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