It is a slow pace, very deliberate in its purpose. Ferris, Saxe and camp director Ken Kramarz play guitars and lead songs. Campers, waiting outside their cabins for the group's arrival, join the procession as it passes, greeting each other and chiming in with the chorus. What starts as a small band of people singing softly is soon hundreds strong, with voices reverberating through the valley. They loop slowly around the grounds before reaching full capacity and returning to the dining hall for the Shabbat ceremony.
People come out of their way to pick everybody up.
It makes me feel like I really belong to something here. Colored balloons and streamers liven the room's rafters, swaying gently over the hand-made candlesticks on each table. The candlesticks are a result of resident artist Alan Leon's effort to get camp staff involved in a project. The subject was gateways, and camp employees devised clay interpretations on that theme, specifically in relationship to the Sabbath. Also on each table are hand-painted challah covers, done as an art project by various campers.