During Saturday morning Shabbat services K’Far Noar participants (rising 9th graders) spoke about perseverance and how it often leads to personal growth healing. Below are the reading they shared. 

By Carly & Mattie
Last night you heard and learned all about perseverance. Today, we will share with all of you how we each have adapted and allowed ourselves to grow here at camp. In the Village, we learn to adapt to our surroundings through more independence. In K’far, we have been able to take precautions that other units are not able to have access to due to their ages. As we all now know, that different from past summers, we can not – at this summer, have song sessions and meals as an entire camp.Yet, we all realize that by following these new rules, we have adapted to a different kind of fun summer. Even though it is different, this is still our home.

By Lila & Arielle
Even though we have been through many challenges and hardships this past year, Shabbat is the special blessing that allows us to finally come together as one camp community. Because of the personal sacrifices that we, and many others, made during the months leading up to camp, we are very blessed to experience summer at our second home once again. We have been able to come home to Camp Harlam. All of you did what was necessary so that this summer could happen, and we are very grateful for this beautiful blessing. That is why we are now going to praise God.

By Aubry
After each day of Creation, God took a moment and said, “This is good.” When going through this weird year, I personally did not look at it as this was a good year. Coming back to camp and being with my friends made me look back on the year. This year, we persevered and became better people.

We each navigated virtual school, went to virtual camp and parties, and participated in virtual worship services. All of these restrictions and challenges opened our minds and our hearts to being more grateful for things we may have taken for granted in the past. Maybe you have been confronted with challenges like the Galil Hike; trying to go to sleep after flashlight times; talking to new people, participating in camp activities or even just standing here in front of many people. Instead of complaining or feeling scared, take a moment to think – WOW – what an amazing opportunity this is to be here in the woods looking at these amazing views!

Instead, think of things a little differently – Maybe if I go to sleep now, I won’t be tired tomorrow and will have more fun; or, maybe if I step out of my shell, I will make some life-long friends. If I can get over my stage fright, I can show everyone my talents while having fun. Maybe if I stop complaining the activities and choose to participate, I just might have fun and create memories with my friends.

Now, look at all the things we can do to persevere and in doing so, become better people. Now, like God, I can say, “This is Good!”

By Ben, Noa, Ethan
Shabbat is time to rejuvenate, relax and reflect. Let’s take a moment to reflect on the past  year. Although quarantine was a difficult time for all of us, we used the time separate from one another to rest and look back at ourselves. Now it is time to come back together as a community. Camp is a time to create memories, without the interference of the outside world. These memories we create this summer will last a lifetime. We learned to look deeper into ourselves before we could grow and change. As Shabbat is a time to give thanks for this day of rest, we also share our gratitude for everyone who made this summer possible. We in K’far really appreciate how we all can together as one family on this beautiful Shabbat day.

By Raya & Melissa
27 People – 1 Bunk. Living with the same 16 people since Sharon makes this change a big deal. At first, seeing all of these new faces in our bunk was very overwhelming, but day by day, we are adapting to this change and are branching out. With the Village comes more independence. We have to take it amongst ourselves to be responsible and not to take advantage of this new trust. We’ve learned that actions speak louder than words. Knowing this, when we make a mistake, we don’t just apologize and move on. We adapt and learn from our mistakes. Living in the village can be very hectic since there are people everywhere all the time. Due to this, it can be very hard to find time alone. We adapt to this by taking a few minutes out of each day to reflect and take time for ourselves. We encourage you to do that now.

By Lola & Charlotte
In the past year we have learned that healing takes a lot of perseverance and strength. Whether it was being in the same space or months on end, or dealing with the physical effects of Covid 19, we all faced challenges this year. We had to adapt to the different world we live in now. After this year of hardships, when we are all still healing, camp is a place where we are given the opportunity to heal, surrounded by the people we love. The process of healing is never easy, but we encourage you to take advantage of all that camp has to offer to heal yourself and others.