Lessons Learned From Josh

It was the final banquet of the 2018 season.  The meal was wrapping up and it was utter chaos…kids snapping pictures of their tablemates, costumed waiters scurrying around, lots of laughter and discussion.

 As usual, I was multi-tasking…I had helped serve the meal alongside the members of Gadna ’18 and was now jumping in to help clean up, while simultaneously rehearsing the awards ceremony lineup after dinner, wondering if we had enough microphones for the counselor show, trying to calculate what time to set up the traditional goodbye Burnout and imagining a long sleepless night ahead before campers and staff departed the next day.

 While most of the campers and staff had taken time to shower and get ready for all of the inevitable last-night pictures, I had rushed right from my office and thrown on a theme T-shirt handed to me. I am quite certain I did not brush my hair.  I definitely am certain that I didn’t seem very approachable at that moment as I hurtled purposefully through the Dining Hall.

 But yet, someone did approach me.

 I was pulled out of my harried internal dialogue when two Gadna campers stood directly in my path and asked, “Can we take a picture with you?” My initial response was first a startled, “What?” and then an impatient  “Um, okay.”

  “Thanks, that’s great,” they both replied with relentless enthusiasm. I assumed it was part of their role-playing “shtick” at the banquet, acting like a photographer taking photos with “tourists.” Wanting to be a good sport, I played along, even though part of my mind was still racing.

 But then a funny thing happened.

 I took a deep breath. Aw, what the heck, I thought. These guys are just having a great time and why shouldn’t I? Suddenly, I was in the moment. So we posed and smiled and laughed. The rest of the evening is a blur. But that moment in time, captured here in this picture, tells you so much about Josh Erani: That infectious, ear-to-ear smile, his cheeky, fun-loving attitude. Most of all, this picture shows his uncanny ability to notice—and reach out--when someone needed connection.

 This funny, spirited, guileless young man lost his life in a tragic car accident this week. We are all absolutely heartbroken. Beloved by campers and friends, Josh was always…Josh. No pretense, no worries about social status; always inclusive. He was an equal-opportunity friend who welcomed everyone with open arms and that gigantic smile. You could not find a nicer kid.

 There are so many things these days that we are forced to deal with…disruptions to our school, work and social lives, the distance from our friends and family. At a time when we are all coping with tremendous loss in our lives during the Coronavirus pandemic, losing Josh seems particularly cruel and unbearable. Words simply fail us at times like this.

 So here’s what I do: I remind myself what Josh taught all of us: to reach out to others, have fun, be fearless about being true to yourself and most of all, enjoy the ride. I look at this picture and remind myself that once I’m back at camp, I will truly make an effort to appreciate every moment there.

 I mourn and I celebrate. I mourn this terrible, incomprehensible loss. I also celebrate everything Josh was…what he stood for, what he meant to us. He is in our hearts, all ways, always.

 We send our heartfelt condolences to his parents, family and friends. Hamakom yinachem etchem betoch shaar aveilei Tzion veYerushalayim. May his memory be a blessing to all those who knew and loved him and may G-d comfort the bereaved family among all the mourners of Zion and Jerusalem.