As the campers load the buses to go bowling at Tarheel Lanes, I can’t help but look back at the whirlwind of a week we’ve had here at Camp Judaea. With full cabins, an over-flowing chadar ochel, and a flagpole line-up with campers and staff standing shoulder-to-shoulder, it’s crazy to think that just a few days ago, these campers were elsewhere and second session hadn’t begun. Everyone seems to be adjusting well to the CJ life, and our values are already rubbing off on the chanichim (campers).

This summer, we have been focusing on character values and working towards making every camper and staff member a well-rounded and respected individual. The term, “mensch,” is often used in Jewish culture to describe individuals who possess strong values and are well-received by others, one with integrity and honor. We are using our Making Mensches: A Periodic Table, inspired by Tiffany Shlain’s Periodic Table of Character Strengths, to guide us as we teach these values to our campers and watch them put them into practice.

We’ve asked various campers and staff members what they think it means to be a mensch and what qualities are most important in a good person. Some of their answers are rather inspiring…see for yourselves!

In addition to making mensches all around CJ, we’ve kept everyone nice and busy this week. All of the cabin photos have been taken, siblings and cousins have been photographed together, and, of course, there are hundreds of pictures of our campers in action all over camp. The Bible Players performed Wednesday afternoon, and they were a big hit! Thursday night, our Offies were awakened by the Bogrim campers, and they all met in the amphitheater for a BO bonfire and s’mores. Today, Rishonim, Sayarim, Tsofim, and Kesher are off to bowling before lunch. After lunch, Offarim, Oranim, and Bogrim will bowl while Kesher prepares to lead us in Kabbalat Shabbat and the other units get in the Shabbat mindset with cleaning and primping. All of our Chalutzim campers are finally here! And just as quickly as they arrived, they are off on a white water rafting trip today with all of their counselors. We know they’ll enjoy this bonding time before their big outward bound trip to the woods. Here’s this week’s edition of CJ News to show you all that we’ve been up to!

As we slow down for a change of pace this Shabbat, we hope you’ll think about what makes a mensch and what you can do at home to instill some of these values in our campers and future campers. Shabbat Shalom from everyone here at Camp Judaea!