Three of our amazing campers helped us welcome in session two of #HSJ50 by offering up a few words on this summer’s value of Shomrei Adamah at our opening ceremony. We wanted to share their powerful insights with all of you. Thank you again to these wonderful campers for their compassion and wisdom.
Elizabeth Harris, Garin:
When I think about conserving resources, I think about turning off the lights when I leave a room, not wasting electricity or using too much water. My uncle wrote a book about how Israel recycles almost all of its water! We can do it in America too. We’re very lucky that we have one resource that never runs out — and that is LOVE. For everything else, we should try hard not to waste anything in the world.
Meyer Hirsch, Maskilim:
Tza’ar Ba’alei Chayim — protecting G-ds creatures — is an important value in Judaism, I think it is an important value because G-d created humans and animals to live in balance with each other. It is important to maintain this balance. If we don’t, it will affect us all in negative ways. Therefore, we should treat all of G-ds creatures with respect and dignity, and give them a place to live.
Sofia Gershanik, Talmidim:
Shomrei Adamah is one of our three camp values this year. It means “protecting the earth.” We, as human beings living on earth, have an obligation to take care of it and treat it with respect. For example, if we litter and throw trash all over camp, how are we supposed to do anything? We wouldn’t be able to go swimming in the pool or lake, or lay in the gaga pit because they would all be filed with trash! Basically, we wouldn’t get to have very much fun. So, we have to be responsible. In the Torah, G-d said: “Let humankind have dominion… over every living thing that moves upon earth.” This means that we were made to be the leaders of every living thing on this planet, and with leadership comes responsibility. Our responsibility is to keep our home safe and to help it survive. So although it takes a little more work, we have to try to protect the earth, not damage it.