Dear Parents & Friends,
As a nation, we have been compared to both the stars in the sky and sand at the sea. The question begs itself — why does Hashem use multiple descriptions when describing the children of Bnei Yisrael? Wouldn’t one be enough?
I heard an explanation that can serve as the foundation to my first of six reasons I am so passionate about summer camp. Camp offers the most incredible and unique opportunity to become part of a community, committed to shared values and building a sense of achdut across all bunks and ages. This fosters friendships that truly last a lifetime (a weekdoesn’t go by when an alumnus will proudly show me their Morasha WhatsApp group with friends they met in camp decades ago!). Joining Morasha means joining a family.
At the same time, camp also offers the unparalleled opportunity for each individual camper to grow in her or his own way — developmentally, spiritually, and by building on unique skills. I am deeply passionate to offer a program that gives children with a wide-range of interests a chance to shine. I myself wasn’t an athlete, so offering all campers an opportunity to excel is deeply personal — whether in athletics or aquatics, arts or adventure, on the stage or in a fitness studio.
So yes — we are sand and we are stars. Sand represents a unified body, a cohesive body indistinguishable from one another. Stars represents an individual unit, shining in a way that is unique and special. We are so fortunate to be able to spend our summers building this family and helping each individual child grow. I cannot remember seven days of any previous summer that was more inspiring, action-packed, and fun than this past week — focused both on building the individual and unifying our camp. It was incredible.
Jeremy Joszef
Director, Camp Morasha