Written by Megan Brumer
On Saturday night after Havdallah, we had a drum circle on the beach. It started with us going down this path with drums on our shoulders in the dark. Once we arrived to the beach, those of us who were there started playing basic beats. We continued with everyone playing different beats together until everyone had arrived.
Somewhere in the middle of us playing beats, we started singing different camp songs. As a songleader, music is my way to connect with Judaism and on the beach singing and drumming with everyone, I really felt that we were a community. All 21 of us come from different backgrounds because the Nachshon Project is for anyone, so it was amazing to see both the reform and the conservative communities come together. Most of the songs that we sang, both conservative and reform groups of people knew, and it was amazing to hear everyone singing together. Songs kept coming and coming and we just kept moving from one song to another. Someone would start one song, and when it was over, another person would start another.
In the middle of all the singing we took a break for dinner which was veggie dogs, banana boats & s'mores. Immediately after dinner we went back to the drums and kept singing song after song.
For me, that is the power of music. No matter your background, when you both know the same music, you can come together as one large community. This drum circle activity allowed us to bond and become closer as a community by just singing and being with each other.
