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When We Make Music Together

Over the past several days, I’ve been told to leave school in Indiana, head back to California, and stay put in my house. I’m thousands of miles away from friends and several of my communities, but I’ve never felt closer to Jacobs Camp.

When I joined the Jacobs Camp community, I heard all about “Jacobs Magic” and how musical moments were a key part of making the magic happen. I was honored to be chosen by the community to help craft some of those moments and I continue to be blessed by our musical growth together. I feel Jacobs Magic the most when we make music together.

We might not have been physically together this Shabbat, but I certainly felt your warmth. What else could explain how much I sweat? Even in a chair, in front of my fireplace, I felt the drive to put all of my ruach into this song session. Hours of dancing and shout-singing on stage blocks in the Dining Hall might take it out of me more than 30 minutes of sitting, but somehow, this song session felt just as, if not more, meaningful to me.

When we’re at camp, we appreciate the break from the real world and the chance to escape our daily routines. Yet we develop our own routines at camp. Shabbat comes every week, and we learn to expect our hours and hours of singing and dancing that are so special to camp. How special is it to get a piece of the Jacobs Magic in the middle of March, when it’s completely unexpected?

If I’ve learned anything this past Shabbat, it’s that I sweat just as much in a chair as I do up on the stage blocks. I guess that means it doesn’t matter how we sing together, whether it’s online or in person. The piece that gets all of my heart and all of my ruach is doing it with you, the Jacobs Camp community.

Jacob Friedman is a junior at Indiana University with a passion for music and nerdier things in life. Catch him singing at Sunday school in the morning and running a Dungeons and Dragons campaign at night.