On the first night of camp, our Unit Heads shared blessings over their units during our Opening Ceremony. These were beautiful blessings for the summer, and we wanted to share these special moments with you.
Shorashim
My blessing to you is to laugh often, sing loud, and love with your whole heart.
Take a moment and look at the people sitting around you. You may be friends from home or just met . No matter where these friendships began, these people are now your camp friends. Now let me tell you something special about camp friends… they fall into a super special category called “forever friends.” I pray that you and your forever friends will come right back here to Bruceville, TX year after year to make new wonderful memories, just like the ones that you will make this year.
Niviim
Today is a very special day! (How special is it?)
It is so special because we are going to make today so awesome that yesterday is jealous. In fact, we’re going to make this summer so awesome that last summer is jealous.
Each and every one of you is such an important part of this community. Without all of you here today, this community, this kehilah, wouldn’t be as special. My wish for you, Niviim, is that you form new friendships with new faces and strengthen the ones that you already have.
Be like a pineapple. Stand tall, wear a crown, and be sweet. Throw kindness around like confetti. “Root” for one another and watch how that makes a person grow. Get it? Root, grow, roots grow…
And finally, remember that you are always a winner at GFC. Because, here, winning doesn’t mean being first. Winning means that you’re doing better than you’ve ever done before. Together, let’s do this summer better than ever before.
Kohanim
I can’t tell you how excited I am for this session! I can’t wait for you to make new friends and see your old friends- to get closer to your counselors- to sing around the campfire and much more. I can’t wait to see you try new things- go on the ropes course- encourage a friend- and laugh everyday. My hope is for each and every one of you is that this is the BEST summer yet, and that it will be filled with memories that will last a lifetime. Of my 14 years at GFC, this has absolutely been one of my favorites and I can’t wait to spend this session with you!
Shoftim
I am so excited for this summer. After just one day with you, I can already tell that y’all have the excitement, the ruach you need to have an amazing summer. Over the next 3.5 weeks, we will play, laugh, and have a great time together. But we will do more than that too. We will grow together… grow into friendships that will last for the rest of our lives. So this summer, Shoftim, I have a challenge for you. Reach out, make a friend, lend a hand, help someone make those connections that really make it special to come to GFC. Let’s work together to make this the best summer of our lives.
Melachim
Some of you I’ve watched grow up since Shorashim, some of you I met last year as the Shoftim unit head, and some of you I got the pleasure of meeting today. My wish for all of you this summer is that you will have a session filled with laughs, friendships new and old, and that you will go home with a trove of happy memories of your time at camp. You are now the oldest unit on main camp and you set an example for our younger campers. I know that each of you will be an amazing role model, and I cant wait to see Melachim shine! It’s going to be a great summer!
S’ganim
The story about the peace of the soul
After god finished the creation of the world he sat down and had a little rest up in the sky. All the sudden he heard a knock on his door. Who dares to interrupt god during his rest? Then he opened the door and saw a cute little creature. God asked him: “who are you?” and the creature said: “I’m the peace of the soul” and then god said: “and what is your wish peace of the soul?”
The little creature opened his little mouth and said: “oh dear god you created such a big wonderful world, you have place for all the things you created but you forgot to make a little space for me. Ever since I have been wondering around restless.
God smiled and decided to make some room for the little cute creature. So he took his little hand and they both want on a tour around the world. They had been to so many places, before they arrived here. The peace of the soul and god knew this was the place. Then god returned to the sky peacefully.
Now if you are quiet and you listen very closely you can hear the peace of the soul inside of you.
S’ganimers I wish y’all a great summer. May you find peace of the soul here at camp.
Kibbutz
Together, together, together everyone
Together, together, come on let’s have some fun.
Here and mow, it’s time for celebration
I finally figured it out.
That all our dreams have no limitations
That’s what it’s all about.
Everyone is special in their own way.
We make each other strong.
We’re not the same,
We’re different in a good way.
Together’s where we belong.
Kibbutz, we are all in this together!
Avodah
You have a chance to be part of something so special. There are new things for you to do and try every day. Climb the Alpine Tower, comfort a child, hang out in the scouts area, or try a new activity. Take all the opportunities that are given to you at camp this session. Because some of you have gotten 4 weeks here and some of you have gotten 2 days, but you all have only 3 weeks left. Try new things and have so much fun because there is only so much time we get at camp and we want to get the most out of every second.