The unit of Kineret led our Friday night Shabbat services last week. Their theme was Bitachon Atzmi or confidence and independence. Below are some of the words they shared.
By Sami, Anny, and Sophie: Our theme this week is confidence and independence. When I first came here in Carmel, I was nervous about making friends. I had to build up the confidence to ask to hang out with my bunkmates. Confidence is about being brave and trying new things. Confidence is an important skill to have throughout your entire life. Being confident will help you through a lot in life. Just always be your amazing, brave self. Stay confident.
By Samara and Alana: Our Middah this week is confidence and independence. This means many things such as trying something new or admitting your mistakes. The Barechu talks about getting everyone ready to pray. This connects to our middah for the week because when we are at services and we chant the barechu, we are getting prepared. I don’t know about you, but when I am getting ready for something, I need confidence.
By Mia and Maya: Bitachon Atzmi is our middah this service. That means confidence and independence. We are fortunate to feel safe while we sleep. People around the world don’t always feel confident to go to sleep and feel safe. We are fortunate to feel safe at night while others don’t. We are confident that we can make a world where everyone feels safe and comfortable, where you feel okay to be alone, safe to be wherever you are, to feel safe and learn independence, to be safe to go to sleep. Please remember to be confident in yourself and in others, to help make a world where everyone feels safe to go to sleep.
By Alice, Victoria, Mollie, Lulu, Jane, and Molly: You need confidence and love to create a safe community. A good relationship includes communication. Communication in a relationship with friends and family will create more loving connections. For example, when you’re in an argument with someone, you have to have confidence to stand up for yourself. Love is something everyone has and is capable of doing. We can all improve our confidence by saying self-affirmations to help us further confidence and improve love for ourselves. Love and confidence go hand in hand, whether to us, our family, our friends, or our community.
By Elena, Caitlyn, and Charlotte: The theme of this Shabbat service is confidence and independence. Mi Chamocha is about how the Israelites won their independence from Egypt. It was not about each individual; it was about our independence as a community. It is our job as a Harlam community to make everyone feel confident in what they do and who they are. Moses had confidence in leading the Israelites out of Egypt. You can find the confidence in yourself to change what isn’t right. Being confident in what you do is always important. You do not have to lead to be independent; independence can be as simple as making your own heat-up mac and cheese. Confidence isn’t just believing in yourself; it’s also believing in others. Trust that you too can be confident and independent like Moses and the Israelites
By Alyssa and Emily: When I first came to camp in Sharon, I realized that confidence is important if you want to have the best camp experience. For example, you need confidence for most of the activities at camp like the swing, the rock wall, and even just coming to camp. At camp, we are most confident when doing things we are scared of or have never done before. Even standing up here. Last year was my first year and I needed confidence. I needed independence. I needed to have independence to make new friends and leave home for a long amount of time. Camper Free Choice is a great way to show independence because it means that your counselors are trusting you to be able to go around camp by yourself and follow camp rules. Now, by having confidence and independence, we have had the best summers.
By Addy and Soleil: Peace and confidence are very important to all our lives. You need confidence to speak up about peace. You will be listening to the prayer Shalom Rav, which talks about peace. Shalom rav means that God blesses the people of Israel with fairness. Confidence is an important value. Everyone here is an example of confidence. It takes a lot of confidence to come to camp. Another example is Camper Free Choice. The counselors trust us and have confidence in us to be independent. They trust that we’ll make good decisions and that we will not put ourselves in danger, put others in danger, or do anything harmful that could ruin someone’s camp experience.
By Gabby Marissa, and Laine: Confidence has many different definitions, but in life, you have to figure out which ones fit best for you. Confidence and independence overlap in many ways. One way I feel independent is cleaning my area with no one asking. In order to be independent, you have to be confident in yourself. Confidence is believing in yourself even if it’s difficult. True maturity in independence is knowing when to stop working alone. Life is full of endless moments, outcomes, and sometimes, looking back, you may despise some of them. Reflecting on the past may cause some pain and grief but also amazing thoughts of the moments that make us happiest. Reflection is important because it can change who you are.
By Charlie, Ben, Sam, Ari, and Bram: Most things that you do in your everyday life require confidence. It takes confidence to come to camp and you might need independence to make new friends at camp and to pray and sing with new friends. It takes independence to do these things. Moving your home to another place and leaving your friends. You need confidence to fight for what you want, and if you don’t succeed, you have to keep trying. That is how our ancestors left Egypt and came to the promised land.
Associate Director Amy Kagan also shared the remarks below:
A tired bird landed on a branch. The bird rested, enjoying the view from the branch and the protection it offered from dangerous animals. Just as the bird became used to the branch and the support and safety it offered, a strong wind started blowing, and the tree swayed with such intensity that it seemed the branch would snap in half.
But the bird was not worried for it knew two important truths. The first truth – even without the branch, it was able to fly and remain safe through the power of its own two wings. The second truth – it also knew that there are many other branches that it could temporarily rest on.
This story tells us a lot about our own self-confidence and courage. We are capable of so much more than we realize each and every day. Camp gives us incredible opportunities to gain confidence and independence. At camp, we have the opportunity to learn who we are and grow confident in that person. We believe in you and so should you!