Quinn Korach Sermon

Shabbat Shalom.

My name is Quinn Korach. This is currently my 13th year at Kawaga and 5th year on staff. Over the past 4 summers I have been a cabin counselor but this summer I have transitioned into being one of our Unit Heads along with Sean Gooze. In my capacity as Unit Head, I oversee both the Mohawk and Oneida campers, as well as the staff of those two tribes. I utilize my past experiences and the knowledge I gained from my 13 summers here to help Kawaga’s campers and staff members be the best versions of themselves. In the fall, I will be a senior at THE Ohio State University and when I told friends at school that I would be going back to camp for another summer, instead of taking an internship, I typically received some pretty crazy looks. “Seriously?”, “aren’t you tired of it?”, and “why do you still go back?” are a few of the questions I got and, to be honest, I don’t blame them for being confused. As the summer crept up, however, I started to ask myself the same questions; why do I continue to return to Kawaga summer after summer? 

For one, Kawaga provides a spectacular opportunity for all of its campers and staff to fail, grow, improve, and achieve goals in a safe and encouraging environment. Every camper sets at least 3 goals for every summer; these goals can range from getting their 2-ski miracle, learning Kawaga’s ideal, shooting their first bullseye in archery, and much more. What many of you may not know is that every staff member at Kawaga also sets 3 personal goals. One of my goals this summer was to leave a legacy for the Braves who come after me. For those of you who may not know, the Korach family has been coming to Kawaga for a long time; 48 out of Kawaga’s 110 summers have occurred with a Korach here and we have spent a total of 56 summers on the shores. While having a family history at Kawaga is awesome, as a camper, at times, I felt that there were lofty expectations for me to live up to my family name and leave a lasting impact on Kawaga and after finishing my years as a camper without any awards, I felt that I had failed myself and my family. It wasn’t until my second year as a counselor that I realized that it wasn’t being a Spectacular captain or a tribal officer or winning awards that made you a true Kawaga Brave. It’s the values and standards that each one of us holds ourselves accountable to. Every year, all Kawaga parents receive a counselor intro letter in which the counselors of each camper write a handwritten note to the parents introducing themselves and explaining how they will help that specific camper achieve their goals that summer. My mom, who I am lucky enough to have in camp today, has kept every single counselor intro letter that was written about me. My grandma kept every single intro letter that was written about my dad when he was a camper, and my great-grandma kept every letter that was written about my grandfather. One of the most interesting things that was said about my grandpa in the letters was that he wasn’t the greatest athlete, nor the best leader, and his counselor specifically emphasized how he wasn’t very good at woodshop because he didn’t have very dexterous hands. Despite not being the best at any of those things, he found a purpose at Kawaga and loved this place with all his heart. He would go on to send his son, my dad, here, and came to Minocqua for every single visitors weekend from 2012 until 2019 while I was a camper. For those 8 years, like clockwork, he would listen to today’s services, then head to the mess hall, grab a cup of coffee, and march to the Piazza, which used to be a seating area right in front of Sioux City, sit in the same exact chair, and just observe all that was occurring around him. Although this would typically result in an open-mouth nap that would last a solid hour or so, his admiration for Kawaga never slept. Needless to say, when his chair at the Piazza was removed, he was a bit upset. 

Since his days at Kawaga in the fifties, many things infrastructure-wise, have changed but the values and pillars that Kawaga instills into every camper and counselor that comes through this magical place have remained; 110 consecutive summers of encouraging boys to be the best people they can be via the values of fellowship, spirit, enthusiasm, and sportsmanship. For as long as I can remember, my mom has always emphasized the importance of “being a mensch”, something I strive to be every day. I believe that the pillars of Kawaga go hand in hand with that; a mensch, like a Kawaga Brave, is a person of integrity, morality, and dignity, with a sense of what is right and responsible. Yes, Camp Kawaga is meant to be fun, but our main focus is on creating boys and men of character and virtue. And it isn’t meant to be easy; we strive to push our campers out of their comfort zone to grow and flourish and it is our staff that allows Kawaga to not only let our campers fail but to be prepared to pick them back up and help them try again. That is why I return to Kawaga summer after summer; I have the privilege of getting to make a tangible impact on someone every single day. No internship in the world could provide that kind of ability, nor those kinds of experiences. Whether it’s coaching a team of 9-year-olds playing Ultimate Frisbee for the first time, or just having a simple conversation with a fellow staff member about how their day is going, I get to reap the benefits of leaving a lasting impact on people, each and every second I spend at Kawaga. And that is where I believe I found my purpose at Kawaga. Not by plaques, or trophies, but by the way I can positively affect every person I connect with here. After all, Kawaga has taught and given me so much, I believe it’s only fair that I do my utmost to give as much back to this place as I can, for as long as I can.

Thank you, and Shabbat Shalom.