A little piece of history

the origin of the Nageela zoo

Many people have asked me why Camp Nageela has a zoo. In fact on the Camp Nageela FAQ list, it's somewhere in the top one or two hundred. I was previously uncomfortable giving the true answer and just gave a typical answer like, "Scott likes animals," or "I don't know, go ask Rabbi Karmel." The truth is, Scott secretly hates animals, and Rabbi Karmel hasn't been in ccamp long enough to know the answer.

HERE IT IS:

In the ancient world before iPods were invented, Yehuda decided he needed a pet. He tried a few unsuccesful attempts at tarantulas, bats and water bugs, before he realized that animals didn't only fail to make him happy, but he had a terrible allergic reaction that resulted in... crying.

Most normal people would then try to make sure that there were no animals (barring the waiters) left in camp. Yehuda isn't most normal people. In fact he... well... we'll just leave it at that. There has been much speculation as to exactly how and why Yehuda personally brought the goats and other assorted mammals and fowl to camp, and quite a number of thoeries have appeared in scientific and psychological litterature.

This is a clipping from the Brittish Journal of Medicine:

The following is an excerpt from the Hawaain Journal of Contemporary Psychology:

Whatever the psychological or pathological evaluation of Yehuda may be, it is clear that the reason for his crying at the grand sing is not emotion, but a small hamster that he hides in his pocket.

Next time you visit the Nageela zoo... please try not to cry.