Shalom! Almost every evening at camp, we have a different cabin lead T’fillot (services). Each camper writes a part and reads it before all of camp in between the prayers we say or sing as a community. This way, every camper gets the opportunity to share something of themselves with the wider camp, and to teach the community something about their values, Judaism, or their connection to our prayers. Our cabin services make each of our T’fillot that much more unique and meaningful. —Jacob Kraus, T’fillah Specialist 

GUCI Evening Service

June 30, 2014

Cabin 10: Joy

Opening Song

Bar’chu

Maariv Aravim

Seven years of GUCI. Seven years or crazy memories like pancake batter fights, having a cabin wedding, and laughing so hard with my friends that we almost pee ourselves. I could keep going but it would honestly take forever. GUCI has filled my life with amazing friends, a close-knit community, and summers I will never forget. GUCI has put more joy in my life than I ever thought possible. Even though my time as a camper is ending, my time at GUCI isn’t. GUCI is my second home and always will be. – Abby Busis

Ahavat Olam

I find joy when I am with my family. They always have the right things to say. I know that my family will be there for me during a tough time. My sister, Malone, is very good at comforting me when I am scared and I do the same for her. I don’t see my family too often but when I do it is a fun time. – Marlowe Hanis

Sh’ma/V’ahavta

I don’t mean to be cheesy, but here it goes: Gouda, Munster, cheddar, mozzarella, asiago, and Colby jack. Of course, by listing cheese I mean that eating cheese brings me more joy than I can manage, but like eating cheese brings me joy, being at this magnificent place with these amazing people brings me more excitement, happiness, and joy than I well ever be able to comprehend. Though this is my first summer here, I feel as if I have been going here for years. Through losing Yom Sport, giving birth to atikiwiki, “winning” the water game on bunk night, all the connections I made on Kesher, and learning how to play euchre, I have grown closer to these people than I would have ever thought possible. Being on camp these past three weeks, I will leave this summer with unforgettable memories and with new brothers and sisters that will always be in my heart. Like it says in “Home” by Phillip Phillips, “just know you’re not alone, I’m gonna make this place your home.” Thank you GUCI for being my home. – Marcy Lerner

Mi Chamocha

Since second year Shoresh, Cabin 3 2009, GUCI has been putting joy in my heart and a smile on my face. For six years, this wonderful community has helped me through a lengthy list of memorable moments: two Shoresh Days Off, one Yom Tiyul, one very unique Yom Scotland, two projects – one of which is still to come and the other in which I have both a lead role and a 103 degree fever, one “KeThunder,” and one “Ke-Run to the shelter!,” and so many more joyous memories that do not have official titles. Even through stormy days, occasional homesickness, and a few rough days in the Mirpa’ah each year from allergies, my GUCI family and friends have stayed by my side. I have gotten to know many of you; to my Shoresh, Gezah, and Garin friends: I cannot wait to see you grow as Jews and individuals. To Anaf and its counselors: thank you for making this summer fun and being generally crazy. To my cabinmates, past and present, you are my sisters and some of the wackiest, most caring and helpful people I have met thus far. I’ll see you all in two years, but for those of you whom I will not see then, I hope to stay in touch. – Stephanie Krutz

Hashkiveinu

Amidah (Avot V’Imahot, G’vurot, Kedushat Hashem)

Making a difference, that’s what brings me joy. Yes, there are other things that make my happy like hanging out with my family and friends and coming to GUCI, but for me spending time volunteering with kids in Detroit makes me feel so god inside.  I think this is because I bring joy to others and not just to myself. Seeing the smiles that you bring just by taking some time out of your day to spend with them is priceless. A song that really inspires me is “With My Own Two Hands.” The song tells us different ways you can make a difference with your own two hands. My favorite verse goes like this: “I’m gonna make it a brighter place with my own two hands; I’m gonna make it a safer place with my own two hands; I’m gonna help the human race with my own two hands.” This verse is what inspired me to make a difference in our world. Like in the Shalom Rav, there is a line in “With My Own Two Hands” that says, “I can make peace on earth.” Through my past six years here I have learned that while peace may not be tangible it can make a difference in others lives. I have taken this lesson home with me and used it to help make a difference in kids’ lives in Detroit. So I encourage you to use your own two hands and make a difference in someone’s life. – Ellie Moskowitz

Shalom Rav

What is joy? Jot is when you’re at the pool and friends try to help you write a service part and you end up talking about chemical imbalances in the brain and the attractiveness of certain people. Joy is when during lights out programs, as we’re introducing ourselves, my friends tease me about how my last name is the same as the road I live on (all in good fun, of course). Joy is on bunk night having your three water balloon children die or be popped, in other words. Not to forget the judgey, shocked, terrified look on Nico’s face when he was cooking our food as we were introducing our water balloons in a Mommy and Me circle. Joy is looking at Anaf and thinking, “I only have one month with these people. I refuse to regret anything.” Things won’t be perfect, but that doesn’t make them less amazing. You don’t remember the times when things have gone perfectly. You mainly remember the times when things have gone wrong or you’ve done idiotic things. I remember the piggyback rides, the mudfights, and the water game. It’s just my third year, but it has felt like home to me since the first. – Grace Quisenberry

Silent Prayer, Yih’yu L’ratzon

Aleinu L’shabeiach

“May the source of peace send peace to all who mourn, and comfort to those who are bereaved.” This quote comes from a translation of the Kaddish Yatom. In the Kaddish Yatom we are told to celebrate life. To me celebrating life means to remember the good and the bad but to focus on and embrace the things that bring us happiness. Being at GUCI brings me so much joy and happiness because I’ve learned how to be myself. Whether it was from the first time I climbed the Migdal , or learning important wilderness skills, or just going crazy in my cabin, GUCI has shown me the true meaning of joy. This is my fourth and final year here at GUCI. I look back and remember all the joy I had, just as we look back at the joy others had in their lives. – Elizabeth Pepper

 Mourner’s Kaddish

One, two, three, five, seven, nine, ten. Pink Ladies, Blast From the Past, Hieroglyph Chicks, Jewtube, Goddesses, We R Who We R, and the Islands of Eser. While this hodge podge of words and numbers may currently mean nothing to most of you, it means the world to me. These themes and numbers represent seven years worth of joy I’ve been lucky enough to experience. Since 2008 my parents have packed my luggage into various mini vans and driven to Zionsville, IN. Between my siblings and I that’s approximately 26 trips, which adds up to 130 hours of driving. After all that time, I have yet to experience the tire of the five-hour drives, all because I know who and what awaits me. GUCI is filled with joy. From the people we meet to the things we experience. I mean, if mud fights on bunk night or giving birth to baby water balloons doesn’t sound joy-filled to all of you, then I’m not sure what will. I love this place with every fiber of my being. I love my brothers and sisters in Anaf. The counselors I’ve had and the fun we’ve had together this year, as with every other year, has been uniquely joy-filled. And although this last week of Kallah Aleph 2014 is bittersweet, I have no doubt in my mind that this place will be alive and ready for my return in two years. However, in the meantime, a message to everybody who plans to return in our absence: enjoy your time here, seven years, passes in the blink of an eye. We’ll see you soon, GUCI. – Stephanie Blumenthal

Closing Song