SAC 2023 – Final Recap from Rabbi Kenny
Keridos SAC Community Members,
I wanted to share some brief highlights from our half of Sephardic Adventure Camp:
- Color Wars – This year our Color War theme was Work and Freedom, עבודה and חירות. Over two action-packed days, our camper divided into two teams, Team Red and Team Blue, and participated in competitive activities, such as the Apache Relay, camp soccer, capture the flag, and the water bucket brigade. Our teams also participated in meaningful learning opportunities and a poster contest tied to our theme. In the end, the Red Team beat the Blue Team in a friendly, but very lively competition. Special thanks to Josh and Elana Zana for generously sponsoring Color War.
Recreational Activities plus Mimouna – Some of our activity highlights included horseback riding, rock climbing, and boating for our younger cabins. Also, in a special evening activity, we celebrated the end of “Pesach” with new Mimouna program, highlighted by Mufleta, Moroccan music, and campers and staff dressing in traditional Moroccan outfits. Thank you to Tamar and Paul Azous for your generous sponsorship.
- Special Guests – During the 2nd half of camp we were honored to welcome Rabbi David and Rubisa Tirtza Benchlouch (Congregation Ezra Bessaroth) and their children to camp for three days. It was wonderful to have them up at camp for their first SAC experience! We also welcomed the Samis Foundation’s Connie Kanter and Ariel Lapson, along with Samis Trustees Elana Zana, Al Maimon, Jerry Cohen and Eli Genauer. The board of directors of the Foundation for Jewish Camp visited as well on the last Sunday of camp. They flew in from all over the country to meet in Seattle for their yearly board retreat. They made visits to all the local overnight camps beginning with SAC. During their visit to SAC they met with a handful of our staff members, toured the campground, and talked with some of our campers. We heard later that they were in awe of the Sephardic traditions and loved seeing the “King of all Camps” in action.
- Marco’s Bar Mitzvah – Our third and final Shabbat at camp was very special…We celebrated the Bar Mitzvah of camper Marco DeFunis
son of Michelle Humi DeFunis & Bension DeFunis. Marco prepared for his special day by learning with Haham Greenberg, and his hard work showed with the amazing job he did reading his Parsha (Pinehas). It was so nice to have the DeFunis and Humi family join us for the simha! We’re touched and honored that Marco chose to celebrate his special milestone at SAC! The celebration continued on Saturday night with a spirited all-camp Glow Party in honor of Marco! Thank you to the Defunis Family for sponsoring the party. 
- Cocoa en la Boca continued with more refranes and mind puzzlers led by Haham. Special thanks to Michael & Rinah Benoliel for sponsoring this popular activity in honor of the birthday of their son, staff member Al Benoliel.
I also wanted to give a special thank you to SAC board member, Esther Avrahamy. Esther acted as one of our lead chef’s during the final week of camp and did an incredible job. Esther, thank you for your dedication and hard work!
Finally, as some of you may know, Beth Jacoby, our Marketing Director(and so much more), will be moving on from SAC next month to spend more time in her role at Northwest Yeshiva High School. Beth has spent the last nine years at SAC tirelessly working to grow SAC and make it the special camp that it is today. Beth’s contributions to SAC are significant and she will be greatly missed. We are so grateful for Beth’s dedication and hard work and wish her great success at NYHS.
We are so appreciative to you, our community members, for your part in helping us bring another successful season of camp to a close!
Mersi Muncho and please stay in touch as we plan for SAC 2024!
Kenny
