Week 2 - 2013

7/28/2019 Week 2 - 2013

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If there was one word to

describe Rabbi Pollack

what would it be? Well

truthfully, I’m not sure. There’s

just so much to say about the new

Head Counselor of

Camp Achdus!Having previ-

ously held the

posion in oth-

er camps such

as “Camp Ge-

shmak Amazing”

and “Camp Smiley-Face”, Rabbi

Akiva was certain to entertain us

this summer. Originally from Bal-

more, MD (home of the winning

team of the Super-Bowl XLVII),

Rabbi Pollack was, in fact, born to

a family with a long history of Head

Counseling. Rabbi Pollack’s great-

great-great grandfather was Head

Counselor in Camp Campamento in

Ecatepec, the second largest city in

Mexico. Rabbi Akiva’s talents range

from touching his tongue to his

nose, to recing the enre alpha-

bet in one word.

(Connued on page 5)

AchdusTimesW E E K

2 6 T A M M U Z 5 7 7 3

P A R S H A S M A T O S - M A A S E I

2

this isWEEK IN REVIE

SPOTLIGHT ON RABBI POLLAC

SPORT

STAYING HYDRATE

ACHDUS IN SON

OUR NEW CAMPU

PHOTO

ALL ARO UND CAM

RABBI AKIVA POLLACK

Week in Review

SUNDAYS can

be tough!

With nothing

to do, bore-

dom reigns! But before

you know it, Monday is

here and it’s another week

of Camp Achdus!

Monday

Once again Davening is

shtark as the teilos ly out

the Kol Ami windows head-

ing straight for Eretz Yisroel

where they ind their way to

the Kosel Hamaaravi and rise

straight to the Kisei Hakavod.

Bunk Aleph plays with

Clicks and Avrohom Zev

Abraham built a model of

Camp Achdus. Bunk Ches

played soccer with Mr.

Sommers and then had

Arts and Crafts. Wow what

a morning! Bunks Vuv and

Suf get a special announce-

ment: The beginning of

LEAGUES was upon us!!!!

After the teams were an-

nounced, the games began. In

baseball, the Kishkes went

ishing for the Herrings and

came up big,

beating the Her-

rings 21-4. The

Kigels joined the

Cholent for Kid-

dush and tied 21-

21 in football. Of course thesewere only exhibi-

tion games. To-

morrow, the true

competition be-

gins!

Lunch is very

strange. The

lovely campers

of Camp Achdus

came with the

strangest hats on their

heads! Among the more cre

tive displays were Eli Gold

enberg, who made a dog h

out of socks and Jolly Ranch

ers: and Shlomo Feldman,

who wore the funniest mag

cian’s hat in the world with

Bunks Vuv and Suf got aspecial announcement…

The beginning ofLEAGUES was upon us!!!

SPOTLIGHT ON S T AFF

RABBI AKIVAPOLLACK

7/28/2019 Week 2 - 2013


cards, forks, spoons, a water

bottle, and a bowl—all taped

together! Meir Rudinstein

had some kind of Indian hat

on his head (but it may just be

his natural hair.) In the end,

everyone who wore a hat got

a ticket and the winners got

fabulous prizes from Rabbi

Akiva’s secret stash! The

younger division went swim-

ming, and had lessons from

Sergey the Russian Cosmo-

naut ! The elders stayed in

camp and played Actionary,

acting out crazy scenes—like

a Lakewood

Bochur dancing

after coming up

with a new

chiddush even

though he was

supposed to be at his friend’s

Chasunah. Soon after, the old-

er division went swimming as

well and did what all kids do

at the swimming pool. They

played pool. (Duh.)

Tuesday

TRIP DAY , Yahooo!! The

younger division went to Hi

Spot Lanes, and had a blast

bowling. Avi Brenner bowled

a 780. “How?”

you ask. He

bowled, to-

gether, with

each camper,

high-ived

them after

their shots and made each

one feel like a million bucks.

Way to go Avi! (But maybe

next time, try not usingbumpers.)

The older division played

their irst oficial game of

leagues. Hockey and soccer.

Absolutely mind boggling! Its

4:00 pm and the Elders have

not had a trip? Not fair they

may say. Ahhh, It’s a late

night at Camp Achdus and

the boys are dropped off at

ULTRA ZONE!!!! The largest

Lazer Tag arena in the entire

East Coast. Lazers are

Lazeing, Blinkers are blink-

ing and kids

are kidding.

Another fan-

tabulous trip

at Camp

Achdus.

Wednesday

Of course Davening and

learning are so powerful that

the walls can barely hold thevoices of the Tinokos shel

bais Achdus. Arts and crafts

for the younger division cou-

pled with choir tryouts for all

the beautiful voices who are

about to join the Kol Tzfar-

deiah choir. Lunch is full of

fun and laughter as

the campers intro-

duce their very

own jokes and rid-

dles! One kid from

each bunk added

his own special

twist. Yehuda Coe,

after saying that he

likes tuna ish,

asked what does a

dead man do while

in the grave. The

answer: NOTHING!

He’s dead!

Following Lunch was more

leagues for half of the league

teams and then the inal swim

before the 9 Days. The elder

division especially made sure

to swim. Have you ever heard

of Ping Pong at the pool? You

saw it irst at Camp Achdus!

Thursday

July 4th, Independence

day. And oh were we inde-

pendent! We sang the Star

spangled banner and then in a

spirit of Achdus (That is also

the name of the camp, Coinci-

dence? I think not) we also

(Connued on page 3)

R ain, rain, go away.

Soccer Monday was

a rain-out, but the

campers adapted in splendid

fashion opng for indoor ga-ga.

Ga-ga is a game that requires

great honesty, and our campers

did a great job...which made

the games more challenging

and more fun.

Baseball almost had a rain

delay but we were sll able to

get in some games! Each bunk

learned how to hold the bat

and stand at the plate...and

"Set the table for Shabbos," (a

cute mnemonic, courtesy of

Coach Kenny). Kids can bring intheir baseball mis on Wednes-

days.

MR. IRA SOMERS

On the Field

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Week in Review (Connued from Page 1)

7/28/2019 Week 2 - 2013


“D o Re Mi Fa So La Ti Do!”

That’s something you

might hear while walk-

ing through the halls of Camp Achdus.

Wednesday marked the rst pracce of

the Camp Achdus Junior Choir. Bunks

Aleph and Ches met during Second ac-

vity, giving up other fun acvites like

Arts and Cras and Baseball, to start

their career to fame. First we started

with some standard vocal exercises. The

boys learned how sounds are made

through vibraons in the air. By pung

their ngers on their throats they wereable to feel real sound. Aer a few

warm-up exercises the choir got into full

swing with Baruch Levine’s Vezakeini

and then R’ Shlomo Carelbach’s Yachad .

The boys learnt the importance of

singing together. (ACHDUS!!!) It’s not

about singing the loudest, it’s about

singing together. With everyone togeth-

er we could sing anything!

By the way, rumor has it that a CD just

might be in progress. (Shhhh!)

YEHUDA TENENBAUM

Achdus in Song

L EARNING AT Camp

Achdus is an incredible

sight to behold. Can you

believe that your precious

sons are spending time during their

summer vacation, sitting and learningMishnayos and Gemara? It is really

true! While others sit in front of a

screen all summer, we spend our pre-

cious time sitting in front of our be-

loved seforim! Why, you ask? It is be-

cause we need it! Whether we feel like

it or not, our hour of Torah gives life

and meaning to our day, our summer,

our program, our neighbors and

friends, and most of all, to ourselves!

Bunks Vuv and Suf are learning the

Gemara in the ifth perek of Brachos,

which discusses the Halachos of Teil-

la. Divided into small groups, the boys

learn with the budding scholars who

comprise our elite staff. It is not un-

common to see the boys discussing an

insight or question on the mat

al being learned!

Bunk Daled Gadol is lea

ing Mishnayos Avoda Zara with Ye

da Tenenbaum, and Daled Kuttu

learning Mishnayos Brachos with

ir Weiss.

Even the younger campers in Bu

Ches don’t waste a day without lea

ing! Ches

Kuttun

learns abo

the Parsh

with R’ Av

Citer; Che

Gadol do

Parshas

Hashavua

outside, a

then reviews Chumash Parshiyos

Noach and Lech Lecha inside with

their Rebbi, Rabbi Reuvain Gold-

stein.

On Friday morning, the older ca

ers are given given a special addre

on the Parsha of the week. This

week’s speaker was Rabbi Tuvia

Goldstein, who spoke about havin

the right priorities.

It is important to stay hydrated d

ing the hot summer days. We mak

sure to stay spiritually hydrated, a

well, with the sweetest drink in th

world—ein mayim elah Torah!

RABBI ZECHARYA MICHELSOHN

Staying Hydrated

sang a plethora of na-

tional anthems with

Rabbi Akiva leading the

camp in a beautiful ren-

dition of the South Afri-

can National Anthem, Su

Sulanga. Yisroel Meir

Burger led us in an up-

lifting rendition of the

Canadian National An-

them but we are not

sure if Canada is really a

country or not. And

then after lunch it is

time to win big prizes!

It’s the Annual July 4th

Carnival! Bunk Sof do-

nated their precious

Game Room time and

set up and manned all

the booths. Simcha

Kaplan threw a football

from 90 feet (or was it 90 inches, I’m not sure)

through a tire. Efraim

Pollack guessed correct-

ly that there were three

chocolate chips in his

mouth full of Marshmal-

low luff and Chaim Leib

Miller guessed that

there were 900 whole

wheat spiral noodles in

the plastic jar. He was

wrong but a lot closer

than anyone else. For a

prize he got to eat all

968 raw! Lucky!!!

Friday

Davening, Learning,

Sports, Games, Eat Your

Mouth Out, Sing Your

Mouth Out, Rafles, Run-ning, Playing and

soooooo much more.

Mr. Pechter was back

again, this time with a

teamwork -building ex-

ercise called “Trust Fall-

ing”, in which partici-

pants fall backwards,

relying on complete

trust that they will be

caught by their partner.

Another great week at

Camp Achdus!

Week in Review (Connued from Page 2)

7/28/2019 Week 2 - 2013


SPOTLIGHT

ON

T HE LITTLE CAR

cruised down a

quiet street in

Elkins Park, Pennsylvania.

The morning was fresh and

sunny, perfect for the irst day

of camp. An extra pulse of

excitement hung in the air, as

Sruly and Moishy waited to

see the grounds they knew

nothing about. Sruly was

bracing for the worst. After

all, how good could it be?

Moishy was slightly more

optimistic. As long as it was

bigger than last year, it

would be an improve-

ment…

“Arriving at destination”,

announced the GPS.

Not bad at all , thought

Moishy. Not even ifteen

minutes from Rhawn-

hurst! He looked out the

car window and Sruly

peered over his shoulder.

Suddenly both friends

were overtaken by wonder.

“Wow!!!” Moishy burst

out, breaking the silence.

“Is that really it?”

“I can’t believe it”, whis-

pered Sruly in agreement.

“It’s humongous!”

They parked the car and

headed toward the building.

Already, they could hear the

happy buzz of a hundred chil-

dren playing, laughing, and

talking with their new coun-

selors. Even the sound system

was good, judging from the

lively Jewish music that illed

the halls. There seemed to be

quite a number of new faces

alongside the many familiar

ones.

“Look, Moish”, said Sruly

with a grin. “We have our own

bunk room. How cool is that!”

Finally, the music was

paused, and the crowd si-

lenced. Rabbi Akiva Pollack,

the new Head Counselor,

stood himself proudly at the

podium, microphone in hand,

and proclaimed “GOOD

MORNING CAMP ACHDUS!”

The summer had just be-

gun, and it was off to a great

start!

What people are

saying about the

new campus:

Walking to the elds, that’s

so 2012. Now all we have to

do is roll out of bed and

we’re there.” —Moshe

Goldman “Its nice” —Mr. D. Ganz “A million mes of a dier-

ence!” —Rabbi Zecharya

Michelsohn “We’re all so excited and

can’t wait to see what the

future lays in store for

Camp Achdus’ amazing

campus.” —Yehuda Tenen-

baum

Fun facts about our new campus:

Land area: 13 acres

Number of classrooms: 9

Number of brand-new air condioning units: 9

The auditorium alone is 15% bigger than our enre 2012

campus, and is equipped with state-of -the-art sound

equipment.

The longest recorded ight of a chicken is thirteen sec-

onds.

Dogs have four toes on their hind feet, and ve on their

front feet.

Yehuda Tenenbaum plays 17 instruments, and up to 8 at

one me. (source unknown)

RABBI ZECHARYA MICHELSOHN Our New Campus

7/28/2019 Week 2 - 2013


On a more serious note, Rabbi Akiva

Pollack has been in camps since he was

ve years old, beginning with Balmore’s

TA Day Camp and including six years at

Camp Na’arim. He was a popular counse-

lor for kids with special needs at Camp

Mishkan, and later worked at Kol Torah

in Cleveland, Ohio. Before Rabbi Pollack

found his life’s calling as Head Counselor

of Camp Achdus, he held the posion at

Lakewood’s Cheder Day Camp, with 600

campers and over 100 sta; later sat at

the helm at Camp Malchus; and was As-

sistant Head Counselor at Kol Simcha.

Rabbi Pollack, or “Rabbi Akiva” as he

prefers to be called, received his Talmud-

ic Masters degree from Lakewood’s

famed Beth Medrash Govoha, where he

studied for several years, and has lived in

the Philadelphia community for the last

ten. He is an Educaonal Director at Con-

gregaon Beth Shalom in the Far North-

east, and is the regional director of RAJE,

an outreach network for Russian college

students. He, his wife, and their seven

children, live in Somerton.

The Camp Achdus family is very excit-

ed to have Rabbi Akiva on board.

Caught on

Camera!

Spotlight on

Rabbi Akiva Pollack (Connued from Page 1)

7/28/2019 Week 2 - 2013


Need a last mi

nute reminder

…to send in an undershirt for a

dying activity? Want to know

when the bus is running late? Receive these helpful pieces of

information and more on text

messages sent by camp, now d

veloping its mass texting capab

ties.

We sent our rst mass text

today to ensure that this service

working properly. If you did not

receive the message, please con

tact us so we can keep you in th

loop!

S TEP 1: PUT YOUR

head in the water.

Step 2: Make bub-

bles by breathing

out through your nose. Step 3:

Keep your legs straight whilekicking. Step 4: Bring your

arms, one at a time, up and for-

ward and down and back. Step

5: Turn your head on its side

so that your mouth is above

water, take one deep breath,

and repeat. Bunks Alef and

Ches are learning how to swim

and love it at every step of the

way. It is a pleasure to meet

you, Serge Achildi, Jewishswim instructor par excellence!

LA, LA, LA, LA, LA, LA, LA, LA,

la. Feel your vocal chords vi-

brating? Rather than singing as

loudly as you are able, blend

your voice with that of the

whole choir. Enjoy the beauti-

ful melody! That is what boys

from Bunks Alef and Ches aredoing, in

anxious

anticipa-

tion of

their

Achdus

Boys Choir

debut, this Erev Tisha B’Av,

Monday, July 15th at 1 pm.

Thank you, Yehuda Tenen-

baum, our very talented choirleader!

BOUNCE. FLIP! RUN. JUMP!

Oh, were all the world’s surfac-

es to be made of air-inlated

nylon tubes…! The thrills of a

moon bounce and the excite-

ment of playing challenging

games for prize tickets helped

us feel the thanks we owe Ha-shem for

giving us

the United

States of

America, a

land of

liberty and

freedom, freedom to learn To-

rah and practice mitzvos in

comfort and without fear. Wel-

come back to our very ownRabbi Nulman, just back from a

week’s stay in Eretz Yisroel.

Want to truly appreciate Amer-

ica? Just ask Rabbi Nulman

about his stopover in Mos-

cow! Boy, do we have it good

here!! Thank You, Hashem

for such a beautiful country in

which to live … until the com-

ing of Moshiach, may it be

speedily, in our days!

KEEPING SUGAR, COLORS,

and other unhealthful addi-

tives out of Canteen, while

keeping prices down is a chal

lenge, but one that we are

ready to meet. Scrambled eg

grilled cheese sandwiches,

freshly popped popcorn, and

fruit smoothies have alladorned the canteen kiosk th

week. Our young children ar

thrilled to be making purchas

just as the adults do. Likewis

wise parents are comforted b

the knowledge that their pre-

cious children are developing

more healthful eating habits i

a tasteful and fun way. L’cha

yim!

COME ONE! COME ALL! Th

Tuesday, July 9, all campers

have the opportunity to exten

the privilege of attending cam

to a friend who will, in turn,

become a camper for the day

Don’t miss the excitement of

Marc Garinkel, illusionist ex

traordinaire, as he dazzles th

camp with a one-of -a-kind pe

formance! (Parents can go to

www.marcgarinkel.com to ga glimpse of the marvels in

store!) What will Achdus pull

out of its hat next?

RABBI GEDALIA GOLDSTEIN

All Around Camp

W ith Bunks

Alef Gadoland Ches

Katan's pizza projects, who

needs to go to the pizza

store? Did you see all of the

creave toppings that were

put on their pizza collages?

They looked good enough

to eat! (Though, unfortu-

nately, they may have tasted more like the

cardboard box that a pizza comes in and not

as much like the pizza itself…)

Did you know that

one sheet of paper can be

made into an eight-page

book? With just the right

folds and cuts, Bunks Ches

Katan & Ches Gadol did

just that! They even made

a cover for their books

and ornamented it with

the Camp Achdus logo.

Would you like to learn

how too? Just ask your boys and they will

show you!

MRS. DORIS L IPSKY

Arts & Crafts

Welcome back to ourvery own Rabbi Nulman, just back from a week’s

stay in Eretz Yisroel!

Week 2 - 2013

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