By Noa Kossman and Corinne Levy, Avodah 2015

Our Avodahnikim plunge toilets, run the kitchen, are counselors in our day camp and assist in the office. Our camp would be nothing without them and the program wouldn’t be what it is today if our Avodahnikim didn’t learn or grow from the program. Noa and Corrine share their experience in the Avodah program:

Meet Noa Kossmann

This is my first year at GUCI. At the start of the Avodah program I only knew who I was in Avodah with and that it’s at this camp I had been to a few times for North American Federation of Temple Youth (NFTY) events and other programs. I knew only three building names and the build up to camp was very stressful for me. I was going into this new environment that I thought I was totally ready for, just to find out I had no idea what I stepped into.

While I knew over half of the Avodahnikim and a lot of staff from NFTY, I didn’t realize how many people I would meet. After adjusting to all the counselors during staff week, the time for campers to arrive came and I didn’t like it. Everyone constantly said how it was weird having camp as empty as it was during staff week, where as I was happy with the size we had during staff week. I was on my first crew, K’ton, when campers arrived for Kallah Aleph, and boy was I in for a shocker. All of camp piled in slowly and I realized camp was no longer as big as it felt. I was very intimidated by all the campers and wasn’t really sure how to interact with them. By the end of first session I ended up crying because all of my camper friends were leaving.

The transition to camp was hard for me, but I’ve discovered this “GUCI Magic” everyone speaks of. I’ve fallen in love with this camp and I can’t wait to come back next year to have all of the kids I met and loved during first session, and the ones I’m meeting and already loving now in second session, be my campers.

Avodah is a program that is hard to describe. Even though it’s a lot of cleaning, it is so much more than that. You are a role model to campers and the backbone of camp. While some days we all may seem tired and drained, we all love this camp and will always be cheering the hardest, no matter how sleep deprived we are. An Avodah of 21 sounds small and pathetic, but we are such a close knit group of people that we ended up forming a family. I’m incredibly grateful for my Avodah family and all the bonds I’ve made this summer. I’m so excited for the rest of the session and what it has to bring. I am nowhere close to being ready to say goodbye, but I know I have next summer with all my friends and this summer will forever be held in my memories. I can’t thank Avodah, my unit heads and GUCI enough for the experience they have given me this summer. It has truly been life changing and I am forever grateful to everyone at this camp for all they have done for me.

Meet Corinne Levy

In my 11 years as a camper, I never wondered who cleaned the camp toilets. The only thing I knew about Avodah was they only seemed to where white v-necks. Upon entering the Avodah program through, my view on GUCI changed completely. The toilets aren’t magically clean; a lot of Clorox and plunging helps them get there. Avodah doesn’t just wear white v-necks, wwe are the mysterious toilet cleaners. But that’s only the beginning.

The counselors really do know when Yom Sport, bunk night and unit trips are and keep them secret as an effort to make sure campers have the best summer possible. Counselors and Avodahnikim work really hard because we love the campers more than they can imagine. They may get tired along the way, but they take the time to recharge so they can continue to create the GUCI magic. Another thing I’ve realized is that ruach (spirit) is contagious. On mornings when all we want is to crawl back into bed, we still can’t help smiling at our friends jumping around at roll call and joining the fun.

The truth is that being in Avodah takes away from the smoke and mirrors of camp. We realize that the GUCI magic isn’t the fairy godmother magic, but hard work. It’s the best kind of work though, it’s Avodah, sacred work.