Anything But a Washout
The annual schoolwide Shabbaton was enjoyed by all, despite the weather.
Hello, Muddah! Hello, Fadduh!
Here I am at Camp Granada.
Camp is very entertaining,
And they say we'll have some fun if it stops raining.
Wait a minute!
It's stopped hailing.
Guys are swimming.
Guys are sailing.
Playing baseball.
Gee! That's better.
Muddah, Fadduh, kindly disregard this letter!
(excerpt from Allan Sherman’s “Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh”)
Well, it was Camp Dora Golding, not Camp Granada. And the rain didn’t stop. But a little (lot) of rain didn’t hold back LCM guys from having buckets of fun at our annual schoolwide Shabbaton!
From canoeing (Michael Davidson was captain of his ship!) and fishing (xxx Kopitnikoff is going to give Rabbi Shmulewitz a run for his money!) to kabbalos Shabbos, shiurim, and motzei Shabbos dancing, the weather couldn’t put a damper on our spirits.
Some highlights:
- The singing and dancing during Kabbalos Shabbos are always beautiful and moving. This year’s davening, led again by Tzvi Norowitz, did not disappoint.
- Rav Sacks’ reflections Friday night were penetrating in their depth; Rabbi Shmulewitz packed his Shabbos morning drasha with entertainment and fun; Dean Sokol gave the shiur “Why Did Rabbi Akiva's Talmidim Die? A Fresh Perspective on a Great Rebbe and the Failure of His Students” to a packed house; Rabbi Bamberger’s divrei hisorirus on letting things go (fugeddaboudit) resonated; and Rabbi Genack’s shiur on learning was truly inspirational.
- Simcha Himmel worked really hard as SGO president this year, and after his end-of-year address thanking rebbeim, faculty and students, the students - represented by Jonathan Yousefzadeh - surprised Simcha with a thank you of their own. Simcha always says the only difference between try and triumph is a little extra umph. And he certainly gave that extra umph, as was immortalized on the plaque presented to him.
- Koby Dorfman and Sammy Kahn won the chavrusa basketball tournament.
- The food! A Shabbos of cholent and deli was followed by motzei Shabbos pizza and ice cream at midnight (with basketball and volleyball in between), and a lag ba’omer BBQ/kumsitz with the mashgiach on Sunday when we returned to campus.
