Camp Blog

Sunday July 6

DATE: July 7, 2025

Shavua Tov! We all had a beautiful Shabbat #3 – we had even louder voices during tefilah and zemirot and slow shira at seudah shlishit! The chanichim who were never here for Shabbat are catching on to the tunes and the order of songs. Today we began the day with shiur about the dynamic nature of halacha – when things do develop and when we cannot chnage the halacha. The whole idea of Oral Torah and the input/authority of “The Rabbis” is difficult to explain, since there is so much nuance and Jewish history to explain. But, each eidah was taught at a level that was appropriate for that age, and each group understood a little more about what stays the same and where we might see some change, a new “fence”/ Rabbinic law or progress. Pretty deep for a Sunday morning 🙂

The chanichim experienced some of this change in Tefillat Mincha today, when some counselors started to sing some of Ashrei in English to “update” the tefillah and make it more understandable for this English-speaking crowd. Made the kids think about traditions changing 🙂

The chanichim can smell Color War in the air and our Roshei Moshava and all the Roshei Eidah keep teasing with funny things that make everyone think Color War Breakout is happening…but then it doesn’t. They thought the Ashrei-in-English was part of color war breakout!! In the Chadar Ochel at lunch, two roshim had an arguement about a cheer the camp does…and campers starting chanting “1-2-3-4 we know it’s color war!!” But alas, false alarm!

At Shekem, they gave out ONLY York peppermint patties and that got everyone suspicious. But, again, in the end just harmless shtick to keep people on their toes. (It is like Purim fun!)

Then tonight at mifkad, all of the tzevet wore their “first day t-shirts” which had never arrived 3 weeks ago and THAT looked like some shtick that was planned – but again, not related to any breakout. So stay tuned!!  This third full week always has Color War (and to be honest, we have all caught on that it is almost always Tues and Wed!)

The end of the day had Chugim (electives) today, so everyone had a chance to do their favorite activity that they signed up for.

Machal left early for trip-day to Niagara Falls and Buffalo. They return tonight and sleep in Machane.

Returning camper applications will open on 10/1, new campers will open on 11/1

Registration for summer 2025 opens 10/1/24 for returning families, 11/1/24 for new families.

Please contact Randi Mashmoor with any questions at:

randi@campstone.org

or 440-465-5486. Thank You!

Staff applications will open late November.

New camper application opens on 11/1. Returning campers can register now.

Returning Camper Registration

Registration for summer 2023 is now closed. There are a few select spots remaining.
Please contact Randi Mashmoor at:

randi@campstone.org

or 440-465-5486. Thank You!

About the Chanukah Raffle

Dear Camp Stone Community,

It is an incredible feeling to reconnect with everyone once again at the beginning of our 2021 camp season.

We are writing to you today, first and foremost, to express tremendous gratitude.

Hakarat HaTov, literally “recognizing the good”, is an important and fundamental principle in our community. We, at Camp Stone, want to express our Hakarat HaTov to everyone receiving this email for your unwavering support, especially this past summer. Whether you provided financial assistance through your donated tuition dollars, participated in Indoor World, or connected with the Camp Stone community in other ways, together we had an incredibly successful, albeit different, summer experience.

There is no substitute for being in Sugar Grove, Pennsylvania, and this summer, B’ezrat Hashem, we will be back at Camp Stone, in person, in full force.

To achieve that goal, we must continue to ensure the financial success of our home away from home that we all know and love so deeply. The logo on top, featuring the slogan “Stone. Forever.” also features a Ner Tamid, an “eternal flame.” The year 1969, etched into the logo, is the year camp was founded. Symbolically, the overall image represents the idea that Camp Stone began many years ago and must endure forever, always burning brightly, and always an integral part of our collective conscience.

On that note, we are excited to announce that our annual Chanukah Campaign will be a raffle taking place over all 8 nights of Chanukah with prizes for both campers and parents/alumni!!

Please go back to the web page  to purchase raffle tickets and help us achieve 100% participation from our entire camp community!

Looking forward to being in touch with all of you in the near future.

Sincerely,

Yakov & Estee, Co-Directors