Hi Josh,

I went in the water this morning and it was 75 degrees! That might sound warm but it was freezing. (Joey keeps his pool around 93 degrees.) Needless to say, it was refreshing.

I am also taking my 2nd private lesson from that trainer. This is the present mommy got me for my birthday. He trains me outside by Teaneck High School and he makes me do a whole lot of jumping, running and crunching. I am totally exhausted after we finish.

The weeds are taking over the lawn and the only vegetables that are growing are the tomatoes. I think you need to either quit your job or hire a gardener to get a thick green lawn. I am thinking about putting in green cement. (Just kidding)

Leora and Elisheva are coming to stay with us for 2 weeks in August. Both Mommy and I will be at work and they will have to entertain themselves. They just felt like getting away from Israel for a little while.

Sunday is only 4 days away! I can't wait to see you.

Love

Dad

DearJosh,

Hi!

We received our first letter from you today - the one you wrote right before Shabbat. I hope you worked things out as far as the bunk. If you are not happy with the bunk maybe you should think about switching. Talk to the camp mother and Jeffrey and see if you think a different bunk will make a difference. Do you do things with the other bunks your age? Maybe Dani will switch into your bunk. Besides that are you having more fun now. I know the weather is not helping the situation, but starting tommorrow the weather should start getting nicer out. How was Tisha Baav? Did you fast? I hope you received the package I sent in Jeremy's box with someone that was going up to camp. Did you like the pecan bars I sent to you? I saw a picture of you on the website and you looked like you were having fun.

Can't wait to see you on Sunday. We will try to be there early.

have a good shabbat,

Love Mom

Dear Jeremy

Dear Jeremy,

Hi! Just received our first two letters from you. It was great hearing from you and glad to hear you are having a wonderful time. Did you receive the package today with your sketchers and some treats?? How did you like the pecan bars? I forgot to tell you they are dairy. The other cookies that I sent up with your trunk are parve.

Jesse saw the pecan bars mix in Target and told me to get them because you would love them. Hope you did. Do the shoes fit? I’m glad you will be able to wear them on Shabbat and also during the week. I think they will be really comfortable even with shorts. Anyway, not much is new here - it rained again today but the next few days should be really nice. Well, can’t wait to see you on Sunday.

Have a great Shabbat.

Love,

Mom

Hey Josh!

Hey Josh!

I saw you in the background of one of the pictures on the Moshava website. I can tell it is you because of the light blue North Carolina Tarheels baseball cap. (You ever wonder why a baseketball team has baseball caps.)

As expected, it was raining too much to go swimming this morning. I just went out at lunch time and it seems to be clearing enough to swim this afternoon. Jesse told me he is up to level 4 swimming at camp. Is that good? He has definitely improved over last year.

Mommy just read me your letter and it sounds like you are having a good time. I'm sure you will have even a better time once it stops raining and your bunk situation works itself out.

Love

Dad

This bunk note was retrieved on July 29th @ 3:20AM

Dear Jeremy,


I ate a tremendous amount of food last night! I started with vegetable soup then had chumous and crackers, a piece of fish and a whole bunch of other things. Needless to say, I was famished. I hope Tish Ba'av was not too hard for you. I know it can get very hot up in Honesdale but I am sure that the rain helped keep the temperature down. Do you play a lot of cards when its raining? The day we arrive in San Francisco is the last day the A's play at home. We land at 11:00 and the game starts at 1. I don't know whether we will make it out of the airport and into the ballpark on time but we will see what happens.

Meanwhile, we appear to have good seats for the Giants. Mommy only got 4 tickets and I am hoping we can purchase another ticket at the game. If not, Mommy will have to wait in the car...just kidding. We stopped in to the Tzarchania shel Rutie when we went out to visit grandma and bought a whole bunch of stuff. The guy behind the counter convinced me to buy these cookies because he said they were delicious, One bite, and it was obvious that they weren't as good as mommy's

I love you very much

Dad

This bunk note was retrieved by camp on Jul 28 2004 3:20AM

Dear Josh,

I sent you an earlier mail but I see if did not go through.

I can’t wait to jump back into the water. Tomorrow morning at 7AM, I will be at the swim club. The problem is that it is supposed to rain through Thursday. Usually they keep the pool open but if it gets real bad, they don’t even open the gates.

I have a confession to make, I lost that certificate you won for 4 free tickets to the Newark Bears. If you are interested in going to a game when you get back, I will take you and pay for the tickets. Sorry.

I bought a box of granolas bars to keep at work. Right now, they look very tempting but 2 O’clock on a major fast day, elmers glue would looking good!

Anyhow, the fast has gone pretty well so far and the work day is almost over. Maybe I will go home and take a short nap before I have to go to shul at 7:45

I love you very much

Dad

This bunk note was retrieved by camp on Jul 28 2004 3:20AM

Hi, Josh!

How are you doing? We hope you are having a blast at camp and that you like your bunk. Do you have friends from Teaneck or Yavneh in your bunk? What's your daily routine like?

Today, on Tisha B'Av we are not really doing much. Just hanging around. Rachel and Natan don't have any backyard camp, Tamar is off this week from Regesh and Avi is in Sports and Arts so he is the only one who went to camp today.

Tomorrow, Tamar and I are planning on going out to Uncle Joey's house and swim a bit. Hopefully the weather will be nice. Does it get cold in camp at nights? I remember when I went to sleepaway camp and the nights were really cold.

If you can send an email back, we'll write again soon. (I know the kids would like to write to you too.)

Have an easy fast.

Love,
Aunt Robin

This bunk note was retrieved by camp on Jul 27 2004 3:18AM

Dear Jeremy,

You can get ESPN on channel 32 on the TV in the family room. It is very fuzzy but its better than watching reruns of "the bachelor!" The Cubs and Cardianls were on and Victor Zambrano hit Jim Edmunds. There seems to be a lot of beaning going on.

So far so good with your pets. I meant to collect the rain water from the garbage can covers to use when I change the water in the frog tanks. I forgot to do it this morning and the water may have evaporated. If that is the case, I will make sure and use unchlorinated water.

I also took the liberty of cleaning up all of the spyware on your laptop. You must have had 3 dozen pieces of spyware on your maching and it became obvious that that was the reason for the latency. The internet is running much faster now.

Mommy wants to know if you every have to clean the poop out of the gecko cage? I don't mind doing it but you will have to write me on how to do it.

I saw you put the Sandy Koufax and Hank Greenberg baseball cards in your room. I guess it's o.k. for now because Jesse hasn't expressed any interest and I don't Josh objects.

Speaking of Josh, I don't know what your shabbos schedule looks like but maybe you can sit down with him for a half hour and go over his laining with him? It would definitely help him and may get you out of a boring shiur!

Anyhow, I love you a bunch and can't wait to see you on Sunday!

Dad








Bunk Notes for Camp Moshava PA
bunk/cabin: GIMMEL-B3 from: Jeremy seidman to: Jeremy Seidman date: Jul 27 2004 2:04PM
This bunk note was retrieved by camp on Jul 28 2004 3:20AM
message:
Jeremy,

I wrote you a whole long email and somehow lost it.

In that mail, I told you that I replaced the water in your albino frog and tadpole containers with fresh rainwater that I found in a pail in the backyard.

I also told you that it is 2 O'clock on Tisha Ba'av day and I am so hungry I could eat grass. I would prefer to eat a piece of chicken but grass might be healthier.

I mentioned that I am working on a pretty cool project. UBS is buying software that translates voice into commands. For example, you call a phone number and mention your name and it will pull up your account. In fact, I am on a conference call right now where they are discussing the software.

I saw on the Moshava website that they have target shooting. It would be prety cool to do but you need to be really careful.

I love you very much

Dad

This bunk note was retrieved by camp on Jul 27 2004 3:18AM

Dear Josh,

Did you try softball yet? Its not bad. The ball doesn't go very far but it can be a lot of fun. Also, you know that scar I have on my finger. I got that when a sharp chisel I was using when making something in arts and crafts at Moshava.

Anyhow, my pc at work was infected with a new virus and one of the symptomsis that it sends out emails to everyone in your address book. Why do people think up these things just to make other people miserable?

Tali Fischel was over with her mother on Shabbos and she told us what a typical breakfast as Moshava consisted of; pancakes, cereal, eggs and muffins. I don't know about you, but breakfast would definitely be my favorite meal at camp!

Maayan Fischel also described that big inflatable island in the middle of the lake. It sounds really cool. Do they let parents go on it or do we weigh too much.

I can't wait until tomorrow night when there are only a few hours left of the fast. I don't usually have a problem with fasting but it is a combination of having to go to work, the hot weather and spending all that time in shul sitting on the floor that makes it pretty miserable.

I love you very much and can't wait to see you on Sunday

Dad

This bunk note was retrieved by camp on Jul 27 2004 3:18AM

Dear Jeremy,

How's camp going? I heard you had a lot of rain the first few days and Sunday was the first nice day. How was Shabbat? Things are fine here. All of your pets are fine - Daddy is taking good care of them. YOur skechers came on Friday and I am sending them up to camp with someone that is coming on Wednesday - so you will get them that day. I put in the box an invitation you received and a few other things - a card you received. Did you need us to send out the check for $8.99 for some game you won on ebay or you ordered? Did not see any pictures of you on the website, but I will keep looking. Can't wait to see you on Sunday,

Love you
Mom

This bunk note was retrieved by camp on Jul 27 2004 3:18AM

Dear Josh,

Hi! How are you? How's camp going? Everything here is the same- nothing new. Yesterday was the first real sunny day in a few days - did you also have a lot of rain? I have not seen any pictures of you on the website,but I will keep looking every day. What do you need us to bring up on visiting day? If you need something specific besides junk food please write and let me know. Tisha Ba'av is tonight - how do they do it in camp? I will see you on Sunday - can't wait to see you,


Love you,
Mom

This bunk note was retrieved by camp on Jul 26 2004 3:17AM

Dear Jeremy,

I watched the Mets game in your room the other day. It was a tape of a game played earlier but it was still fun to watch. I know you find it hard to believe, I find the Mets more fun to watch than the Yankees.

I played right field and shortstop today and the good news is I didn't make any errors at shortstop. No one hit it to short when I was playing there. I did make 2 errors in right field. I just couldn't get a grip on the ball.

We went out to Uncle Joey's and hung out by the pool. Jesse went in the Michael and Andreas kids and we just sat by the pool and talked. I am sure I get a million bug bites.

I saw the replays of the Alex Rodriguez Jason Varitek fight and Rodriguez says he now feels like a real Yankee. The best part is Varitek hurt his hand in the fight and couldn't play today.

Anyhow, its getting late and I am going to go to sleep. I love you very much and I am very proud of you.

Dad

This bunk note was retrieved by camp on Jul 26 2004 3:17AM

Hi Josh,

We just came back from grandma and poppies house. (I am not really sure how to spell Poppy but I guess that spelling is as good as any.)

Shabbos was really quiet. Jesse slept at Avi's and Mommy and I still woke up at 6:30! We went over to Tammy and Kenny for shales sheudus, (not sure how to spell that either) and there house was also very quiet.

Jesse wants to sell all of his magic cards on ebay. I don't know if he is serious or not but I tried to dissuade him. I think he is reconsidering his decision.

Anyhow, tomorrow night starts Tisha Ba'av and I am already hungry. I think I am going to go to the 9:45 PM reading of Aicha. I figure that if I go to the later reading I will get a seat.

It was supposed to rain all day but the weather held up and I was able to play softball. Maybe it was better that it rained. I went 0 for 4 and made two errors. Oh well, it was still fun hanging out with my friends.

Love

Dad

This bunk note was retrieved by camp on Jul 25 2004 3:23AM

Dear Josh,

How is camp? do you like it so far?

Did it rain in camp? It rained very, very hard here yesterday and a little today. Do you see Jeremy in camp?

We are going to grandma and poppy's house tommorrow. i miss you so much.

Love Jesse

This bunk note was retrieved by camp on Jul 25 2004 3:23AM

dear jeremy,

it is now saturday night. do you like camp so far? What did you do today? Are you having a good time? I miss you . We are going to Grandma and Poppy tommorrow. Did it rain in camp today? It rained very , very hard yesterday and a little this morning.

See you next sunday

Love, Jesse

This bunk note was retrieved by camp on Jul 24 2004 3:23AM

Dear Josh,

Did you remember last night what I said that we are both sleeping under the same stars? I can still remember how clear the sky is at night at camp and how cold the mornings were.

I remember one Moshava night activity where we split up into Arabs and Israelis. The only problem is none of the counselors wanted their bunks to be Arabs and everyone was Israelis! It kind of ruined the whole activity.

It has been 31 years since I went to camp but I seem to recall that there were fish in the lake and I did try to catch them. Of course, I didn't have my fishing rod but I took a stick some string and a safety pin and tried catching fish that way. Needless to say, it was a total failure.

I don't know if I ever told you but I didn't learn how to swim until I was 21 years old. That is why I am particularly proud of how well you swim. I can still remember that at the end of the summer the whole camp gets together and they handed out cards that showed your swimming level. When they called my name, it was for a beginner and it was pretty embarassing walking up there to receive my certificate.

On a positive note, I remeber spending many hours playing basketball with the kids from New York. There was this one kid named Howie Kleinhandler that was short but he compensated by shooting from behind his head! It was a crazy but effective shot!


You're really lucky to be there with so many of your good friends. I grew up in Maryland and there were only a handfull of us that went to Moshava. Even so, those summers were some of the best of my life.

I want, and know, that you will have a great summer and come back anxious to go back again next year.

I love you very much.

Your biggest fan,

Dad

This bunk note was retrieved by camp on July 24 2004 3:

Dear Jeremy,
Good news!

your animals are still alive!

Although, Jesse's crayfish died. He was pretty good about it and I wouldn't be surprised if he came back with another one. I went online and saw pictures of the kids arriving at Moshava but none of you or Josh. If you see a counselor with a camera, mug for a picture. Shabbos in camp was my favorite time. The davening was beautiful, (the kidusha I always do is from Morasha not Moshava), and the cake they served for kiddush was amazing. I wouldn't be surprised if you came back liking different types of food. Give softball a chance. It is a lot slower than hardball but can be a lot of fun. I would try and play the infield because I don't know how many kids can hit a softball to the outfield. I was 11 the first time I went to camp and I think I took one shabbos walk all summer long. It obviously didn't leave an impression because I don't remember who I took the walk with! Anyhow, I love you a bunch and want you to have the greatest summer of your life.

Your fishing buddy,

Dad

This bunk note was retrieved by camp on Jul 23 2004 3:19AM

Dear Josh,

I am writing to you from work. I am staying a little later today since I got in late. It is now after 1:00 and I assume you must have just arrived at camp. Hope you had a good ride up to camp. How long did it take? Are you on the top or bottom of the bunk bed? who is in your bunk? Please let me know your bunk number so I can add it to the emails. Not much is new here since you left, so I will email you tommorrow.

Have fun,

Love you, Mom

This bunk note was retrieved by camp on Jul 23 2004 3:19AM

DEAR JEREMY,

It is now 1:00 and I am still in work. I assume you just arrived at camp and hope you had a good bus ride to camp. Please let me know your bunk number so I can put it on the emails. Are you on top or bottom of the bunk bed? Do you have your friends in your bunk? Not much is new since you left, so I will write to you again tommorrow. Love you, Mom