I’m home… and I’m tired. It’s been a long day.
We started with a family day at Religous School. The theme was “Honoring one parents”, as the students were studying that. The Rabbi pointed out how the Torah say “honor your father and mother” in one place, but “revere your mother and father” in another. We explored the difference on why the order was reversed, as well as the difference between honor and revere. The point was that this is more of an adult commandment, focusing on the relationship between adults and their parents at the end of their lives, so that the parents don’t lose respect. For example, you need to make sure their needs are taken care of (but not to your personal financial detriment), you need to not “sit in their chair” (i.e., attempt to take their place), you need to not contradict or argue with them (find another way to resolve the issue). We talked about why the father comes first on honor (which actually relates to support) vs the mother on revere (which comes from the word with the sense of fear): the rabbis indicated this is because children are used to the mother providing sustinence, and fearing the father. Quite interesting.
We also did singing with our kids, an art project, and a discussion. We also got to meet some more folks at Temple, and discovered our chiropractor is a member there (and has a son in our daughter’s class). We discovered this when I was complaining to my wife about my back bothering me, and she pointed to Ron and said: Go talk to him!
After that, it was Visit/Tour Day at camp. After driving up to Hilltop, we took a tour of the camp. I had forgotten how beautiful the view is from up at Hilltop; the picture to the right shows the view from the chapel. The camp is a lot smaller (120 campers vs. 250 campers), and is much more of a single family. For example, at Kramer, campers eat in cabin units, and do evening activities in units of 3-4 cabins. At Hilltop, you can eat with your friends, and evening activities are done as the camp. This should suit S&F much better. She also ran into folks she knew last year, discovered that classmates from temple will be at her session, and was being asked questions by potential new campers as she was someone there age who was there last year. I think she is now looking forward to camp. (Note: For those of you who are Jewish and have kids in 3rd through 9th grades, I highly recommend these camps. They are great for teaching Judaism, especially Reform Judaism, to kids.)
After that, I drove home from Malibu. A much easier drive than the last time, which was in pouring rain. I drove; everyone else slept. I’m tired now, but it was a good day. Camp is such a special place to me that it always leaves me feeling wonderful and relaxed. My safe home away from home as a kid. I thank my parents for sending me there.
