The Shofar: A Call to Reflect
As we enter the High Holidays, there are many things we can anticipate coming in the next few days and weeks. We will surely enjoy the round challah, apples and honey and seeing our family and friends. We will reflect on the year gone by as we listen to powerful music and sermons and offer meaningful prayers. You see, while we mark the secular new year each winter with New Year’s Resolutions, making declarations of going to the gym more often, spending more time outside, and other resolutions, the first of Tishrei is different.
Instead of making resolutions of what we will do in the coming year, the Days of Awe are a time to reflect on the past year, examining not just what we did, but who we really are. In just a few days’ time 5779 will come to a close and we will begin 5780. This past year was not an easy one for the Jewish people, as we have seen the rise of anti-Semitism around the globe and attacks fueled by hatred. But, we as a camp, can reflect on our year, and while there were tragedies around the world, there were also so many moments and reasons to celebrate. In our Monthly News, we saw weddings, b’nai mitzvot, engagements, expanding families (and future campers), and celebrated the steps each Camp Chi family member is making on their journey, whether that is starting college, a new job, etc.
Furthermore, this past year, we came together as a camp community like never before. In the darkest of times, we gathered to Stand and Walk Against Hate, collected art supplies for our colleagues in California whose camps were destroyed by wildfires, and we made a promise to ourselves and to our community to not just talk about the Camp Chi values, but to truly live a life of kavod (respect), chesed (kindness), and kehillah (community).
As a camp we reflect on our 98th summer and how incredible it was. From the nervous and timid faces on the first day that turned into tearful faces at Chi Burning, to the staff who grew from a group of newly hired individuals to a family of colleagues, and the SITs who marked the culmination of their Camp Chi experience that some began 9 summers ago as 3rd graders, the Camp Chi Magic really came alive this summer.
But what we do is much more than just our eight weeks of camp. At Chi we enrich the lives of everyone and offer a vast portfolio of programs that includes more than our just summer camp program. From Grandparent’s Weekend to Winter Camp and our Family Vacation Programs, to the College Road Trip where we help high school students explore some of the best schools in the country, we strive to make Camp Chi a happy place not just for our campers, but for everyone and their family as well. Because in times where there is so much darkness, we should offer even more light to shine through. Our symbol is the flame and that flame has never burned brighter.
So now it is time for you to reflect on your year. During the High Holidays, we will hear the call of the shofar. There are many different origins and meanings to the sound of the shofar. But as we participate in this ritual, we use the sound of the shofar to be a call to reflect, to stir our conscience, and honestly look at our past year, while also looking forward and setting goals for the new year.
There are three unique shofar calls, tekiah (one blast), shevarim (three blasts), and teruah (nine short blasts), and at the end of the shofar service, there is often a tekiah gedolah (one very long blast). To help you reflect on your year, we have assigned each blast a question or statement you can ask yourself and ponder as you hear the shofar:
Tekiah
- What were the highlights of my summer?
Shevarim
- What specialties did I try that were new to me this summer?
- How many specialties did I do that were truly for me and not for my friends?
- What new skills did I learn from the specialties I participated in and how have those skills translated into my life outside of camp?
Teruah
- Did I do my part to help the staff in camp, whether that is listening to instructions, participating in programs, or helping my fellow campers?
- Was I, and am I, a good friend to everyone around me?
- Did I go above and beyond to help those around me be better?
- Did I make new friends this summer and have I stayed in touch with them since camp has ended?
- Did I perform mitzvot at camp that bettered the camp community?
- Was I an upstander, standing up not just for myself, but for those around me?
- What have I done since camp to keep the Chi flame burning bright within me?
- Did I do my part in keeping camp clean and protecting the beauty of camp and the nature we live in?
- Did I do my part to live the Camp Chi values of kavod (respect), chesed (kindness), and kehillah (community)?
Tekiah Gedolah
- How can I take all of these thoughts and set meaningful and achievable goals for the new year, 5780?
There is a lot to reflect on for all of us as we prepare for the Days of Awe. We want to wish you a meaningful High Holidays and a new year filled with happiness, health and prosperity for you and those around you.
Shana Tova U’metukah & G’mar Hatima Tova– Have a Sweet and Good Year & May You Be Inscribed for Good.