Sparks of Magic

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Sparks of Magic

Earlier this summer I contacted Ron Klotz, former long-time director of Goldman Union Camp, for information on the GUCI campfire. Every Friday night for as long as I can remember (and, according to Ron, for long before I was born), all of camp has gathered in our outside campfire, our midurah. The path to the current midurah leads from the edge of the forest near the pool down a shaded dirt path through the trees. You pass over a small brook, and emerge in a circle clearing. A circle of logs surrounds a fire pit dark and ashy from long use. A construction of logs tower upward, flames crackling and licking the sky, sparks – like tiny beads of GUCI magic – shooting up and dancing slowly around the fire. Camp surrounds this fire, sitting outside the circle of logs. Within the logs, song leaders circle slowly, playing soft music while all of camp sings along. After a time, the unit heads of the younger units approach, and sing Garin, Shoresh, and Geza to bed to the a cappella tune of a mash-up of currently popular songs. This leaves just Anaf and Avodah around the fire. One song leader remains to play slow songs to Anaf. In between each song, an Anaf staff member stands and speaks to the unit. Their words vary from week to week, but are always inspirational and encouraging. Later, Anaf leaves the campfire, leaving Avodah with their unit heads. They also have their own special campfire traditions, but I will not relate them here. They are for Avodah – one of the few times during the summer where the entire program is together, and not working. These few times together are special, and intimate. In this blog post, Ron relates his memories of the GUCI campfire. Much of the tradition of the campfire was already in place before even he became director, but Ron shaped the campfire tradition, and much of what we still do we can fully contribute to Ron. Also note that there is a video of camp singing “Im Tirtzu” around the campfire at the bottom of the blog. If you would like to experience a little more of GUCI’s Shabbat traditions, go here. Please enjoy Ron’s words. 

–     Ari Kalfus, Communications Specialist

I came to camp (then Union Camp Institute…UCI) in 1975 and was its director until 2011. When I came to the camp, the tradition of having a campfire on Friday night was already in place. At first I thought it strange to have a campfire on Friday (Saturday night would have made more Jewish sense), but I soon learned that the spirit of the campfire was totally in sync with camp’s Shabbat celebration. It was, indeed, a Jewish campfire.

At that time, the midurah was between the boys’ area and the girl’s area on the way down to the migrash sport (sports field). In those days, I would invite one of the rabbis on faculty to tell a story halfway through the campfire. Some of those rabbis were great storytellers, and some were not. One weekend, someone suggested that I tell the story. I had never really told stories before that. Anyway, it was a hit, and I continued to tell the story throughout my time at G.U.C.I. To the best of my memory, I only missed one campfire in those 36 years. I was called away from camp for an emergency and, as I was about to leave (during Shabbat Aruchat Erev, dinner) I told the program director that he would have to tell the story. He freaked out…and did a marvelous job. That program director was (now Rabbi) Sandford Kopnick.

There were problems with the location of the midurah at that time. Because it was so close to the cabins, when we sent Shoresh and Geza to bed (Anaf has a special extra campfire for themselves), we could hear the noise of the kids banging the screen doors of the cabins and the beit shimoosh (bathroom), and even hear them talking (and yelling) to each other. This made it difficult for Anaf, and later Anaf and Avodah (once the program was established in 1979), to have a nice closing campfire. Years before we moved the midurah, I had built a remote campsite with Anaf over on what we used to call Earl’s farm (Earl Beeler was camp custodian for over 35 years and lived at the bottom of the camp, off of 96th street). We called it “machane chaverim” (camp of friends). As part of the project, we built a beit t’fillah in front of what used to be Earl’s corn crib (where he used to feed his animals). We built a Star of David to be the front of it, and we built rows of benches. It was hardly used over the years and when the benches started to fall apart, I decided to try and make it into a midurah. The men who come to camp each spring for the Brotherhood Work Weekend actually tore out the benches and created the new midurah. I thought it would be cool to have it out more in the woods, and certainly away from the cabins. When the Indianapolis Water Company brought city water to the camp’s area and needed access to their pumps at the bottom of the camp below the soccer field, I negotiated with them. They agreed to install lights on the path to the new midurah and I agreed to let them come into camp on a limited basis to work on their pumps. Good for both them and the camp. We then closed the old midurah and moved to where we hold campfires now. Other than the camp being almost three times the size it was in 1975 (and in those days we usually had only one or two song leaders) the Shabbat midurah has not changed a bit. We sing a bit more in Hebrew these days…but Hebrew and English songs, a Jewish story, more songs, Shoresh and Geza invited to leave, Anaf and Avodah stay on…finally Anaf leaves and Avodah takes over sole possession of the fire… Same great spirit, same great mood. Lovely!

–     Ron Klotz, Director 1975-2011

Im Tirtzu from URJ GUCI on Vimeo.