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HASC Alumni Bulletin, January 2010 |
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 Greetings!
Happy New Year & 2010 from your friends at HASC! I hope that you had an
enjoyable Chanukah and managing to stay warm in this cold winter weather.
For the past 38 years, Camp HASC
has gained its fame as a universal camp which provides services to our special
children whose residency spans several continents.
Simultaneously, HASC has become synonymously know by its annual concert, A TIME FOR MUSIC. A TIME FOR MUSIC
is an annual electrifying and elegant musical extravaganza which features the
superstars of the Jewish music world.
A
TIME FOR MUSIC XXIII, is just ONE WEEK AWAY!
This year's concert will be next Sunday, January 10th at
Lincoln-Center Avery Fisher Hall with performers Avrohom Fried and Lipa
Schmeltzer. By attending, you will be treated a night of great entertainment
and music and most importantly you will be supporting the stars in our midst, our
special children, the beneficiaries of the miracles of Camp HASC.
CAMP HASC is often described as: "Heaven
on Earth", "A
Place of Miracles", and "The Happiest Place in
the World". Perhaps the most appropriate description is that at Camp HASC,
our campers achieve and accomplish tasks never previously attained, many of
which are beyond that which we dared to imagine. At Camp HASC,
the confinement of the "special" camper is unleashed by the devotion,
vision and dedication of the unparalleled staff that help create the miracles
in our very special place.
We at HASC are aware of the current financial situation and everyone's busy
schedules, but we truly hope that you will be able to find a way to join us next
Sunday, January 10th, for a memorable evening and to participate in a unique
opportunity to help create miracles for the 300 campers at Camp HASC.
For more information
on tickets please feel free to contact me by phone at (718) 686-5920 or by
email at grant.silverstein@hasc.net.
Tickets can also be purchased on line at www.HASCCONCERT.COM
or by calling the ticket office, (718) 686-5931.
Wishing you a Happy & Healthy New
Year ahead!
Be in touch...
Grant
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ONE WEEK AWAY... Have You Bought Your Tickets?!?!?
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It starts with getting rid of the entitlement attitude,
which puts one's "rights" ahead of everything else.
What in
life do you feel is coming to you? Health? A good job? Children? A peaceful
retirement? Check yourself out.
If you're
like me, you probably have a whole list of things you feel entitled to, and if
you don't get them, you feel cheated. If you are unable to take a vacation or
buy the home you've dreamed of, then life has robbed you of something you are
entitled to!
We live
in a society that feeds an entitlement attitude. Compare the Bill of Rights,
which focuses on our entitlements, to the Torah, which focuses on our
responsibilities and obligations.
LIFE
OWES US NOTHING
The
entitlement attitude says, "life owes me something," or "people
owe me something," or "God owes me something."
You know
if you're into entitlement because the result leaves you constantly feeling
angry, resentful, or frustrated. If you believe that someone owes you something
and that person doesn't come through, you feel angry. You feel you've been
ripped-off and cheated out of what I rightly deserve.
But
entitlement is a lie. It's a perversion of reality.
There is
nothing in the universe that states, "Dov Heller deserves to live a long,
happy, and successful life!" My feelings of entitlement are born from
within my own mind. Objectively speaking, there is no basis for such claims.
Everything
good we do get must be looked at as a gift.
Even
though Judaism maintains that God created us for pleasure and wants us to have
pleasure, we still should not feel entitled to getting what we desire. This is
because everything good we do get must be looked at as a gift. Understanding
this creates an awareness that the source of all our good is God.
This
understanding that everything is a gift forms the basis of our relationship
with God. Judaism also looks at the bad as coming from God and it should
ultimately be viewed as a gift. However a discussion of this complex issue is
beyond the limits of this article.
Neither
God, nor anyone else for that matter, owes us anything. Do you believe this is
true? Most people do not.
THE
ENTITLEMENT ATTITUDE
There are
many things we feel entitled to. For example, aren't we entitled to have people
treat us fairly, with sensitivity, with respect? Where is that written? The
truth is that any kindness we receive from others is always a gift.
What
about marriage? This is an area of life which is full of expectation. What do
you think your spouse owes you? Financial support? Emotional support? Is he or
she the one who is supposed to make you happy for the rest of your life?
Your
spouse owes you nothing! Rabbi Eliyahu Dessler emphasized this point in his
Strive for Truth when he said, "When demands begin, love departs." If
we would focus on our responsibilities to our spouses and what we can do to
make them happy, our marriages would be much more fulfilling. Focus on what you
are not getting that you feel entitled to and your marriage will be painful.
A
distinction must be made between the illegitimacy of "entitlement" in
an absolute sense and our legitimate claim to seek "justice" and the
fulfillment of one's rights under society's laws or under a body of religious
laws. For example, when a person isn't paid for his work, he is "entitled"
by society's laws to sue for his wages. A wife who is being treated
disrespectfully by her husband is "entitled" by Torah law to be given
respect.
But in an
absolute sense, a person is not entitled to be paid or to be given respect
because there is nothing in the universe that guarantees any kind of individual
rights.
THE
GRATITUDE ATTITUDE
Eliminating
entitlement from your life and embracing gratitude is spiritually and
psychologically liberating.
Gratitude
is the recognition that life owes me nothing and all the good I have is a gift.
My eyes are a gift. So is my wife, my clothes, my job and my every breath. This
is a major shift from the entitlement mode. Recognizing that everything good in
life is ultimately a gift is a fundamental truth of reality.
Gratitude
is the recognition that life owes me nothing and all the good I have is a gift.
To speak
of seeing everything good we have as a gift leads us to confront the reality of
a giver and the source of all this good: God.
Gratitude
is where we begin to experience God in a powerfully personal way. "Thank
you" is the simplest and one of the most powerful prayers a person can
say. If you can say, "Thank you," you can connect with God and begin
to develop a personal relationship with Him.
A
powerful, although tragic, example of someone who mastered the gratitude
attitude was a great Jewish woman named Bruria. The story of Bruria is told in
the Talmud. Bruria and her husband, Rabbi Meir, had two sons who both died one
Friday afternoon before Shabbat. Bruria decided not to tell her husband of the
tragedy until after Shabbat since, according to Jewish law, one is not
permitted to have a funeral on Shabbat or to openly mourn. There was nothing
they could do until after Shabbat so she kept the information to herself and
allowed her husband to enjoy the day (imagine being able to do that!).
Explaining where the boys were was the least of her challenges.
When
Shabbat was over this is how Bruria broke the horrible news to her husband. She
asked him a legal question: What is the proper course of action if one person
borrows two jewels from another and then the original owner requests that the
return of the jewels. He replied with the obvious answer that one is obligated
to return the loan upon demand. She then took her husband to where their two
dead sons lay and said, "God has requested that we return the loan of our
two jewels."
Bruria
teaches us a potentially life transforming lesson here: Everything we have is
on loan!
ON
LOAN
My ears
are on loan, my health is on loan, my children are on loan. Everything is a
loan that is given as a gift.
What have
we done that we could claim we earned life, health, financial success, or
children? We have done nothing. As I mentioned earlier, when we internalize
this truth, we become spiritually and psychologically liberated.
How
freeing to live with a sense that everything good is on loan.
This is
the key to internalizing the gratitude attitude. Once we understand that
everything is a gift, we can begin to feel gratitude towards God, the source of
all good, and grow closer to Him in an authentic and joyful way.
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Alumni Profile
Jeffrey Remin ('03, '04, '05)
As I look back over the past couple of years the one theme
that always comes to mind is Camp
HASC. There is really no place on earth like
it. The memories, lessons and
friendships that I gained from my three summers at camp will be with me for the
rest of my life. I am very grateful and
fortunate to have spent three summers at Camp as an ECP Counselor. It is a true pleasure for me to be still
involved with the Alumni Association and give back to a place that gave and
still gives me so much. Although I have
moved on from the camping days, Camp
HASC still holds a very
special place in my heart.
Those three summers at camp really taught me how to
appreciate another person and not judge somebody by his or her appearance. It was at camp that I learned the famous
saying of "the more you give, the more you get." Every staff member knows the challenges of
working in a place such as HASC. Even
after you put your campers to sleep and finally have a minute to yourself, you
are never really relieved from your responsibilities. I am sure many of us can recall many late
nights and early mornings with our campers when we were so tired we did not
even know how we had the strength to do anything, let alone take care of
somebody else. By some miracle we were
able to give our campers the care they needed no matter what time of day or
night, and without even realizing it we became the beneficiaries as well. Personally, it was through those tough
moments that I was able to see my full potential. More importantly, it was only through those
long days and nights that my bond with my campers grew even stronger.
To this
day I am still in touch with some of my campers and their families.
I will always cherish the great times
I had in camp. Every single summer I
look forward to the first day of camp and feel a bit of sadness that I will not
be able to experience another magical summer in Camp HASC. Camp
HASC is truly an amazing
and awesome place. Although there is
much more to say about camp, I would like to say that it is a true honor and
privilege to be a member of the HASC family.
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EDUCATIONAL/CLINICAL
COORDINATOR
HASC's Preschool/School-age Special
Education Program in Canarsie, Brooklyn seeks a highly motivated individual for a full-time supervisory position.
Major responsibilities include:
- Coordinate recruiting and
enrollment efforts
- Coordinate therapist
caseload activity
- Supervise and coordinate UPK
Program
- Supervise and coordinate
Afterschool Program
- Coordinate staff training
and development
Skills/experience:
- SAS or SBL required
- NYS Special Ed Certification
required
- Minimum 2 years supervisory
experience
Interested candidates please send cover letter and resume
with salary requirements to: Lillian.McGovern@hasc.net.
***********************************************
Applied Behavior
Specialist/Psychologist/LCSW
Established health
center, Brooklyn, seeking clinicians to provide psychological
and
behavioral treatment to adults with
developmental and intellectual disabilities.
Part time & evening hours
available.Salary commensurate
with experience. Forward resume to hr@hasccenter.org
***************************************************************************
The family of Jerry Laitz will IY"H be celebrating a family Bar Mitzvah on Shobbos Parshas Zachor, February 26-27, 2009. The meals and davening will be at Y.I. of Midwood at the corner of Ocean Ave.
and Ave. L in Midwood.
The family is looking for a patient, helpful and friendly person who will assist Jerry with
getting properly/neatly dressed and to shul on time. Jerome uses a walker on
his own, but will need a little guidance on finding his way to shul and
navigating the steps down to the basement of the Y.I. The assistant will sit
next to Jerry during davening and help him feel comfortable with being in the
right section of the siddur. During the Kiddush and Seuda, again the assistant
will stay with and keep Jerome company.
Right
after maariv or havdalah, the assistant could leave, or if he would
like - could stay with us for laining of the Megilah and then leave (If
the aid lives within walking distance, he/she may leave after mincha). For more information, please contact: Robert Lev at (917) 693-1670.
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Feeding Therapy - A sensory-motor approach
Level II
Frustrated with clients who don't have sensory systems? Lori will show you a step-by-step approach to
teach your most challenging clients tolerance of touch, enabling them to learn to eat and develop
appropriate oral-motor movements. Day 1 focuses on promoting acceptance of touch for therapeutic
feeding and oral stimulation and movement. Her techniques incorporate a variety of temperatures,
textures and tastes. Day 2 features hands-on learning of techniques for spoon feeding, straw drinking and
chewing solid foods. Leave this workshop with therapeutic feeding techniques you can use with
confidence the next day.
Presented by:
Lori Overland, ms, ccc-slp
Acclaimed speaker and presenter
Lori
is a member of the ITI speakers bureau who deals with the unique needs
of infants, toddlers, preschoolers and school age children,
incorporating oral-motor techniques into feeding and speech therapy
This two day conference is directed to Speech and Language Pathologists, Occupational and
Physical Therapists, Special Education Teachers and Early Interventionists who have taken Lori's Level 1 workshop
Sunday and Monday - February 7-8, 2010
8:45 am - 4:00 pm
HASC - Woodmere
321 Woodmere Boulevard, Woodmere, N.Y. 11598
Coffee/drinks and light lunch will be served
Rate: $400.00 Credit cards accepted
HASC employees may register at a special rate
To register please call: 718-686-5901
Or via email: hascconference@ hasc.net
Limited slots available
This course if offered for 1.2 ASHA CEUs as well as 1.2 AOTA CEUs
Executive Office: 5902 14th Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11219 Phone: 718-686-5900
Boro Park Preschool: 1311 55th Street, Brooklyn, NY 11219 Phone: 718-851-6100
Boro Park School Age Program: 6220 14th Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11219 Phone; 718-331-1624
Remsen Preschool & School Age Program: 555 Remsen Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11236 Phone: 718-495-3510
Woodmere Preschool & School Age Program: 321 Woodmere Blvd. Woodmere, NY 11598 Phone: 516-295-1340
Monsey Preschool Program: 46 Grandview Ave, Spring Valley, NY 10977 Phone: 845-356-0191
Camp HASC: 361 Parksville Rd., Parksville Rd. 12768 Phone: 845-292-6821
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 On behalf of the entire administration we would like to wish a special Mazel Tov to :
Shira (Lankin '06,'07) and Scott Sheps on the birth of a girl!
Elizabeth Konigsberg ('08) on her engagement to Eli Sinnreich!
Josh Pittleman ('07) on his marriage to Jenny Blain!
Stephanie Chiert ('08-'09) on her engagement to Justin Lepolstat!
Aliza Riemer ('04-'09) and Chanan Strassman ('06-'09) on their engagement!
Ricky Lieberman ('07,'08,'09) on her engagement to B Jay (Bernard) Novit !
Michele Leibowitz ('05,'06,'07) on her engagement to Aaron Gordon!
Mordy Shapiro ('08) on his marriage to Raquel Genoun!
Stephanie Spinner ('08,'09) and Avi Levie ('08,'09) on their engagement!
Talia Reiner ('06,'07,'08) on her engagement to Etai Barach !
Daniel Chernikoff ('04-'06) on his engagement to Ariella Wruble!
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HASC
~Maaser
Campaign~
The memories that
are made each summer are enhanced through the generous support of the many
friends of HASC. With the Maaser campaign, we invite all staff, alumni and
friends of HASC to remember the beautiful memories that are created for every
camper each summer.
HASC Maaser Campaign
For more information on the Maaser
Campaign, please contact Grant Silverstein, at
(718) 686-5920 or by e-mail at grant.silverstein@hasc.net
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Kosher.com is the World's Largest Online Kosher Supermarket! Featuring more
than 15,000 strictly kosher products, they offer Free Next Day Delivery by
refrigerated truck to a growing number of tri-state neighborhoods, and FedEx
shipping nationwide.
And now, you can support HASC with every order you place, and get
20% off your first order! To learn more about this great opportunity, visit Kosher.com & HASC, call us at 1-866-KOSHER-9 or
send us an email to info@kosher.com.
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SaMeaCH
A Camp HASC Weekly Dvar Torah L'Ilui Nishmas
Shmuel Menachem Chaim Ben Daniel V'Shoshana A"H -
Stevie Newman
Parshas Vayechi- Aufruf- Elana, This One's For You!
This Shabbos is a very special one for me, for many different
reasons. Aside from the fact that it is my english birthday (happy birthday to
me!) and my Bar Mitzvah parsha, this Shabbos is extra special for two more
reasons. Firstly, this Shabbos marks the first Yahrtzeit of my grandfather,
Tzvi Hirsch ben Avraham. May all the learning from this dvar Torah be in his
memory, and may his neshoma continue to have an aliyah. Secondly, this Shabbos
is my aufruf, and with Hashem's help, I will be getting married on Sunday. It
is too bad that in virtually all cases, the Kallah does not get to hear her
Chosson's big speech that he prepared for his aufruf. However, I plan to take
advantage of my situation by writing over some of my aufruf speech in this dvar
Torah, for my beloved Kallah to read. So Elana, this one is for you...
Of all the brachos that Yaakov bestows upon his
sons in this week's Parsha, which completes Sefer Bereishis, the most well
known is the one that he blesses upon his two grandsons, Ephraim and Menashe.
As we all know, this is the "bracha for the ages" that Yaakov declared Klal
Yisrael shall bless their children through their names. Now, we know that if
this is the bracha that was designated to be the blessings of all blessings
that we would always use to bless our children, there must be tremendous
significance in every detail of the bracha. In particular, the fact that Yaakov
chose to specifically bless the younger grandson, Ephraim, before Menashe, the
older of the two, must be coming to teach us a very important message.
The Ksav Sofer asks a very good question on
this blessing. If Yaakov specifically blessed the younger grandson first
because he possessed some important qualities over Menashe, then why use
Menashe at all as a role model for all the future children of Bnei Yisrael to
be blessed by? The purpose of a bracha is only to increase Kedusha, not to
decrease in it. To put the Ksav Sofer's question in a very modern and mundane
perspective, imagine a child aspiring to be the next Michael Jordan AND the
next Rajon Rondo. Why be ambitious for one thing, and then something less than
that? The Ksav Sofer answers that Ephraim and Menashe represent two different
aspects that make up a complete Torah Jew. Rashi earlier told us that Ephraim
spent his life studying Torah with Yaakov, while Menashe was Yosef's assistant in
governing the country. Learning Torah and having genuine Yiras Shamayim is of
the utmost importance, but so is knowing how to deal and interact with people
and having Derech Eretz. However, first must come the spiritual, the Torah, and
only then comes the other aspects. Therefore, Ephraim comes first. Trying to do
it the opposite way around, and putting Torah second, is a formula destined to
failure. One must first strengthen his child's foundation with Torah and Yiras
Hashem, and only then can the child begin to be involved in the ways of the
world.
When I first saw this beautiful piece of Torah
from the son of the Chasam Sofer and the grandson of Rav Akiva Eiger, something
didn't sit well with me. Wasn't I always taught as a child, Derech Eretz Kadma
L'Torah? That first comes the Derech Eretz, the way one interacts and treats
people, and then comes the Torah learning. Doesn't the Ksav Sofer contradict
this famous motto in Judaism? After pondering this for a while, I realized that
not only is it not contradictory, but au contraire, the two concepts compliment
each other beautifully! Derech Eretz Kadma L'Torah tells us that you cannot
immerse yourself in Torah if you do not know how to treat people first. It
would be hypocritical to be learning the holy words of Torah, which emphasize
Ben Adam L'Chaveiro, and not be practicing what you are preaching. So you can't
learn genuinely before you covered the basics of proper human interaction. And
how do you learn how to properly interact with fellow man...? You guessed it- by
learning it from what the Torah tells us! You can't know how to treat a person
if you haven't learned the source from where it all comes from, and you can't
be genuinely learning if you are not putting it into practice. The
multi-faceted qualities that Yiddishkeit calls for, the Ephraim and the Menashe
of being a complete Eved Hashem are co-dependant on each other. You really
can't have one without the other. Part of being a Mentsch requires fear of
Hashem and immersion in Torah, and the most integral part of learning is
actualization. Now it makes total sense! Yaakov was not blessing Menashe to
insult him or put him down, chas v'shalom, but rather to show how IMPORTANT the
concept of Menashe is. However, he had to come second because it is not
possible to fulfill his role without KNOWING how to fulfill that role, using
the Torah as our guide and instruction manual. Derech Eretz Kadma L'Torah is
the end stage, which tells us that the learning is empty if it is still lacking
the execution of living the Torah lifestyle.
Someone once contacted the Steipler Gaon, Zt"l,
Rav Yisrael Yaakov Kanievsky, to inquire about a bachur for a shidduch for his
daughter. The Steipler said that that boy is a very big masmid, and that the
boy's Rebbe should be contacted to check him out in terms of his middos. The
father was confused. "Didn't the Steipler just tell me that this boy is a big
masmid!? How can it be that the boy doesn't have good middos if he learns all
day and night?" The Steipler answered him simply, "all the bachur has to do is
sit with a Sefer and a Shtender, neither of which talk back to him or ask him
to take out the garbage." (That boy of course was me J) We see from this story a very important lesson. Being an Ephraim
is not an end, but rather a means to an end. Ephraim needs Menashe, and Menashe
needs Ephraim. The Gemara in Avodah Zara (17b) says something very powerful and
scary in a sense. "Kol HaOsek BaTorah Bilvad, Domeh K'Mi Shein Lo Eloka." "One
who is involved in only Torah study (and no other components, such as Chesed),
it's as if he does not have a G-d." It seems from this, but I am only saying
what I feel, so please take it with a grain of salt, that to be a good Jew is
to be a well rounded Jew.
Perhaps now we can understand what is so
special about this bracha that caused Yaakov to choose it as THE bracha to
bless our children with. Ephraim and Menashe are in a sense to halves of a much
greater and dynamic whole. I would like to take this opportunity to wish my
dearest Kallah Elana a mazal tov, and may Hashem bless us to build a Bayis
Ne'Eman B'Yisroel, where we can raise children that emulate the bracha of
Ephraim and Menashe.
(Suggestions? Comments? Interested in writing for
SaMeaCH? Please feel free to contact Aaron Fleksher at aaronflek@gmail.com)
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