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"Scotty" with Moshe at Camp Swig

02/12/2020 02:10:54 PM

Feb12

Timeframe: July c. 1985

Location: Camp Swig, Saratoga, CA

Milieu: a hot summer camp cabin with no A.C., a bunch of teenagers sitting and lying on their bunks, waiting for “Menuchah” (rest hour) to be over

 

Dear Mom and Dad,

 

Camp is awesome.  I love it here, well, you know that.  I’ve only insisted on coming back to Camp Swig every summer for the last 10 years!  But this year is my last year as a camper and boy, did I get lucky.  My counselor’s name is Moshe (not “Mo-sheh” but just “Moshe” with a long “o” and no “eh” at the end).  He’s awesome – he’s so cool but in a “nerdy” kind of way.  He’s actually also our Rosh Eidah (Unit Head), so everyone calls him “Moshe the Rosh.”  He loves history and he is so smart.  He goes to Cal (UC Berkeley) and did I mention, he is so smart!  He talks to us about art and science and history (please don’t let ever let my friends at home see this letter to you!). I might want to study history when I grow up.

 

Love, Scotty

 

No, this isn’t an actual Scotty Weiss letter home from camp, but its what I project back onto myself back then, as I think about welcoming my old summer camp counselor and friend, Dr Marc Dollinger, to Shma Koleinu this coming Shabbat and weekend. 

It would mean so much to me if you would make a special effort to be with us, to meet Moshe, to study, to learn and to celebrate this Shabbat evening at the Merfish with dinner and learning, this Shabbat morning at Xavier with brunch and text study, this coming “Motzei Shabbat” (Saturday evening and Havdalah) with wine and light bites and a stunning lecture, and/or Sunday at Yom Limmud for a presentation about American Jewish identity and Israel.

So much to learn, plenty of time!  Join us!

Fri, March 29 2024 19 Adar II 5784