And we’re back…Opening Day!!!
Reporting live from Moshevet Shivat Zion!!
It’s like we all never left!!
Your children ran off those buses and greeted their friends with the biggest hugs and shrieks! Some shy ones just said hi and started talking. And the new ones were welcomed by their madrichim and madrichot and introduced to the old timers. (And the weather could not have been more perfect!)
We had 9 buses pull up to camp simultaneously with 470 campers representing 35 cities!! Machane Stone is our home away from home, and it feels great to be back. As the blogger who is here for her 22nd summer, I know what I am talking about 😉
This month’s Roshei Moshava are Yael Engelhart and Aryeh Klein. They are leading a very passionate, idealistic and responsible group of tzevet. We will all be living through the pre-1948 decades of the Jews’ return to their homeland, i.e Return to Zion = Shivat Zion
The campers began in the upper baseball field with a welcome from none other than Moses Montefiore and his wife 🙂 They welcomed the chanichim to Palestine in this First Aliyah of the late 1800’s and proceeded to direct each eidah to a station:
- Jaffa Port where the chanichim were able to get some snacks from the shuk and make juice from Jaffa oranges
- Border Control where they wrote name tags, handed in all medicines and had their picture taken
- Tzfat – they created mosaics
- They threshed wheat at the mill in Mishkanot Sha’ananim – separating the stalk and beating the kernels out of the chaff
- Blueberry orchards where they planted blueberry bushes and ate blueberries
This opening tochnit (program) was followed by Mincha and dinner. The chanichim spent the evening unpacking and getting to know each other. Everyone was excited for our first real day, to jump right in to the shiur, activities and bonding!!
Kaytana has their own tochnit each summer where they experience the creation of our nation from Avraham through entry into Eretz Canaan with Yehoshua. They began with a visit to Terech and smashed his idols (that is “Camp Stone language for pinata!!) and then enjoyed getting snack in the shuk of Charan. Off to Avraham’s tent for dinner.
Machal chanichim were in a big circle playing a game within 10 minutes of everyone’s arrival! They were soooo excited for this transformative month! They had their “shelet aish” to inaugurate the month and celebrate their shevet’s name: Hineni – a word in Tanach that implies passion, determination and commitment. Then off to their first hike on Wednesday. No time to rest!!
Each day I will give you some background and explanations to the pictures you see, as I walk you through our day and any special programs or experiences we are having here.
The blog is usually written in the late evening so best to read about each day the next morning 🙂
