Learning through Living: Limudim at OSRUI

We live our learning at OSRUI and with over 50 Segel during the summer in more than a dozen sessions we do a lot of living. Limud at OSRUI is dynamic, experiential and fun for everyone from chanichim to madrichim.   How does limud work at OSRUI you may be wondering?  Every eidah has a period of time during the day dedicated to limud on their assigned topic.  Topics are created by a Segel committee which has devised of grid for every eidah that rotates every 2 or 3 years depending on the eidah. Our limud grid has subjects for different age eidot and takes into consideration their emphasis.  Our arts eidot, Tiferet, immerses themselves Midrash, the Megillot and Sephardic Jewry.  Our older eidot take on topics of leadership, our Prophetic heritage and of course Israel while our younger chanichim look at All in the Family, Genesis, Middot and Kehillah.

We encourage our limud to leak into all parts of the day.  If your Limud topic is Israel we plan Israeli food for the cooking chug and Israeli dance for an evening program.  Some of our other topics for our older chanichim are not as concrete.  When we study covenant and community with our rising High School eidot we have them talk in their living communities about rules that will help them live together and have a fun and safe summer.

We use puppets, costumes, food and whatever is at our disposal to help get our chanichim involved in our topics.  We try to have experiential modes of learning at camp.  Whether we are composting in our Gan to experience Teva or teaching Ivrit by playing a spirited game of SPUD and calling out numbers in Hebrew we try to infuse our time at OSRUI with as much Hebrew, Judaism, and love of Jewish camp as possible; while living our limud it gives us just the right amount of time. It's only a month away until the magic begins, less than 30 days and everyone is counting.

Key: 
Limud from the Hebrew root Lamed-mem-dalet to learn
Segel:  Faculty; Rabbis, Educators, Cantors, Youth Directors
Eidah:  Unit
Teva: Nature
SPUD: The person whose number was called catches the ball and then yells “Spud!” When he or she yells this, everyone must freeze. The person with the ball then is allowed to take three giant steps toward any player. He or she throws the ball and tries to hit someone.

They're Back, your campers I mean.

Kallah Gimmel 2015

They’re back. It’s been three weeks and while your world may have kept its normal rhythms and pace, their’s has turned upside down. They’ve made new friends, connected to Judaism in exciting ways, and most astonishingly they have grown SO MUCH. 

I remember when my daughter came home from camp the first time. She was really quiet when she was younger and I asked her “how was camp?”

“Good,” she said.

Not satisfied, I pushed on. “Did you make new friends?”

“A few,” she said.

Keif, Yedidut and Flat Stanley

“What did you learn?” I asked and that’s when it started. Two hours later and she wouldn’t stop telling me. First she told me about limud, then about suss (horseback riding), then rekuday am (dancing), and then she told me how incredible her counselors were and how now she knew she wanted to come back again so that she could be a counselor someday. What I’m saying here is ask your chanichim (campers) questions that make them give you the big answers. Of course they made friends, yes they had fun; but what they really want to tell you is HOW everything happened. Open ended questions give your sons and daughters the opportunity to lead you through their camp experience and paint you a picture of the entire exciting ordeal. Your sons and daughters have grown so much, coax them a little bit with questions that require more than one word answers.

If they’re still giving you one word answers try asking a few of these questions. Here’s some easy ones.

-Tell me about your bunkmate

-Tell me two funny stories that happened in your unit

-What were different about services at camp?

Leading T'filot

Here’s a couple harder ones

-What surprised you at camp?

-What did you learn about Middot, Jewish values in Kallah gimmel.

-I saw pictures of puppets, tell me about the puppets

And of course, you can always ask them to “tell me more about that.”

Back to my daughter. She did go back to camp. She became a councilor and was on staff at OSRUI for 6 summers. She’s back at camp with me this weekend and now her former campers are madrichim (counselors) helping new campers grow and fall in love with our many Jewish summer camp traditions. I have bonded so much with my daughter over the years through our conversations (yes, open ended questions still help) about summer camp. This tradition between the two of us is sacred for me and I hope it carries the same meaning for you and your family. L’dod va’dor. We can’t wait to see you next year; OSRUI 2016.

Contributors:  Lital Ehrlich and Cole Leiter

A typical day in Kallah Gimmel, Anything but typical

Every day in Kallah Gimmel may have a similar format but the surprises are what all the chanichin, madrichim and Segel anticipate with great relish.  Our Boker Tov in the morning is followed by breakfast which today was delicious egg muffin sandwiches and of course a choice of cereal, cottage cheese and Israeli salad. After breakfast Segel leads the eidah in a short t'filah and Thursday was a Torah reading day.  One of our madrichim volunteered to read Torah and then we were on our way.

Our next activity was Limud and today we learned about Lashon Hara and our puppets, Keif and Yedidut helped us to learn about not spreading gossip or hurtful words.  We told all of the chanichim to spread blue gravel all over the eidah.  After they ran around and spread blue fish gravel all over we asked them to gather it back up.  They soon realized that this would be near to impossible task. They could never gather up all the gravel they had thrown so carelessly around our area.

Keif and Yedidut

We then told them that the blue gravel is like gossip and hurtful words.  It is not easy to get those words back once they are out of your mouth.  This limud is based on an old Hasidic tale, the Tale of the Feathers.  Some of chanichim recognized the tie in to this story immediately and we were glad that they made the connection.

After limud, chanichim have swimming, showers, Ivrit and lunch.  In Ivrit we learn Hebrew through games and movement.  In my kitah we are learning the names of fruits and vegetables by playing an old school game of SPUD.  You call out the name of the fruit in Hebrew while throwing up a ball, the chanich catches it and try to get another friend out.  They learn the Hebrew words while playing outside.

In the afternoon we have minucha, chug, and sports.  During minucha chanichim write letters home and also have an opportunity to read a book from one of the many "little Libraries" around camp.  I gather books all year and make sure there is always something to read in our "little Libraries."  Chug is a chance to horseback ride, water sky, sail, dance, music, theater and many more.  There is always time for sports, structured free time before dinner.

As you can see we have a day packed with fun and experiencing Judaism with our entire Kallah Gimmel family.  Just in this one blog piece I have used over 10 Hebrew words, double or triple that for the number of Hebrew words we use in day and you can see how our chanichim learn so much Hebrew over a 3 week period.

I love spending the day with both chanichim and madrichim.  For me there is not a better place to practice Jewish education.  I thank all of the parents, synagogues, grandparents and One Happy Camper for making it possible for all of our campers to come OSRUI.  As we prepare for Shabbat, a unique event  I look forward to spending more time with my eidah and continuing the traditions and fun at OSRUI.

Dictionary:
Chanichim:Campers
Madrichim: Counselors
Segel: Faculty, Rabbi, Cantor, Educator attached to each unit
Eidah:  Unit
Lashon Hara: gossip
Kef:  Fun
Yedidut: Friendship
Limud:  learning session
Ivrit:  Hebrew
Kitah: Class
Minucha: rest hour
Chug:  different activities to choose 

Yes your mom and dad were my campers at OSRUI too!

Captain Kehillah

I am on faculty at OSRUI in Kallah Gimmel with 72 campers and  over 15 staff members.  This session our limud or educational piece  is Kehillah Kedosha a holy community.  Our campers aged 9-12 are having a fun time with our limud as Captain Kehillah, in full costume and mustache has visited almost every day to make sure we are becoming a community.  In fact the campers have to summon Captain Kehillah by singing a special song and when she hears she comes and helps us out.

The campers know we have fun with limud and we have written a cabin brit or covenant for each cabin. We know by discussing and writing out rules for our cabins we will be able to grow and become a more caring community.  This week campers played cooperation games and realized they needed to communicate and talk to one another to accomplish the tasks we had set forth for them; even if the task was just trying to pass a hula hoop around the circle with everyone holding hands.

Cooperation games

Campers and Madrichim, counselors have been wonderful to work with as we do limud throughout the week.  I see evidence of community at every part in our day.  I see girls comforting another friend and making sure no one sits by themselves at meals.  I see boys hunting for swimming googles, water bottles, hats, Ok you name it with friends, counselors and faculty and I think we have done good job of keeping our lost and found down and everyone knows they can count on one another to help find misplaced items.

We are all a part of the web of camp

This is my 4th year in Kallah gimmel with Cantor Arik Luck, from Beth Emet in Evanston and we welcome Rabbi Lisa Bellows from Congregation Beth Am in Buffalo Grove to the team this year.  Cantor Luck and I have worked with some of the same madrichim for 4 years and we enjoy coming back year after year to have fun, teach, sing and live our Judaism.  To watch Kallah gimmel for the past 4 years become a community and reassemble with new staff is a fun and rewarding process.  New staff is inducted and we have continuity for the next generation.

I think the aspect of community which really hit me this year on opening day is how many campers in my unit whose parents were my campers in years past.  I feel not just the love and continuity in seeing the second generation coming to camp but it gives me even more incentive to work harder to make our limud, our Hebrew classes or just swimming in the pool a little more interesting, a little more fun a little more rememberable for our campers.  I work hard during my time at OSRUI every summer and I reap the benefits as I see Madrichim, campers and even the children of my old campers come back every summer. I am proud to have been on faculty long enough to see my campers' children come back and experience the whole summer just as they did.