By Rabbi Melinda Mersack, Faculty

“These are the journeys of the children of Israel, the Jewish people, as they left slavery in Egypt.”  This is what we just read from the Torah (Numbers 33).  And, yet, what comes next, really aren’t “journeys”, but rather the stops the people made on their way to the Land of Israel, the encampments, where the people pitched their tents and stayed a while.  So, here’s the thing about this section of the Torah.  It’s not such an interesting part to read.  A laundry list of encampents?!  Why does the Torah list these many stops?  And, moreover, why does it refer to these encampments as journeys?

Our sages asked these same questions in trying to understand the significance of this section.  They teach that these stops, these encampments, themselves, were not destinations- but that every stopping point was a moment for the Jewish people to experience and learn as they travelled on their way to the Land of Israel.  Each moment was marked by a question or challenge of their faith in God or of faith in themselves and their community.  They needed to make each of these stops to progress and improve as individuals and as a group.

Now, here we are- 2 weeks into camp.  On the first night of camp during tefillah, we talked about coming to camp and the experiences we are having here, together, as a kind of journey.  We noticed that for some of you Opening Day was the beginning of your GUCI journey, and for some of you this may be a repeat trip, but all of us are now on this journey together because we are all a part of GUCI Kallah Bet 2015, sharing many experiences together as a camp community from which we learn and grow.

So, I think about the journey of the Israelites, the Jewish people in the time of Moses, who was their leader.  And, I see parallels to what we are experiencing here, right now.

Who would be our Moses?  If you had to name someone- a fearless leader who helps guide us along the way- who would it be here at camp? And just as Moses didn’t lead the people alone, he had his brother Aaron and sister Miriam to help him.  He had the 70 wise leaders, as well.  Who is helping to shape this journey for you? (Answers given: Chase, Jeremy and Rachel, the unit heads, and counselors).

What are the encampments along the way?  In the Torah, the encampments read kind of like a highlight real.  So, what would be the highlights of your two weeks so far here at camp? (Answers given: Yom Sport, Bunk Nite, Migdal, Shabbat).

And for the Israelites in our Torah portion, the highlights represented something:  they represented progress in their travels; they represented opportunities for growth as a community.  The Israelites learned the mitzvoth, the commandments and laws, along the way which helped them learn how to treat each other well, and how to build a society that cared for one another.  There were some bumps along the way, but each encampment/or stop/or highlight was an opportunity for them to improve as individuals and to support the greater community.

So, at camp, what have we learned?  What have our highlights- and the many more still yet to come over the next two weeks- helped us to experience, to do, to become?

Maybe we’ve learned how to make new friends.  Maybe we’ve learned how to respect each other’s space and belongings in the cabin.  Maybe we’ve learned how to become friends again after we’ve had a disagreement.  Maybe we’ve learned to try new things and have confidence in ourselves and what we as individuals can do and achieve.  Maybe we’ve learned the value in caring for more than just ourselves.  Maybe we’ve learned that the value of this GUCI journey is in the gifts that others share with us and that we share with them- working together to create a great summer for us all.

There is really no destination that we are traveling to together like the Israelites journeying towards the Land of Israel, and yet, Israel, too, wasn’t the real destination.  The Jewish people have grown and thrived and live all over the world.  So, for us, too, GUCI isn’t our destination.  We aren’t travelling together to a new location.  In fact, the destination doesn’t matter.  The journey, itself, is the blessing.  What we do now, what we experience today, the people we become, how we learn and grow and improve ourselves and work to help improve life for others around us- that is the meaning of our journey.

So, take time to enjoy the encampments, the stops, the highlights along this GUCI way.  And, in another two weeks, it will be amazing to see the progress we have made.