Queens Jewish Link
Connecting the Queens Jewish Community 
It’s an old Camp Dora Golding tradition. On Friday afternoon, the staff plays against the camp administration in a competitive baseball game. For most of the well over two decades that I’ve been here in camp, those games have been a mainstay of Erev Shabbos in camp. During the last few summers, however, those games fizzled out. But this past Friday, it was back on the schedule.
In Camp Dora Golding, on Shabbos morning before Musaf, Rabbi Mayer Erps delivers a three-minute message to the entire camp. The following is the powerful message he delivered this past Shabbos, the final Shabbos of this year’s camp season:
By R' Dani Staum
What an unusual baseball season it has been! In a season that began quite late and had been shortened to 60 games, a couple of games were already canceled because of an outbreak among Miami Marlins players.
Not infrequently, I receive envelopes in the mail with printed words on the front: “Help us in our time of need!” “Don’t let them shut our doors!” “Yidden! Have compassion!”
It’s the day after Tish’ah B’Av.
The clock strikes chatzos ha’yom.
The halachos of aveilus are over.
Before I go to sleep on most nights, I walk over to the beds of each of my children to kiss them good night. Before doing so, I watch them sleeping peacefully for a few moments. It reminds me what an invaluable gift each one is and how thankful I am for them. It’s not always easy to remember that during the day, especially when it gets hectic and tense. So, when my day is over and they are asleep, it’s a perfect time for that reminder. In addition, studies show that if people feel grateful before going to sleep, they have better sleep quality.[1]
