YJ100

[gilana]

I was very active in the Young Judaea youth group in high school. I didn't go on Year Course, but I was club and then regional programmer, I attended local conventions, and I went to Camp Tel Yehuda from 1984-86, I think it was, and then was a counselor in 1987, the summer before I started college. YJ is where I started to break out of my paralyzing shyness, and find people I could be comfortable with, and who seemed to value who I was. But after I started college, it faded from my life, and while I've been pleased and amused to find that a number of my shul friends are also Judaeans, it hasn't been much of a big deal. But when YJ had their 100th anniversary this Sunday, and it turned out some friends were going, it sounded like too much fun to miss.

Sadly, ablock and Meredith decided at the last minute that they had too much wedding planning left to be able to make it (ironically, on the wedding that they are in large part styling after TY), but Pup was gracious enough to let us borrow his baby -- er, car. So awhyzip and Brian E. (who doesn't have an LJ, to the best of my knowledge) and I headed off around 7:30am on the 4 1/2 hour drive. The closer to we got camp, the more excited we all got. We started singing "Ani v'ata" somewhere along Snake Road, the crazy serpentine cliff road heading into camp that I had completely forgotten about until I heard the name. And by the time we pulled into the gates, we were practically vibrating with excitement and the joy of coming home.

Just seeing the old buildings again was amazing. They seem smaller than I remember, but weathered in the same old loving way, and I was glad to see that the old traditions of paining names in the bunks and Beit Am continues. I spotted names from the '60s through to my years (although my marks seem to be covered over) to fresh ones from this camp session. And walking into the Chadar Ochel (dining room) the smells struck me and transported me back over 20 years, along with mundane sights like the red plastic water pitchers. Sadly, the Lo Alecha sign is not there anymore, but there are many new song banners lining the rafters. We came in the side entrance; as soon as I glanced out onto the tiny concrete "porch" I had visions of dancing barefoot in the dust there to all of the rikud favorites. And luckily, later in the day they had a short dance session, and we got to do Yo Ya there once more, although our aging bodies had trouble keeping up with the current crop of youngsters.

There was a ceremony honoring Mel Reisfield; if you've ever been to TY, you know Mel, and if you've been in YJ at all, you've heard the legends, from the famous Jesus sicha to his cheating as basketball. I think I most clearly remember my first camp session, learning the dances, and him yelling "tushie tushie tushie WOO!" He's clearly older, but his spirit is as strong as ever, and it was wonderful for us all to show him how much he means to us.

David Broza gave a short concert, and we all piled onto a patch of grass in front of the Broza stage (built and named in honor of his last visit there, many years ago now) to hear his rough and sweet and lovely tunes. He ended the regular set with his 1978 hit Yihiyeh Tov, of course -- Things Will Get Better. The song has changed over the years, and my limited Hebrew couldn't keep up with the new verses, but I love that he continues to update it, and continues to have hope for a peaceful Israel.

Oh, and I wouldn't be me if I didn't mention the food. One of the chefs there built a smoker specially for the event, and smoked an insane number of short ribs, then added a homemade barbecue sauce. They were amazing. There was also chicken, but I didn't try that because, hello, beef. I did try the cole slaw, which was tasty, and Ariela spoke highly of the veggie skewers. But mmmm, beef. They actually had some left over, so at the light supper they had trays of it out with notes saying to take some home. I was happy to comply :)

They had labeled the apple trees with decades, to make it easier to find old friends. Sadly, I didn't find anyone I knew in person, but the Sif (sifriya, or library) was filled with an amazing exhibit of YJ through the years, with old T-shirts and videos and posters and tons and tons of photos. So I went through a few albums and found some familiar faces, some of whom I hadn't thought of in decades, and one who I had just been telling Ariela about and was thrilled to have a photo to go with the story.

At first I was sad not to find anyone I knew, or anyone who remembered me, but then I started talking to people -- some of the kids who had attended camp that session and stayed for National Convention, some of the old members who had been there before my time -- and somehow there was an instant connection there. Some things have clearly changed -- there are some new dances that I couldn't keep up with, and MH is gone now -- but most of the important old traditions are still there, so it feels like we have a shared history, regardless of when the history took place. A valuable thing.

We had originally talked about leaving some time after 4pm, maybe during the Broza concert, but, well, we couldn't leave before getting to do some dancing (never mind that it was at least in the high 90s and we were dripping sweat in what little shade there was), and then we had to find the right person to coordinate borrowing 100 shiromin (songbooks) for Pup & Meredith's wedding, and then there was dinner, and by the time we finally left it was 7:30pm, and at that we had to miss the tsofim caravan (who are still extremely hot, although waaaayyyy too young) and the fire sign. We finally got the car back to Pup just before midnight. A very long day, and more time in the car than the camp, but totally worth it.