Mood Mix with Yaakov Shlomo Gross

He’s a popular Monsey-based singer and badchan all year round, but come summer, YAAKOV SHLOMO GROSS invests his creativity and energies into creating incredible camp experiences. He served as a counselor at Krasna summer camp in Monticello for three years, then as head counselor at Sanz camp, and now leads the Krula chassidish boys’ camp in Fallsburg. To him, it’s clear that both camp and great music help elevate young lives

A SONG THAT ALWAYS REMINDS ME OF CAMP

The Shabbosdig songs bring me back to camp summers, because creating a special Shabbos atmosphere is a real emphasis in our camp. When we walk into the dining room, we sing the “Gut Shabbos, Gut Shabbos, Gut Shabbos…” Then each bunk sings this “Gut Shabbos” greeting inserting the name of their madrich. That’s how we start, and we continue to sing many beautiful niggunim. Not every child comes from a home where they sit together and sing and farbreng on Shabbos, and experiencing it in camp is special. For this alone, for the Shabbos zemiros with hundreds of people together, it’s worth a boy coming to camp.

TO CALM DOWN EXCITED CAMPERS, WE SING

Our camp song. This year, we’re using the tune of “Far di velt, far di gantze velt,” with the Yiddish lyrics, “Bist mein velt… Ich nem dir mit, mein shtetl Krula.”

WHAT CAMP DOES TO A BOY

I grew up in Eretz Yisrael, which was wonderful, but there was no camp. Every summer, we’d spend a special Shabbos in Meron or Tzfas, but to be honest, I wish we’d had camp. Over my years of camp leadership in the States, I’ve seen boys go home so different at the end of the summer. I’ve seen boys arrive friendless, and in camp they open up, make friends, gain confidence, and develop themselves.

THE CAMP’S FAVORITE SHABBOS ZEMIROS

There is an old “Dror Yikra” that we sing on Shabbos morning which the boys love (Dror yikra levein im bas — bas, bas bas…) Each stanza has that repeated syllable, so it keeps everyone wide awake and joining in. We also get very involved in “Kah Echsof,” “Kah Ribbon,” and “Kol Mekadesh.” And the song, “Yesh Borei Oilam,” where “yesh” is answered by everyone together.