What’re Those?
If you look on my bookshelf, scattered among Seforim, English books, and other knickknacks, you’ll see a few items that seem out of place: there’s a cup, a spoon, and a Shtender, waiting to be pressed into service when needed. On Shabbos, the set is completed by a Challa knife. What makes these items unique? For one, they’re all made out of wood. Also, they each have a specific ‘feel’-you could call it rough around the edges, both literally and figuratively. But the main thing that earns them a place on my bookshelf is that fact that they’re mine-I made them. Myself, with my own two hands and my Yagilu pocketknife.
Yehuda Levy working on his cup…
I’m no master craftsman (hence the rough edges), but these pieces have a special place in my heart, and therefore in my house. Every time I look at them, and especially when I get a chance to use them, I’m reminded of what went into making them. Hours of careful work, attention to detail, creativity in designing how I wanted each one to look, and resourcefulness in using the skills and materials I had to come out with something I’d be proud of-these are just some of the things that come to mind.
Personal Projects
Every camper in Yagilu has this opportunity. In camp, we call them Personal Projects, and the creations that are worked on are as varied and inventive as the campers themselves. Over the years, campers have made:
- harps,
- guitars,
- bows and arrows,
- hooks for keys and clothing,
- charcoal pencils,
- full sets of tableware,
- drumsticks,
- Yadayim for Kriat HaTorah (often featured in Yagilu on Monday, Thursday, and Shabbos),
- elaborately carved hiking sticks, and so much more.
There are other mediums, in addition to wood – clay (candlesticks for Shabbat), leather (the list is endless-Tallis and Tefillin bags, wallets, Kippot, phone and iPod cases, self-designed knife sheaths, Mezuza cases…), and we’ve recently added a forge and a resident blacksmith for campers interested in metalwork. It’s amazing to see a camper get invested in a project, dedicating free time to it over the course of the summer. Even campers who might be less motivated during the daily activities go the extra mile for their personal projects, running back to the campsite after meals to steal an extra few minutes or waking up early to get in some work before Shacharit.
The finished product, used at the Y1 Forest Feast!
Parents say that these projects are the first thing their sons show them upon returning from camp. “Look what I made, all by myself!” The feelings of accomplishment, of mastery, of dedication represented by these creations are clear on the faces of the proud campers.
Keeping It Going
How can this be translated into awesome projects the rest of the year? Here are some ideas:
The easiest transition would be to continue the same types of projects. While things like coal-burning and metalworking are often not practical outside of Yagilu, whittling and leatherwork are very doable. For whittling, the campers already have their pocketknives, and wood is available ‘fresh off the tree’ in almost every neighborhood. For more advanced projects, hobby shops have specific types of wood, such as balsa (try making an egg!), as well as sandpaper for finishing touches. A child will feel empowered when his parents trust him to use his powerful tool, as long as he follows the Knife Rules he learned in camp.
Leatherwork is a bit more of an investment. Leather and the basic materials are available in most hobby shops, or can be ordered online. Once you have the tools, though, the possibilities are almost endless. An extra benefit of leatherwork is that many of the projects are usable-imagine wearing a handmade belt to school every day, or pulling your Tefillin out of a beautifully designed, stitched, and decorated Tefillin bag!
Another idea is to sit with your child after camp and together discuss a project for him to work on over the next year. It could be anything-learn a new skill (music) or language (computer languages count too!), participate in a club (robotics) or group (intramural sports), or create something in a totally new medium (painting or sketchwork). Set a goal for the first month, and periodically check in to see how he’s liking it. The idea is to foster the same motivation and satisfaction that comes from seeing and feeling accomplishment in new, non-wilderness settings.
In Yagilu, campers got a taste of Yegi’a Kapecha Ki Tocheil-Ashrecha V’Tov Lach (Tehillim 128:2). They learned the special taste of accomplishing a goal that they worked hard for. With help and encouragement from parents, they can continue to enjoy this special feeling the whole year round!
What ‘Personal Projects’ are you proud of? Have you successfully translated a project into a year-round hobby? Share in the comments below!
Photo Credits: Yigal Goldstein
HALB: Have A Lotta Balloons!
/in Teambuilding, Yagilu Blog /by Tzvi GoldsteinAfter many years on the job, I can safely say: Balloons make everything better. I’m not talking about birthday parties – I’m talking about teacher development and training.
Teacher Training
One of the core principles of Camp Yagilu is that we make space for the campers to lead the way. We set up a framework for them to work within, and then step back and watch them step up and succeed. Rabbi Adam Englander, Head of School, and Rabbi Yehuda Fogel, Middle School Principal, brought me in to explore that idea with the middle school teachers. I set a goal of helping the teachers find ways to do something similar in a classroom setting.
Before lecturing, though, I wanted to see if we could make it happen ourselves, right there! Thus the balloons. Each group of teachers received straws and a balloon. Using the straws, they had to keep the balloon up in the air. As they quickly discovered, it’s just as fun as it sounds – but a lot more challenging! Slowly, leaders in each group emerged and they coordinated everyone’s efforts, finally resulting in success.
After that experience, everyone was excited to discuss what had prompted leaders to step forward to organize and unite their groups. We then discussed, how can we create similar opportunities to empower our students – every day of the year! Through their own experience, the teachers understood the goal, and its benefits. We then discussed their many suggestions to implement this dynamic in their own classrooms.
Game Time
Then it was time for the students. I challenged the 6th graders with some of my best games. Long story short, we had an AWESOME time. Reverse Relay Race and Silent Geometry were two big hits. In each, students had to work with each other to come up with out-of-the-box solutions for each game. Each time, different students stepped up and lead their peers, encouraging their friends to share solutions. They then worked together to make those suggestions happen. The girls group devised an amazing system to exchange new ideas without even talking!
School is a place to learn things. In HALB that day, both the students and the teachers weren’t just learning ‘book knowledge,’ studying for their next test. They learned and practiced the skills they ALREADY need to work together and succeed in every area of life. In the end of the day, that’s what we at Yagilu – both the camp and our different workshops throughout the year for schools, families, and organizations – look to teach.
Fire + Meat + HaKotel + All-Night Tiyul = …
/in Teambuilding, Yagilu Blog /by Tzvi GoldsteinA Night to Remember
“Are you sure you’re in the right place?” the taxi driver asked me. I was sure; I was expecting something
off the beaten path, and my destination certainly fit the bill. With a dubious goodbye, he sped off, and I set off for the headlamps and bonfire in the distance. It was late Thursday night during Bein HaZmanim, and I was running a teambuilding activity for Yeshivat HaKotel. They were just finishing up an all-you-can-eat barbecue of hot dogs, hamburgers, wings, and sausages (fat spicy hot dogs), and spirits were high despite the late hour. After my slot, the students would be embarking on an all-night hike of the Burma Road, learning about it’s role in breaking the siege on Yerushalayim in 1948. They’d be finishing with a Neitz Minyan back in HaKotel.
Teambuilding with Yagilu
Yagilu runs teambuilding workshops all the time. We’ve worked with schools and shuls, huge organizations and individual families; each experience is fun and unique. A typical workshop will include a mix of group games and challenges that pit the group against a specific goal. While working together to accomplish that goal, participants have the opportunity, with our guidance, to practice a host of skills:
I’ve watched students and campers transform over the course of a single game. Once, we were playing one of our opening get-to-know-you games that takes some out-of-the-box thinking to really succeed in. A quiet student hiding behind some other members of the class approached me during the game and suggested an idea to help the class succeed. I encouraged him to share it with his classmates, which was hard for him. He did it, and I immediately pointed out positive feedback from the class when they tried his idea and it worked. He responded with another idea, and another, and another – and finished off the game leading and directing his peers to an incredible success! I love being a part of experiences like that.
Game Time
My goal for the night was to facilitate relationships. These guys had just arrived in Yeshiva a month ago and gotten straight into a a full-day learning schedule. The month gets more and more intense, finally culminating in and awe-inspiring Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur opposite Har HaBayis. This program was an opportunity for the guys to relax and get to know their fellow students in a positive, fun setting. Our first game was Speedball, a classic everyone remembers from camp. However, I had never played it in the dark, with just one headlamp…how would the guys adapt? You can tell a lot about people based on the way they respond to setbacks, encourage their friends, and tackle hard challenges. I watched in amazement as the HaKotel students worked their way up, succeeding again and again. Each time another issue popped up, the group laughed it off, listened to suggestions as to how to solve it, and tried again. At the end, they even kept posing new goals for themselves, trying to get their fastest time lower and lower!
Do you see the Tower of Feetsa?
After such a great first game, I was excited for the next: The Leaning Tower of Feetsa. The instructions for the game are just a single line; the challenge of the game is just as mental as it is physical. Again, the group was more than up to the challenge, trying different strategies as they thought farther and farther ‘outside the box.’ I was able to watch as boys from London, New York, and Canada (and more!) worked together to succeed in the games we played.
Success!
We finished off the session with a couple of high-energy group games, some singing around the bonfire, and an epic camp story. While the guys were clamoring for more, I had to get back home, and they had to start on their night hike. I walked away so impressed with the positivity and engagement from the Hakotel students. While I’ve run these activities many times before, this group was special – they needed no coaxing or encouragement to rise to the challenge and try to succeed as a team. It was an awesome night of great food, lots of fun, and the beginnings of many strong relationships, and I’m happy I was able to be a part of it.
People Are Waterproof
/in Testimonials, Yagilu Blog /by Tzvi GoldsteinIn honor of the start of the rainy season in Israel, here’s a guest post from Ezra Epstein, Yagilu alumnus and current star counselor. Register now for Yagilu 2019!
Ideas I learned from Camp Yagilu:
1. People Are Waterproof
My fellow Y2 campers and I were hesitant to work in the rain. Our counselor, Josh Botwinick, didn’t understand why. “People are waterproof!” he said. “It’s not like we were going to melt in the rain.”
I was stunned. I had never realized that before. And he was completely right. I had simply been told my entire life that when it rains, you go inside. The only reason for my initial discomfort was that I hadn’t bothered to think objectively about how to react to rain. And this awareness of my own faulty thinking was mind-bending.
I wondered what else in my life needed reevaluation.
2. Use A Rock
Another lesson I learned in Yagilu happened when I was working on a project and reached a point when I needed a hammer. But there were no hammers. So I told my counselor, “I can’t continue. There are no hammers.”
“There are hammers everywhere!” he said, pointing to all the rocks scattered around the forest. “Rocks are nature’s hammers!”
Not only does Yagilu challenge you to question the way you think, it also encourages you to come up with creative solutions to everyday problems. This was far from the only time I was challenged to think outside the box in Yagilu. No sponge for cleaning out your bowl on a hike? Use a clump of moss. Nothing to sit on? Use a tree stump. Broken car door? Use some rope.
All it takes to solve a challenging situation is a little imagination.
3. Make One
Here is the most powerful lesson I learned in Yagilu. It helped me discover a quality of divine creativity that exists in every person, but is usually ignored.
The lesson: If you want something, make it.
After hopping off the bus on the first day of Y2, the counselors wouldn’t give us rope to work with until we made some rope from scratch. That hand-made rope had to be strong enough to hold the weight of one of the heavier counselors! This theme continued throughout the course of the summer.
“I need an extra shelf.”
“Make one.”
“I need a new knife.”
“So make one.”
“I lost my kippah.”
“So make a new one.”
This was taken to the extreme when we were directed to construct our own community – including shelters for sleeping, a communal living room, a kitchen, a workout space, and a shul – using only the rope we earned and whatever we could find in the forest.
Since the beginning of time, human beings have been capable of making things with their hands. For better or for worse, this gift has become more or less irrelevant in today’s world of economic prosperity, when everything is handed to you, ready-made.
When I first became reunited with this G-d-given gift of mine, the ability to make things with my bare hands, I could feel the creative power coursing through my veins. This is one of the ways Hashem made us like Him, and it allows us to be a partner with Him in creation.
Everybody deserves to be reunited with this gift. It doesn’t necessarily have to be at Yagilu. But for some reason, our campers don’t seem to discover this special superpower they possess anywhere else.
Sign up here for Yagilu 2019-Early Bird Deadline if you send in the deposit by Sunday, Oct 7.
Ezra Epstein is currently a Madrich at Yeshivat Aish Gesher, Aish HaTorah’s gap year program for Orthodox young men.
Early Bird Registration and $$$ DISCOUNT!
/in Yagilu Blog /by Tzvi GoldsteinDear Yagilu Parents,
Registration Is Open – Early Bird(s) Deadline!
/in Yagilu Blog /by Tzvi GoldsteinOur Holiday!
There’s nothing like living in a shelter to bring back memories of Yagilu. Every camper in Y1 had the opportunity to build and sleep in their own shelter. Ask them how it feels to spend the night away from your warm, comfortable bed, in the great outdoors where there are always things moving in the middle of the night. It’s one of the activities that takes the most courage from our campers. It’s also one of the activities that are most consistently mentioned as the highlight of the summer – something that you accomplished, that you never thought you’d be able to do. It’s an incredible feeling! Many campers also tell us that in the dark of night, totally surrounded by the unknown, they whisper a quiet, simple Tefilla to Hashem: Please keep me safe tonight.
To me, this feeling sums up how the Jews must have felt each night in the desert for 40 years. Moving from place to place, never knowing where they were headed next and where their next meal was coming from; going to sleep each night must have been accompanied by that same prayer: Please keep me safe tonight. Ask your child what his experience was like, and relive it with him!
Sign Up Now
We’re excited to announce that we’re opening up registration for
Camp Yagilu 2019. Building on our most successful year yet, with 102 happy campers over both halves, next year will BE’H be even better!
Yagilu Nature campers old enough to move up to Y1 will earn pocketknives, build shelters, and embark on amazing multi-day hikes.
Y1 campers old enough to graduate to Y2 will challenge themselves with a 10-Day Hike (an adventure unique to Camp Yagilu) while continuing the special relationships built in Y1.
Y2-ers will advance to Y3, building their skills while experiencing the wonders of a Bushwhack hike and other incredible adventures. Sign your child up now! And if you know someone who’s children would appreciate everything Yagilu has to offer, send them this post or direct them to Yagilu.com – it’s so easy!
Register now to save $300 off one session / $400 off the full summer. This special early bird offer is available to campers who apply and send in a deposit by October 4th.
Looking forward to having you back in the Camp Yagilu forest!
The Yagilu Kotel Minyan-Thursday, 8:15 AM!
/in Yagilu Blog /by Tzvi GoldsteinYou’re Invited!
Yagilu Chol HaMoed Minyan at the Kotel
Thursday, Sep 27 at 8:15 am
Front Right of the Kotel Plaza
“Do these people know what they’re getting themselves into?” I thought to myself.
We were standing by a Bima in the Kotel plaza, recruiting the last few guys needed for a Minyan. It was Chol HaMoed Sukkos, and the Yagilu guys in Israel were getting together for the annual Chol HaMoed Minyan at the Kotel. This Minyan features a beautiful davening, starring Yagilu Niggunim throughout Hallel and some dancing at the end. Our Minyan has even been featured in an Uncle Moishy video!
I always look forward to this Minyan as a Chol HaMoed highlight. But every so often, a twinge of foreboding niggles in the back of my mind while recruiting. Will fellow Jews who had never been to Yagilu, who didn’t know our unique nigunnim, appreciate our ruach? Would they feel like they were sucked into a never-ending happy Minyan? Sure, this is a gamble you take whenever you join a Minyan at the Kotel. But how would these other people respond to the length and ruach of this Minyan?
The overwhelming majority of people don’t respond the way I expect.
We start our davening normally enough. By now, we’ve learned to push our Bima as close to the Wall as we can so as to avoid the sun which scorches the plaza later in the morning. When we get to Hallel, though, we really break loose. R’ Tani takes the Bima, if he hasn’t been davening yet, and belts out the Bracha. From the first Mizmor, we’re already singing away. The Yagilu guys are excited for this and get right into it.
Three Groups
I’ve noticed three reactions from the non-Yagiluers who join the Minyan over the course of the davening. Some love it – they join in for the songs they know, smile and dance for the ones they don’t. After davening, they gush about how leibedik it was. They want to know who we are, where we’re from and the whole story. Others, at the first sign of song, leave the Minyan and try their luck with another group. A third group seems thrown off by our enthusiasm, and don’t know how to respond. As our Hallel continues, they gradually morph into either Group 1 or 2. They either get into the spirit along with us, or walk out and find another Minyan. The majority of people have ended up as Group 1-ers, joining us for years of beautiful tefillos and adding to our davening as inspired Minyan-members. What happened this past year, though, was unprecedented.
Can’t Get Enough Of It!
A couple of older men joined our minyan and they loved the davening from beginning to end. As we neared the end of davening and began dancing around the bima to one last song, they pulled R’ Tani aside to ask what our story was. R’ Tani explained Camp Yagilu, the emphasis on happiness in life and specifically in Avodas Hashem, and the power of one good song with meaningful words to power our emotions. These two men were so impressed! However, they didn’t leave it at that. On the spot, one of them invited Tani to come lead a Kumzitz at his apartment later that night. He wanted more, and wanted to share it with his family, too!
Another time we davened together, a slow-moving old man came over and smiled so large while humming one of the songs that he had just learned from us. Then – surprise! – he pulled out his harmonica and started playing that same song. Everyone jumped into the dance around the Bima one more time. What a happy celebration of the Yom Tov!
Most years, everyone gets together after the Minyan for a Chol HaMoed ‘potluck’ breakfast somewhere in the Old City. Often, the alumni on their years in Israel in Old City Yeshivas (Usually HaKotel) get us access to some amazing locations for our breakfast. There, we catch up, share delicious food and Divrei Torah, and end things off with a few of the songs that didn’t make it into that morning’s Hallel. After that, anything can happen. Two highlights have been an impromptu slackline session, and a surprise visit to Gil Lock‘s Sukka.
What’s going to happen this year? If you’re in Israel, come join us and find out-
Sep 27, Thursday of Chol HaMoed, gathering at 8:15 am in the front of the Kotel Plaza towards the right. See you there!
What’s In a Niggun?
/in Yagilu Blog /by Tzvi GoldsteinDo you have that one Niggun, that one tune that has the power to jerk you back to another time and place?
Rav Yeshayahu Hadari ZT’L
A niggun that the moment you hear it, you start re-experiencing something from a different point in your life? For many people, Elul and the Yamim Nora’im are times when Niggunim take front and center.
Rosh Hashana just isn’t the same without ‘your’ HaYom Haras Olam or Avinu Malkeinu, Yom Kippur loses a bit of its strength if Unesaneh Tokef isn’t the same melody that you’ve grown up with your whole life. In fact, Rav Yeshayahu Hadari zt’l, late Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshivat HaKotel, used to say that different times of the Jewish year are associated with their Niggunim, to the extent that singing tunes of the Yamim Nora’im outside of the Yemei HaDin causes Hashem to bring Din into the world!
A Special Song
Along with all of the classic Elul and Tishrei Niggunim, there’s a unique one that sticks out from a story that happened a few years ago. To the best of my knowledge, the only people who know this tune are
Yagilu people! We were on the first-ever Yagilu 3 bushwhack – a 3-day trek aiming for 4 peaks with no trails to guide us. All we had were our maps, compasses, and our experienced guide, Chayim. It was day 3, we were powering along the trail, and a string of amazing events (a longer story for another time) led to us still hiking along later in the day. Later, as in twelve o’ clock at night! We took a break on the bank of the Neversink River to share some snacks, catch our breaths a bit, and check our course on the map. As you can imagine, people were tired and worn out, so spirits were a bit lower than they usually are on these hikes. During the break, R’ Tani, somehow still full of energy, exclaimed that this was a perfect time to teach us an incredible new Niggun for Elul. We learned the words-
The quick, happy pace of the tune got everyone moving and spirits up as we moved on from the break. We kept singing and walking, our headlamps bouncing in time with the tune. It was slow going, as we didn’t have a reliable trail to follow (it was a bushwhack, remember?) so progress was slow, but the singing was fast and fun. Somehow, the singing only stopped two hours later, when we finally reached our trail and decided to sleep the rest of the night. We’d finish the last mile or two much quicker in the light than if we’d have to struggle to pick out the trail markers in the pitch black of a forest night. Aside from the incredible stories of that first bushwhack, we all walked away with an amazing new Niggun to enjoy.
The Takeaway
Every year, reciting L’Dovid Hashem Ori from Rosh Chodesh Elul to Simchas Torah, I come across these words. They remind me how this line, this Niggun kept us going even in the toughest of times. We’re all on our own bushwhack, aren’t we? ‘Hiking’ through life without a trail to follow, doing our best to follow our ‘compasses and maps,’ both when things are easy and when times are tough. The story surrounding this Niggun reminds me that when your goal is clearly set out in front of you, whether it’s the end of a long hike or a rendezvous with the King of Kings (Es Panecha Hashem Avakesh!), you WILL achieve it-eventually.
Disaster Averted, Memories Made
/in Family, Yagilu Blog /by Tzvi GoldsteinAmazing Yagilu stories aren’t limited to the two months of Camp Yagilu. Throughout the year, parents reach out to share incredible stories where their teens demonstrate either Yagilu skills or Yagilu spirits. I love hearing these stories, which really bring home how impactful the summer really was. Here’s one story a parent shared:
Off To a Rough Start
Sibling Synergy
Share Your Stories!
Learning From the Trees
/in Yagilu Blog /by Tzvi GoldsteinEver feel like you’ve just hit a dead end? That you could be so successful, if just for that one thing standing in your way? What can you do to move past, to succeed?
From the Forest Itself…
I recently heard a fantastical Medrish: When Hashem created the trees, they began stretching higher and higher. So high, in fact, that they became proud. “Look at us,” they said. “We’re the tallest things around! What could possibly knock us down?” Then Hashem created iron, and they became nervous. The iron, formed into an ax, could cut them down! Noticing their anxiety, the iron pointed out to the trees: “Why should we make you nervous? As long as you don’t allow yourself to be used as a handle, we can’t hurt you!” (Bereishis Rabba 5:10).
Understanding the Lesson
What’s the meaning of this Medrish? Are we supposed to understand that this ‘conversation’ happened and make a note in the history books that trees used to talk to iron? This Medrish teaches us an important lesson. Problems often seem to come from outside ourselves and stop us in our tracks. In reality, though, we are the ones who will decide whether something grows and flourishes, or whether it is toppled prematurely. If we decide to focus on solutions rather than problems, we’ll find ourselves growing higher and higher, despite whatever difficulties present themselves to us!
Can’t Stop Me!
This idea shows up in camp all the time. Here’s one example: What happens when it starts raining and you’re outside? Most of the time, you run for cover, dodging raindrops and praying that you don’t get soaked. Once you’re inside, you wait around for the rain to stop. You’re trapped by the rain! But ask a Yagilu camper what do we do when it rains, and you’ll get a different response. You’ll hear an enthusiastic, “We get wet!” We decide not to let the rain hold us back from working, accomplishing, and enjoying. And that’s it.
The message doesn’t deny that situations are difficult. Of course problems come up and we need to deal with them. In the Medrish, iron formed into an axe head is objectively sharp. The point is that it only has the power to chop down a tree when the tree provides a handle. Think of a tough situation you’re in right now: carpools for the upcoming school year aren’t coming together, kids never seem to be able to get along without fighting, or you never get a chance to take some time for yourself to recharge.
Just One Thing
What’s one thing you can do right now that can take the bite out of the issue? One text message, a positive comment to the kids, or a super-quick, 5-minute break from the daily routine? As long as you’re still working towards a solution, you can be happy. You’re not letting the problem stop you. You won’t give the iron a handle that would make it an axe.
Change the Frame
Even something as basic as reframing an issue can itself be the solution! Reframing means taking something that you see in one way and try to put it “in a different frame,” or look at it in a different, more positive way. For us in Yagilu, reframing transforms a rainstorm from something to flee from, to something to ignore or even enjoy. It’s not a disaster, it’s a refreshing cooldown while we continue with our activities.
Whatever it takes, learn from the trees. Don’t give the ‘iron’ in your life the handle it needs to bring you down!
It’s Mine-All Mine!
/in Yagilu Blog /by Tzvi GoldsteinWhat’re Those?
If you look on my bookshelf, scattered among Seforim, English books, and other knickknacks, you’ll see a few items that seem out of place: there’s a cup, a spoon, and a Shtender, waiting to be pressed into service when needed. On Shabbos, the set is completed by a Challa knife. What makes these items unique? For one, they’re all made out of wood. Also, they each have a specific ‘feel’-you could call it rough around the edges, both literally and figuratively. But the main thing that earns them a place on my bookshelf is that fact that they’re mine-I made them. Myself, with my own two hands and my Yagilu pocketknife.
Yehuda Levy working on his cup…
I’m no master craftsman (hence the rough edges), but these pieces have a special place in my heart, and therefore in my house. Every time I look at them, and especially when I get a chance to use them, I’m reminded of what went into making them. Hours of careful work, attention to detail, creativity in designing how I wanted each one to look, and resourcefulness in using the skills and materials I had to come out with something I’d be proud of-these are just some of the things that come to mind.
Personal Projects
Every camper in Yagilu has this opportunity. In camp, we call them Personal Projects, and the creations that are worked on are as varied and inventive as the campers themselves. Over the years, campers have made:
There are other mediums, in addition to wood – clay (candlesticks for Shabbat), leather (the list is endless-Tallis and Tefillin bags, wallets, Kippot, phone and iPod cases, self-designed knife sheaths, Mezuza cases…), and we’ve recently added a forge and a resident blacksmith for campers interested in metalwork. It’s amazing to see a camper get invested in a project, dedicating free time to it over the course of the summer. Even campers who might be less motivated during the daily activities go the extra mile for their personal projects, running back to the campsite after meals to steal an extra few minutes or waking up early to get in some work before Shacharit.
The finished product, used at the Y1 Forest Feast!
Parents say that these projects are the first thing their sons show them upon returning from camp. “Look what I made, all by myself!” The feelings of accomplishment, of mastery, of dedication represented by these creations are clear on the faces of the proud campers.
Keeping It Going
How can this be translated into awesome projects the rest of the year? Here are some ideas:
The easiest transition would be to continue the same types of projects. While things like coal-burning and metalworking are often not practical outside of Yagilu, whittling and leatherwork are very doable. For whittling, the campers already have their pocketknives, and wood is available ‘fresh off the tree’ in almost every neighborhood. For more advanced projects, hobby shops have specific types of wood, such as balsa (try making an egg!), as well as sandpaper for finishing touches. A child will feel empowered when his parents trust him to use his powerful tool, as long as he follows the Knife Rules he learned in camp.
Leatherwork is a bit more of an investment. Leather and the basic materials are available in most hobby shops, or can be ordered online. Once you have the tools, though, the possibilities are almost endless. An extra benefit of leatherwork is that many of the projects are usable-imagine wearing a handmade belt to school every day, or pulling your Tefillin out of a beautifully designed, stitched, and decorated Tefillin bag!
Another idea is to sit with your child after camp and together discuss a project for him to work on over the next year. It could be anything-learn a new skill (music) or language (computer languages count too!), participate in a club (robotics) or group (intramural sports), or create something in a totally new medium (painting or sketchwork). Set a goal for the first month, and periodically check in to see how he’s liking it. The idea is to foster the same motivation and satisfaction that comes from seeing and feeling accomplishment in new, non-wilderness settings.
In Yagilu, campers got a taste of Yegi’a Kapecha Ki Tocheil-Ashrecha V’Tov Lach (Tehillim 128:2). They learned the special taste of accomplishing a goal that they worked hard for. With help and encouragement from parents, they can continue to enjoy this special feeling the whole year round!
What ‘Personal Projects’ are you proud of? Have you successfully translated a project into a year-round hobby? Share in the comments below!
Photo Credits: Yigal Goldstein