Details Fade But Memories Are Forever
Over the last century, Camp Chi has come to be a home away from home for thousands of campers and staff who look back fondly on their summers at Chi. It does not matter if you were at camp for one year or a dozen- alumni from across generations, cultures, and countries connect almost instantly over a common love for their summer home. It is hard to believe that alumni who attended Camp Chi on the shores of Loon Lake in Antioch, IL can have so much in common with our current campers who go ziplining across the ravine on the aerial adventure course. But it is more than just the name that connects us as a camp family. The similarities of our experiences and the memories are what keep the generations of alumni connected to one another and to today’s campers and staff.
Maybe you embarked on the Western Trip instead of our current PNW trip. Perhaps you swam in the lake and not the pools, if there even were any pools. You may have been called a CIT or an SIT. Maybe your camp director was Ron, Jerry or perhaps Rosanne. Whatever the details of your summer experience were, when you look at pictures of the dining hall, step through those gates for the first time in however many years it has been, it is as if time stood still, and everything has stayed the same. Yet, when you take a step back, you can see that Camp has evolved in many ways.
Havdalah is the ceremony that ends Shabbat and begins a new week. While it has taken many forms over the century, Havdalah remains a core piece of our Jewish experience. You may remember your Havdalah experience around the flagpole before going into dinner. Or perhaps you remember Havdalah being by unit or village at a wide variety of places in camp before Evening Program could begin. Nowadays, Havdalah is celebrated as a whole camp in the amphitheater. Havdalah has evolved from a small event to a fully scheduled part of our week, enhancing the power of community. When the decision was made a decade ago to do Havdalah together as a camp, it was met with hesitation as is often the case when there is change. We felt that just like we start Shabbat together, it seemed only logical to end it that way as well. After experiencing it just one time, those who resisted the change were the biggest supporters of what has now become Camp Chi Havdalah. Instead of doing Havdalah at the start of meal or an evening program, it is now how we end our Saturday and a week at camp. It is a time of gathering and celebration, where we recognize campers and staff who exemplify our values with ruach awards and staff stars, respectively. Over time Havdalah has grown from ritual that was part of Shabbat into a beloved tradition.
We savor the sweetness and warmth of Shabbat with the juice, spices, and braided candle. We smell the fragrant spices and listen to the sizzle of the flame as it is extinguished in the grape juice. We form friendship chains, crossing our arms, holding hands with our cabinmates and friends, swaying back and forth while singing Shelter Us. We repeat Havdalah each week of the summer, and we begin to associate the beauty of the sunset and the serenity of Shabbat with the gathering of community and the celebration of accomplishments. Week by week, summer after summer and year after year this ritual has become a tradition engrained in the collective memory.
It does not matter what years you were at Chi, if you recall your favorite evening program, or if you remember what cabin you lived in. What you will remember are those moments, with your cabinmates and the camp community coming together. The memories associated with those moments illicit the same feelings of happiness, creating similar camp experiences cherished from generation to generation. And that is what makes camp so magical- through all the years, you are connected to everyone who came to Chi by the collective memories of a century.