Our Kineret (rising 6th graders) campers led services Friday evening. Their theme was Nitzachon: pushing through a challenge. Below are the readings they shared. 

By Yale, Asher, Noah, Henry and Josh
The theme of this week’s Torah portion is Pushing through challenges. On the first full day of camp, went on a stream hike. The following stories share the challenges we faces on the hike and how each of the writers pushed through them. One challenge I faced on the stream hike, was the current. The current at the start of the hike was scary, and I kept on falling down. But, eventually, I could stand and the current was no longer a problem! The challenge I faced on the stream hike, was that the water was VERY cold. At first, I was scared, but once I got in (and my legs went numb) it was really fun. Because it was the first day, I got to know a lot of people in my bunk. I had tons of fun and got through my challenge!

The challenge I faced was the rocks being slippery and me tripping over them a bunch of times. I had to grab onto some branches to stop myself from allying into the freezing water. I only fell in after the Tunnel of Love” (see Asher’s story) at the end of the hike. That is a challenge I pushed through on the stream hike!

My segment is about the “Tunnel of Love”, where man and water are bound in an everlasting relationship (marriage) as the group approached the tunnel, the counselors told us to go through the tunnel on our backsides. As the first group kids tried to stay on their feet and almost immediately fell. All the kids were dropping on their backsides so fast, you could only see the splashes of water. The screams of the kids reverberated off the walls, turning it into the “tunnel of Horror”. As each of us went through we learned that if we push through our fear, and take our time, we can succeed.

By Lila and Maya
In this week’s Torah portion, Eikev, we talk about Nitzachon or pushing through a challenge. An example of this is having my parents come on visiting day, then having them leave again.  This was hard but I pushed through. Even though we don’t have our parents here, we know that there are many people around us who care for us just as much. This is very comforting for us to know. There’s always someone to help you…and make sure you’re happy. It may be hard, but if you talk to someone, they can help make sure you have the best summer ever!

By Zinnia, Sadie and Talia
We all have had challenges during this past year. For me, I went to a new fully online school without any of my old friends. I couldn’t be with my friends in the same way that I was used to because of Covid. I often couldn’t see my friends because they went to school on different days than I did.

We knew that coming to camp would help us overcome our challenges because we get to see our friends and our friends help us feel better and that helps us overcome our challenges.

By Liv and Stella
Having to push through a challenge is something that we all have experienced. Since both of us come to camp for both sessions, departing from our first session friends can be difficult. For our final song session of the first session, we always sing “Stars in the Sky.” While we sing, we wrap our arms around each other. It makes us feel comforted and safe.  We always know that it’s almost the end of the session when this song plays. Even though it’s the end of our time together, we know that in just a few days we get a fresh start and we know that we’ll get to see our first session friends again next summer! We hope everyone feels as connected with their friends as we do with ours.

By Ezra, Eli and Noah
This week’s Torah reading is about pushing through challenges, and during the pandemic just about everyone had to push through something. Even though we faced big challenges, we knew that if we trusted in G-d it would help us overcome our obstacles. G-d has been with us through everything, whether working through online school or remembering to wear masks. It was hard, but we kept pushing through. For me, it’s been hardest when I’m late to Zoom meetings and not able to see friends. For me, it’s been hardest being with my siblings for too long. For me, it’s been hardest being away from my friends and having to open up my computer every day instead of walking to school.

By Adam
I remember my first year here at camp was also the year I was being bullied at school. I recall my mom telling me about a Jewish sleep away camp.  I was really nervous because I thought I would just get bullied more… but I was wrong.  Here at Camp Harlam I’ve never felt more welcomed in my life.  From the warm “Welcome Home” to the gender sexuality meetings, I realized that camp is a place where you can be who you want to be and I was finally at peace with myself once again.  Camp helped me realize that it doesn’t matter what the bully thought, it matters what I think.  This is why maybe one day I can be the camp director and help other kids too.  Camp is my home away from home.

By Liza
When most people think about pushing through a challenge, they think about climbing the tower or the Galil hike.  I mean, don’t get me wrong… those things do take a lot of pushing, but for some people standing up here to lead a service could take a lot of courage. Pushing through a challenge doesn’t always mean something physical.  It could also be something mental.  For example, when getting into the cold pool water, you have to push yourself mentally to get into the pool.  When the Jewish people took their journey to the land of Israel they had to push mentally, telling themselves they would make it out of Egypt.  As we pray silently, think about how you can push through

By Spencer
Camp Harlam… it’s the place to be! Sometimes it’s hard at first to get used to people you may have never seen.  That was the experience I had and some still have.  When I was in Carmel, my first day was rough.  That night, under the cover, I sighed and was a bit lightheaded but I knew that with my connection to G-d I would be okay.  My community would help me and I would help them.  My Harlam community helped me with every challenge that came my way during camp.  Then camp closed and virtual camp just wasn’t the same. But finally, the doors reopened, and no matter if it was your first or fifth, or tenth year, we could say welcome back and welcome home.