The Ruach of Shabbat
This has been quite a week at Camp Chi. With the 4th of July, Habo Day, Noar Day and more, it was jam packed and eventful. And one theme that continued day in and day out was ruach, or spirit. It is easy to equate ruach to volume. The louder you cheer, the more ruach you have. But not really. Having ruach and showing ruach are really exemplifying the values of Camp Chi, and cheering loudly when appropriate of course.
Ruach was demonstrated left and right this week. On the 4th of July, three Marvel-themed teams competed to collect Infinity Stones. Campers and staff dressed head to toe in red, white, and blue. They screamed, they cheered, and they enjoyed popsicles. But in the end, they smiled, laughed and celebrated one another. It didn’t matter if you won a certain competition, or even the entire day. It was much more about the sportsmanship and camaraderie than the competition.
The same was true for Habo Day, where the Black Jon’s, White Kyle’s, Blue Ari’s, and Red Joelle’s competed for supremacy. Again, the ruach was tangible- you could hear the cheering from one side of camp at the far other end of our land, but that is not when the ruach was truly displayed. When teams helped each other out by working together to clean up the picnic grove, shared supplies or even just congratulated one another after a competition, the entire focus of the day changed from “my team” to “our camp” winning.
Nothing was more iconic of camp winning than the SITs of 2021 completing their first round of placements this week. SITs were assigned to work alongside counselors, specialists, photographers , canteen staff and Keshet staff to hone their skills and gain exposure and experience. The campers and staff warmly welcomed them, showing a different kind of ruach.
And now we prepare to welcome the last Shabbat of the session, followed by our final song session. One week from now our staff and SITs will be alone at camp, celebrating a very different Shabbat. But this week, our Shabbat will be loud, it will be proud and we will demonstrate all the ruach we can muster.