June 14th, 2013

Cabin 6: My Jewish Journey

L’chu N’ranana – pg. 130

L’cha Dodi – pg. 138

The Barchu is about the preparation of prayer, or beginning the journey of prayer. In my Jewish journey, I am preparing, or beginning, the journey of my Bat Mitzvah. What has also helped me in my Jewish journey is a wonderful camp, which sadly does not have any air conditioning, called GUCI. GUCI has helped me get excited about services, which I always thought were long, boring, and pointless. GUCI has also helped me learn more about Judaism. In my Jewish journey, having my Bat Mitzvah or leaving camp may seem to be the end of a journey, but it’s really just the beginning. – Tal

Please turn to page 146.

Bar’chu – pg. 146

When I was three years old, I went to my first Saturday night service. I had absolutely no idea what they were saying or talking about, but I was interested to find out. Every day I wake up and say it’s a new day, that I can do something good for the world today, and when I go to bed I’ll know that I did something good for someone. I’m going to have my Bat Mitzvah and grow up and have kids and they will have their B’nei Mitzvah. It didn’t start because of my parents or my friends. It started because of my sister, Amanda. Amanda persuaded me so much that she practically forced me to come. She made it sound like this palace with delicious food and working toilets, but when I got here I realized it wasn’t. It was better. A new journey started here for me and I can’t wait to see where it takes me. – Emily

You wake up, and for many it’s just a new day. But for me and many more, it’s a new journey. God created us for many reasons, and one of those reasons was to study and learn. To go on a new adventure, a new journey every single day. If something terrible happened, it’s okay because tomorrow is a different journey when you can forget what happened in the past and hope for the future to be better…brighter. Something bad will or has happened to you and me. Maybe it was today, yesterday, or even three years ago. But it doesn’t matter! Tomorrow is a new slate and you can erase all the bad things that happened in the past. When I have my Bat Mitzvah, it doesn’t end my journey, but creates a new one to enjoy and love forever. My Jewish journey at GUCI has helped me realize all that. When I grow up and have a family of my own, I hope that they will grow up to be Jews on their own Jewish journey and realize also that every day is new and it doesn’t include yesterday or tomorrow…just today. – Monya

Please join us for the Ma’ariv Aravim on page 148.

Ma’ariv Aravim – pg. 148

Everyone has a Jewish journey to complete. It starts when you are born and doesn’t end for a very long time. But individual people actually get involved in Judaism at different times. My dad is a rabbi, so I started exploring Judaism earlier than most. But it’s hard when most people around you aren’t Jewish. So coming to GUCI really helped me. Now, I truly love Judaism, just like Ahavat Olam says that God loves Israel. I have grown to love Israel on my Jewish journey. – Leia

My Jewish journey started when I went to shul for the first time. I was really little and I didn’t get what everyone was saying. Now I’m in Sunday school and Hebrew school. I can understand almost all prayers and I go to shul regularly. I am going to start getting ready for my Bat Mitzvah soon. Now it looks like the end of my Jewish journey, but it is just another checkpoint. In the prayer, Ahavat Olam, it says that the Jewish people love God. I am part of the Jewish people, and I couldn’t make it this far in my Jewish journey without God. – Amy

Please look to page 150.

Ahavat Olam – pg. 150

People think I’m weird because I love to pray. Wherever and whenever. I love services and go as much as I can. Services gave me more family; the cantor is now my safta. Now let us continue by closing our eyes, singing the Sh’ma, and listening to nature. I just want to say that this is my first year at camp. – Hannah

Please turn to page 152.

Sh’ma/V’ahavta – pg. 152

GUCI is a Jewish journey. This prayer has to do with a journey of celebrating freedom, hope, redemption, miracles, and justice. This relates to me because a journey has ups and downs, and so has my Jewish journey. And so we pray for the ups in our Jewish journey. [Name redacted by wish of camper]

Please turn to page 158 for Mi Chamocha.

Mi Chamocha – pg. 158

My Jewish journey began when the questions started rolling into my mind. If religion was created by people, was G-d created by people? Is G-d just bragging when He says how awesome and supreme He is? Questions like these piled up in my mind until I was so completely confused and clueless. Then, I came to GUCI and my questions still were not answered. I learned how to answer them myself. That is the amazing thing about GUCI. Your questions do not get answered and you are not told what to believe or what is right. You develop a greater understanding of yourself, therefore answering your own questions. This allowed me to progress further along in my Jewish journey. The Hashkiveinu thanks G-d for allowing us to wake up and go to sleep. Without waking up and sleeping, we would not be able to progress in our life’s journey. – Sydney

Please join us on page 160 for Hashkiveinu.

Hashkiveinu – pg. 160

The whole GUCI community is kind of on a journey between learning and sports. Hey! Even the competition between units is on a journey to be the loudest and most spirited unit. On my personal Jewish journey, I am still learning Hebrew because my mom converted just a few years ago. This prayer is mostly about the rest G-d did on the seventh day. On a journey you get tired, and after G-d created the world, He was tired. The V’shamru is about keeping the Sabbath holy, and how G-d rested on the seventh day after He made the heaven and the earth. – Suzanna

Turn to page 162 for V’shamru.

V’shamru – pg. 162

GUCI, my home away from home. I’ve never known any better name for it. There are older and younger campers, from the youngest, Garin, who can spell bananas, to the oldest, Avodah, who cleans GUCI. L’dor v’dor, generation to generation. We all correspond in different ways. When I first came to camp, I started my road trip. Now I am looking forward to finishing it. – Lily

Please look to page 163.

A Thought… – pg. 163

Amidah – pg. 164

Shalom Rav – pg. 178

Silent Prayer is a time where you can reflect on your life. It is a time where you can think about what happened. Silent Prayer is like praying freestyle, no two prayers are the same. Silent Prayer is a prayer from the heart, and for some people it is a way of talking to God. [Name redacted by wish of camper]

Silent Prayer

Aleinu – pg. 586

Kaddish Yatom – pg. 598

Closing Song