Spiritual Compass

By Dr. Leah Hochman, PhD Session 2 Visiting Faculty

One of my favorite things about returning to camp is watching campers revisit their favorite places and introducing newcomers to the “history” of that specific place—the No No Field, the beverage dispenser in the hadar ochel (the dining hall), the fancy hallway, the Field House.

This year, it seems like there is an extra poignancy to those moments as campers buzz about the changes they anticipate in Sci-Tech’s move next summer. As a faculty member, I have been relying on this year’s Spiritual Compass to think about transitions, movement and change both in our Jewish past and in Sci-Tech’s future.  

The Torah portions this session remind us that the Israelites brought the Mishkan (tabernacle) with them through the desert in essence bringing their center with them as they traveled. The Spiritual Compass quotes NOAA’s reminder that “Each year, thousands of species leave their home to embark on journeys to find their new, old, or temporary home. Some journeys are small, others are thousands of miles long.” Listening to the laughter and love campers share with each other has made it clear to me that the value of Sci-Tech is not dependent on its location; rather, it resides in the ability of those who love it to create the stories and feelings that transcend time and location and to make a new mishkan we can bring with us next year.

Written by Jayme Dale with help from the JLife director Jessica Herman, the Spiritual Compass is serving as a guide for Workshop Instructors, Unit Heads, Counselors and the JLife team to design and frame the daily experiences of Sci-Tech. It continues to help all of us make positive associations between the familiar traditions of camp, the meaningful legacy of Jewish communities that have moved to new places and made new homes, and very real mixed emotions stirred up by leaving a beloved place.