By Ellie Tepper Shulman

In Judaism, there are prayers for nearly everything! We say ha’motzi when we begin a meal. We say the Sh’ma and the Hashkivenu before we go to bed. There is even a blessing for when we go to the bathroom. But my favorite blessing of all is the Shehecheyanu. The Shehecheyanu is the blessing for when you do something for the first time. We say it on the first night of all of our holidays. We say it to mark joyous occasions. We said it on our first day of camp in the amphitheater before beginning this fantastic summer.

For those of you who don’t know, although I am pretty sure he has drooled on the majority of you at some point, I had a baby this past year. When you have a baby, there are a lot of firsts. First teeth, first solid food, first disgusting diaper. But leading up to June, I was most excited for Henry’s first summer at camp.

When it is your first summer at Harlam, there are A LOT of opportunities to say the Shehecheyanu. In the past 10 weeks, I said the Shehecheyanu a number of times with Henry. When he went into the pool the first time. When he made his first project in Omanut. Even when he celebrated Shabbat on the hill for the first time.

But what is remarkable is that after 14 years, I also had the opportunity to say the Shehecheyanu for things that I did for the first time. The first time I did Goobies course. The first time I reffed a basketball game. The first time I did the swing.  And this summer, I also said the Shehecheyanu for things I did the first time since 2019 – went to kef b’mayim, led s’morning, and drove a golf cart.

What is so special about camp is that whether you are in Carmel or Chavurah, a first-time camper or you have been here for five, ten, or eighteen summers, there is always something you can do for the first time. Together, this summer, we experienced a collective “Shehecheyanu moment”: camp during an unprecedented moment in our history. We pushed through the challenge of wearing masks, being more divided by unit, and having to sit in split meals. We also experienced camp with more energy and ruach than I have ever seen before.

Tonight, our Carmelions talked about Rachamim – acting with your heart. Camp is a place filled with Rachamim. Everyone takes care of everyone.  Without Rachamim, and our ability to come together as a Kehilah Kedoshah, a holy community, this summer could have been a lot different.

As we prepare to leave camp and you get ready for your next set of “Shehecheyanu moments”: your first meal back in the “real world”, first day of school ,even your first snow day (as we sit in the 100 degree heat…), I hope that you take the joy and the spirit of this summer into everything you do and all of your firsts throughout the year.

So please join with me in the Shehecheyanu, as we bless this moment, a first for all of us and the beginning of the end of a wonderful summer together: Baruch atah, Adonai Eloheinu, Melech haolam, shehecheyanu, v’kiy’manu, v’higiyanu laz’man hazeh.

Ellie Tepper Schulman has been working at Camp Harlam for the last fourteen summers. This is her fourth summer as an Assistant Director. She supervises Junior and Senior Camp, Unit Operations, and camp’s vast programs, including all-camp programs, trips, and more! During the year, Ellie lives with her husband, Jon and Henry Tepp in Philadelphia.