooms, for song session and Teva. We’ve traded quarantine and online school, with art and adventure. We’ve traded alone for together.

After all of the isolation and disconnection, we are home again, seated beside people we love, working on friendships that may last forever.

I feel so grateful to the Harlam’s, and to our staff, and to our families, and all who helped us get to this moment. While the world changed so much since we last sat together like this, we could say that even Camp Harlam has changed, in some really great ways. I am so thankful that our community invested in the beautiful renovation of Chapel on the Hill that we can enjoy together tonight. Seeing all of the names of those who supported that effort on these plaques, and our benches filled, is a dream come true both for those here tonight and those with us in spirit.

If you see me crying frequently throughout this summer, please know that I’m crying tears of joy. Because we are home, and we got here together.

Whether this is your first Harlam Shabbat or you have celebrated many over the years, I hope that for all of us it is filled with sweetness, with celebration and with simcha. I hope that this summer we take on the spirit of Joe and Betty, when they first stood on this hill so long ago, seeing camp as a place of great possibility, of simcha, and of love.

Lisa David is from Mt. Laurel, NJ and has been Camp Harlam’s Director for 5 years. In addition to her role on Harlam’s professional staff team, Lisa is also a former camper, staff member, and now proud parent of three Harlam campers.