Camp Blog

Camp Simcha had an Xtremely epic day today as we travelled into the world of X-Games and extreme sports. When our campers walked into the dining room this morning, they were greeted by bicycles and wheelchairs doing flips from the rafters. And the center of the dining room staged a custom built mega ramp that would make Tony Hawk really jealous. It was a great way to start a day that epitomized: Work hard. Play harder.

Throughout the day, our campers had the privilege of attending a football clinic that was run by Alan Veingrad. Alan is a former American football offensive lineman in the National Football League; he played for the Green Bay Packers for five seasons, and two seasons for the Dallas Cowboys (who won Super Bowl XXVII), playing in a total of 86 games. Our campers got to play hours of ball with him, and appreciated receiving pointers how to improve their game. Alan was thoroughly impressed by our amazing program and assured us that football players wouldn’t stand a chance of matching our energy.

After their clinics, Ian and Freddy decided to show off their sports accumen and headed out to the archery field field. They didn’t miss the bulls eye, and after a while it got very repetitive. They decided to move on to the paint balling field (hey, thats more of a sport than poker, fishing, and bowling combined) and had a real blast.  Meanwhile, the lake was a beehive of water sports activity. It was there that you could find Ori fishing (hey, ESPN considers that a sport!). After just a few moments, he caught the first fish of his career. Elad and Benji went a bit more extreme and took the motorboat for a spin. They had a blast pushing the throttle and riding the waves.

Right before supper, we headed out to the ball field for our annual Epic Dr. Lenny Water Fight. Dr. Lenny is known to be an expert in the oncology field, but today he showed off his adept water-gun handling skills. Our campers had a blast as they had a chance to cool off and soak the medical staff in the process.

For supper, our master chef, grill meisters, and waiters, collaborated to create an unbelievable tailgate party. We were served hero and fried chicken sandwiches, chicken wings, corn on the cob, knishes, and assorted salads. The only thing missing was the beer!

From supper, we headed to a mesmerizing mentalist show from Alain Nu. To start off the show, Alain placed four blue beads and one gold bead in a bag, and had five campers stick their hand in and select one. Then, just by watching their faces as they looked at the beads, he was able to tell that Yanees was the one with the golden bead! The audience went wild when he bent and twisted a metal spoon with his bare hands!!! And to end off the show, he was able to guess the card created when one camper chose a color, one a suit, and one a number. The crowd erupted with chants for an encore performance.

To cap off the day, we rehearsed the song of the summer, Happiness Heals, which we will be premiering in NYC this coming Tuesday. ITS GOING TO BE TIKKUNEI!

Dear Folks back home,

Sorry that I haven’t written home since day one. So much has been happening here that I have a hard enough time catching my breath, let alone write.

I’m sure you’ve been following the camp blog, so you should be pretty up to date on what’s happening here. I’ll just pick up from where the blog left off. Friday afternoon the camp underwent this crazy transformation as we entered our first Camp Simcha Shabbat. Shabbat in Camp Simcha is legendary, and it sure lived up to its expectations this week. Friday night services took place in the social hall where all staff and campers gathered under one roof. A lot of staff members dressed up in these whacky costumes, and everyone rocked up the place. As a fellow camper led the services, my co-campers and I were lifted up onto shoulders, and were danced up and down the aisles. Even the more traditional campers couldn’t resist the excitement and opted to join in. It was quite an amazing experience.

After the services, the camp proceeded to the dining room where we had a gala feast. The zemirot (Wiki) were beautiful, and the unity displayed by the whole camp was something worth crossing the world for. When we finished eating, we all gathered in the middle of the room where we were entertained by Duvi “the legend” Becker. Duvi told us three stories of campers in camp who exhibited outstanding character this week in camp. Jonah, Liem, and Chaim Moshe all won a Giant’s sweatpants and Eli Manning jersey for being giants in character. Afterwards, a friend of mine from England, Eliyahu J, delivered a very inspiring speech to us. The night was topped off with more singing, as we sat around eating chulent and sharing stories.

Shabbat morning we once again had services in the Social Hall. From the services, the camp proceeded to another gala meal. Following the meal, we were entertained by a bunch of counselors. One counselor got up from each division and had to say the most embarrassing story that ever happened to them. It was quite hilarious. One counselor spoke of a time he was in India and had to sleep in a room with a bunch of Buddhist monks. When he woke up in the morning, they all wanted to lynch him because throughout the night he had been killing mosquitos (Buddhists consider them sacred). After that, we had a scavenger hunt on the baseball field. The winning division won an Apple iPod Touch to raffle off to one of its members.

After lunch, I had a few hours to relax, play some games of miniature golf and ping-pong, and enjoy the gorgeous weather before heading to Bingo. This was no old-fogie Bingo that grandma and grandpa play. This was EPIC Simcha Bingo! A friend of mine (Ori from Israel) won the latest generation Apple iPod Nano!!! How crazy is that? I hope I win it next week.

To cap off this amazing Shabbat, we had a scrumptious Seudat Shelishit with fresh salmon, flounder, bagels, fruit, and more. If you find another camp that serves even one of those things let me know. We ended the Shabbat with an epic havdalah. It was really nice to have a break from the non-stop action of the past few days. I spent the day chilling with friends and had a great time. But the non-stop action here can’t stay away for too long. After Havdalah, we unleashed all our pent up energy with an epic upROAR in the dining room, complete with live music and dancing.

I’m getting tired, and Dembi said there a special treat in store for us tomorrow, so I want to be totally awake. I think I’m going to catch some z’sssss.

Love you guys.

Good Night

How comforting is it to know that according to recent data, Americans supposedly play a combined 200 million minutes of Angry Birds every day? That means that US companies lose about $1.5 billion dollars worth of productivity hours by their employees playing Angry Birds. Well, love it or hate it, Angry Birds is a fiendishly addictive, unbearable cute time-sink that has captured the attention of millions of people all over the world. And today Camp Simcha got to actually experience Angry Birds first hand; and believe me, experiencing Angry Birds live is A LOT more exciting than exercising your index finger on your couch!

As the campers walked into the dining room for lunch, they were greeted by life sized Angry Birds. Campers got their portraits taken with the characters, and some even got an autograph! By lunch, our divisions competed for the loudest cheers. The shufflers, combinos, and playa’s all rocked the place, but the winner was by far the Aces division. Special thanks to Josh for introducing a new cheer to camp. (“when I say, you say, we say, they say, MAKE SOME NOISE!”) And of course, lunch was capped by another Tikuei Twelve uproar where the campers rocked to the songs of Party Rock Anthem, I Gotta Feelin, and Levels.

After lunch, Alexander and Liem decided to do some baking. Of course, they topped their challos with chocolate chips! The room smelled so awesome that I couldn’t resist sneaking a chocolate cookie from the oven, and another, and another, and another! In woodworking, Adam got to make a birdhouse to protect his birds after those birds finally decide to take a valium.

Throughout the afternoon, different divisions got to go to the gym to have a live Angry Birds experience. The bunks were divided into teams. One team had to strategically build a fortress and defend it, while the other team had to evade their defenses and knock down their fortress with angry birds. Simultaneously, another division got to go to the gym where they had a drum circle with George “The Drum Man” Hooks. Campers got to recreate the Sound of Angry Birds and other beautiful compositions. Every camper had a chance to use numerous different instruments including assorted drum sets, percussions, cow bells, tambourine among others. We will be uploading a short sample of the results shortly.

Did I mention that…

It’s Friday, Friday

Gotta get down on Friday

Everybody’s lookin’ forward to the weekend, weekend

Friday, Friday

Gettin’ down on Friday

Everybody’s lookin’ forward to the weekend

Partyin’, partyin’ (Yeah)

Partyin’, partyin’ (Yeah)

Fun, fun, fun, fun

Lookin’ forward to the weekend

Hey folks back at home,

How was your commute to work today? Did that guy sitting next to you on the train smell like he hasn’t taken a shower since he last went skiing? Did you decide to purchase a bag of M&M’s for the low price of $4.99? Did you enjoy the blasting music leaking from the headphone of that guy sitting down the aisle? Well this morning in Camp Simcha, our campers were elated to find out that they were going to experience a bit of a more classy mode of transportation. A helicopter came in from NYC to Camp Simcha, landed in middle of camp, and every camper got to board and get a ride. The aerial views of the trees and lakes were beautiful, and they even saw the Delaware River. It was a really cool experience to get a bird’s eye view of the Happiest Place on Earth.  The squeals of delight were able to be heard even over the roaring whirl of the helicopters propellers!

Meanwhile, our campers had the special privilege of attending a basketball clinic run by Tamir Goodman. Tamir has been dubbed by Sports Illustrated magazine as the “Jewish Jordan”. Campers had a blast shooting around with Tamir, as well as getting tips on how to improve their already great shots. Campers also appreciated that they got a chance to shmooze, take pictures, and receive autographs. From the basketball clinic and helicopter rides, we headed to our first activity. In honor of Farmville, our campers had a great time building scarecrows, pinning tails on their counselors, and having horseback races.

When we had finally finished horsin’ around, we headed to the dining room for lunch. It was there that we enjoyed a scrumptious lunch fresh picked on the farm. Lunch also served as a meet-and-greet and photo op for Porky-the-Pig, Betsy the Cow, and Dolly the Sheep who were all roaming around the dining room. And when we were stuffed to the gills, we headed to the center of the dining room for a Tikunei Twelve rendition of upROAR where the campers rocked to the songs of Stomp on the Ground, I Gotta Feelin, and the Tikkunei Niggun.

But our energy didn’t deplete there. We immediately headed out to our four consecutive action-packed afternoon activities. Josh headed out to the leather workshop where he had an opportunity to make a saddle for his horse back on his ranch in South Africa. However, he opted for something a bit more meaningful, a bracelet for his friend Chan. Meanwhile, in candle making, David and Uri, created large candles to light up the barn.

After supper, Camp Simcha was thrilled to welcome Steve Max. Every year, Steve comes and plays the craziest largest game of Simon Says. His tricky strategies leave even the brightest people confused. Counselors and campers were head to head in an intense battle. And of course, a Camp Simcha camper was crowned champion. At the end of the night everyone said goodbye to Steve…after Simon told us to.

To cap off the night, we stamped, clapped, and waved as we leaarned the dance for the song of the summer…a song that will blow away Wavin Flags and Light up the Darkness. But I dont wan’t to spoil the secret. Stay tuned.

We’re very excited to announce that we will be posting a video on ParentSpace every day for parents. The video will follow the theme of the day in camp.

To view the videos:

• Go to CampSimcha.org
• Click the login button in the top right corner
• Type in your username and password
• Then scroll over “Parents” on the top bar and click “ParentSpace”

From this page you can access a special blog just for parents, the daily schedule, and daily pictures and videos.

• To get to the videos, click on the link for photos and videos and then click on Videos: Camp Simcha Boys

Oy vey, what is happening with this generation?!? When I was a kid, my mommy taught me that fruits were my friends. All ailments, from flat tires to stubbed toes, were blamed on my lack of my fruits. But sometime recently, the fruit ninja came along, and fruits became the mortal enemy that you practiced your kung-fu on.

Well today Camp Simcha went bananas (b-a-n-a-n-a-s) as we sharpened our swords and unleashed all that pent up energy from eleven months away from camp. After a morning fire-drill, to preclude any fried bananas in camp, we hurried to our morning activity. Joseph headed to the newly built fencing workshop under Matt’s place. It was there that he practiced his ninja skills. He perfected his sword fighting, swung his ninja chucks, and broke wood boards with his bare hands. Meanwhile, Ori Michael headed out to the pottery shop where he painstakingly created a beautiful fruit bowl. After all, all those fruits that Joseph will be choppin’ up has to go somewhere.

Towards the end of lunch, we all gathered in the middle of the dining room where we heard a rockin’ concert from our own personal band: The Tikunei. The campers danced, climbed on staff members’ shoulders, and screamed in a Tikunei Twelve rendition of uproar. Over lunch, we had a group of visitors from Wall Street. After observing just a few moments of our lunch upROAR, they were thoroughly convinced that they are supporting the best possible cause. Many of them opted to join in on the fun, and sing and dance with our awesome campers. They seemed to be having just a bit more fun than they’ve had in a while (After all, SimchaWorld is just a bit more exciting than CubicleWorld).

From lunch, we headed back to our ninjous activities. We had watermelon eating, seed spitting, and lemon squeezing contests in which our campers all dominated our staff, of course! And when the rain started, we just raised the intensity level. After all, “Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass; It’s about dancing in the rain.”

And to cap off the day, we had Eugene the magician come down and teach us the dark magic behind ninjing. Oh what a first day!

One spirit, one team, one win

That’s the attitude Camp Simcha takes towards everything, and it was on full display today.

With our costumes on, our faces painted, and our overflowing energy, we all headed out to the main gate to greet our campers. It was there that we found a life sized Candyland board and candy band-stand courtesy of our in house design team. With our amazing camp band pumping us up, we stamped, screamed, danced, and ushered in the greatest season in camp history. With Tikunim rushing through our blood, and upROARity pouring through our sweat, we went through one final drill: mastering the new camp song, niggun, and dance.

It was then that we began welcoming our amazing campers Camp Simcha Style. One by one, every camper was greeted and given his own personal introduction. He was then rushed through a human tunnel, put on staff member’s shoulders, and danced around the entrance area. The elation of coming back home after a year on vacation showed through on every campers face. After that, the campers were taken for a check at the infirmary before coming back outside to meet new and old friends.

The energy was endless, and we welcomed campers well into the evening. Just when we thought we were done for the day, a bus filled with the Israeli Division showed up and the party started again. This time though, we used a blend of American and Israeli songs and everyone was quite pleased.

After the buses disembarked, the campers had a few moments to catch their breaths before heading to the dining room for a scrumptious dinner. From supper, the camp rushed to the gym for our special night activity. It was there that Cirqutacular, a professional gymnast and stunt team, greeted us. They dazzled us with their three-part performance consisting of aerobatics, contortionism, and a balancing act. Steve’s wicked contortions culminated in him passing his ENTIRE BODY through an unstrung tennis racket, earning him shouts of delight from the standing-room-only audience. And when they said the show would be Tikunei, the crowd went wild.

After a great start, however, it was time to get a good night sleep before tomorrow’s amazing program.

The staff members of Camp Simcha are eagerly awaiting the arrival of the greatest campers on Earth! They have spent the last 24 hours getting oriented (lots and lots of speeches), disoriented (Mud sliding and mud dodgeball), and straight up psyched. The energy is palpable.

The Greatest Show on Earth is now ready to begin! Rain or shine, the show will go on. The staff is all dressed up in the wackiest costumes. Operation Red Nose is in full effect, and not a face has gone unpainted. The place is in TOTAL uproar. And Dembi’s Got a Feeling’…

CSB2012: Where Amazing Happens

Dear Humans in the non-Simcha world,

We know you were jealous of Epic ‘11. You followed us on Facebook. You read the blog. You continually watched the videos we posted on YouTube. You drooled over the fun we were having day in and day out. Under your breath you could be heard humming “I’ve got a Feelin”, “Tonight Tonight…”, or “Rollin in Camp Simcha.” In the privacy of your car you would treat yourself to a mini-upROAR. You tried capturing just a small piece of the Epicness we were having in our world.

But let me let you in on a little secret… Epic ‘11 is SOOOOOOOOOO last year.

To my fellow Simchonians, welcome to a whole new dimension. A world that has yet to be discovered by humans. A twilight zone between reality and dreamland. A summer for the record books.  A continuous picture perfect moment. A high that puts Graceland to shame. An experience that will stay for you for a lifetime. A rollercoaster ride that will leave you breathless at every turn.

Welcome to TIKUN’EY TWELVE.

You will not be disappointed.

Now, in case you haven’t heard, let me fill you in on the theme and word of the summer.

The word of the summer is…wait for it… TIKUNIM! Last year’s word, Epic, may have sounded epic but had little depth.  In contrast, this year’s word holds a message that can be carried for life. It traces its roots to the Hebrew word Tikun, which loosely means “to heal, repair and transform.” It can be applied to everything from our world to ourselves. The lesson of the summer is to take everything that’s thrown at us and use it to better and perfect ourselves…and of course have an amazing time doing it. And don’t you worry, our summer will go wayyyyy beyond uber and epic. They just haven’t yet invented a synonym that encapsulates CSB 2012 🙂

Now on to the theme. This year’s theme is Game On.

The NY Times recently had an article about games. The article explained that Game-studies scholars (there are such things) like to point out that games tend to reflect the societies in which they are created and played. Monopoly, for instance, makes perfect sense as a product of the 1930s — it allowed anyone, in the middle of the Depression, to play at being a tycoon. Risk, released in the 1950s, is a stunningly literal expression of cold-war realpolitik. Tetris was invented exactly when and where you would expect — in a Soviet computer lab in 1984 — and its game play reflects this origin. The enemy in Tetris is not some identifiable villain (Donkey Kong, Mike Tyson, Carmen Sandiego) but a faceless, ceaseless, reasonless force that threatens constantly to overwhelm you, a churning production of blocks against which your only defense is a repetitive, meaningless sorting. It is bureaucracy in pure form, busywork with no aim or end, impossible to avoid or escape.

Do to the aforementioned soliloquy, Game On is a perfect theme for Tikun’ey Twelve. In contrast to last year’s theme, Great Escapes, which seemed to emphasize escaping the moment, this year’s theme (and word) are about living in the moment: To take everything that’s thrown at us and use it to perfect ourselves; To become better people and have an amazing time doing it.

As Michael Jordan once said, “I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”

Camp Simcha, get your game face on.

CSB Tikun’ey Twelve: It’s Game Time

Over 200 CSB2012 staff  arrived in on our beautiful, luxurious, and comfortable camp grounds today for CSB2012 orientation. After a delicious lunch and some general bonding time, meeting new and greeting old, we went to the Social Hall to hear orientation speeches from Dembi, Rabbi K, Rochel Katz (our Head Nurse), and Shaindy Lowenthal, our program director. We were inspired, informed, interested, uplifted, and UPROARed. Following the orientation speeches, we followed Sergeant Dembi for “Staff Boot-Camp” during which we received a tour of the camp grounds, and were introduced to the staff hotel, dining room, bunkhouses, lake, etc. We sang, chanted, and denounced  slacking.

We were all psyched to see what came next. Dembi led us to the baseball field where with the help of some water hoses we created a massive mud slide. We spent the rest of the afternoon breaking ourselves in for an amazing summer.

Following a tasty dinner, served by our Head Chef Ruevin, we heard a speech by Rabbi Simcha Scholar, Chai Lifeline’s Executive Vice President. He inspired us to work together as one heart, and one soul, to make this summer amazing for our campers. We also heard from Dr. Wexler, who filled us in on what these children go through the rest if the year. To once again get us in the right mind set, we were shown a part of last year’s video. The lights were then turned off, the disco lights turned on, and we stamped and danced until we were utterly zonked.

It took a while to get fully recovered from the intensity of the mudsliding and dancing, but once we managed to recover ourselves, we all split in our respective divisions and had our first meeting get the down-low on this years theme “Game On’, and plot and plan the most amazing Camp Simcha boys session ever!!!!

A day full of glorious uproaring and TIKUNification, orientation has come to an end.

CSB2012: Let the games begin