‘Shmintzing’ at the Camp Nageela reunion

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Camp Nageela hosted a Nageela boys’ alumni reunion for former campers and staff from the tri-state area, including the Five Towns and surrounding communities, in the Catskills Aug. 16 to 19.

The Shabbos Nachamu reunion weekend was the perfect time to reminisce with camp friends. Attendees enjoyed singing and dancing Nageela-style with songbooks of lyrics that accompany the Shabbos food every week.

The Friday night oneg took place at Camp Nageela’s next-door neighbor, Lakeview Estates. Far Rockaway residents, Heshy Friedman and Zevi Cohen, sponsored the oneg. The young men bonded.  After Shabbos the group made a trip to Dougie’s in Woodbourne to enjoy some barbecue.

“The reunion was awesome,” Shmuli Mintz (aka “Shmintz”), director of alumni affairs for Nageela Boys and staff from 2015 to 2017, said in a news release. “Some of these guys haven’t been back to camp in over 10 years. When they arrived you could see on their faces how the memories were coming back and how happy they were to be at Camp Nageela again.”

Marc Cohen, a former camper turned staff member from 2008 to 2014 helped coordinate the reunion with Mintz. “The reunion was especially incredible for me after coming back to camp for Shabbat for the first time in five years,” Cohen stated in the release. “I haven’t seen some of the alumni in an even longer amount of time. Nageela has meant so much to me over the past 11 years. It was amazing to be back reliving past experiences and rekindling the flame Nageela lit inside me.”