I write these words with fresh eyes. Today is only my 2nd day ever at URJ 6 Points Sci-Tech Academy where I presently have the joy of serving as a visiting rabbinic faculty member.
Those who experienced the blessing of URJ Overnight Camp know that “camp time” is different than “regular time.” Therefore, even though I’m new to camp, I feel like I’ve been here for a long time (in a good way). In fact, I feel like I’ve been here long enough to learn some important life lessons which I’ve decidedly to most appropriately call, “Ten Life Lessons from Two Days at URJ 6 Points Sci-Tech Academy.”
By the time you read these life lessons, we’ll be long past “Day 2” and our camp community, most importantly, our extraordinary campers, will surely have absorbed many more life lessons in the interim. When your camper returns home allow yourself the gift of discovering what new life lessons they will be bringing home with them. After all, discovery (taglit) is one of Sci-Tech’s six core values!
- Human beings will never cease to be thrilled by the prospect of watching things explode.
- You can’t predict when you’ll end up in a scholarly conversation about Ancient Near Eastern Languages with a camper who knows far more about
the subject than you do. - Our diversity is one of our greatest sources of strength.
- Science and religion have much to say to one another and much to learn from one another.
- Laughter is the best medicine.
- A welcoming community is a thing of extraordinary beauty.
- If the blessing you are seeking doesn’t exist, you can and probably should create it.
- Great role models transform lives.
- The energy source that keeps camp running is, at the end of the day, love itself.
- Sometimes you’re in the midst of a life changing experience without even knowing it.
Rabbi Micah Lapidus, Ed.D. Is the school rabbi of The Davis Academy, Atlanta’s Reform Jewish Day School. He is a 2025 recipient of the Covenant Award for excellence in Jewish Education.