Monday July 31
Our shiur today started with an activity – we broke little ceramic jugs!! Talk about experiential education… Then we talked about Tzfat, the Ari z”l and the kabbalistic idea called Shevirat haKeilim – “breaking the vessels”. This basically means that when Hashem created the world He infused it with a lofty, Divine light which was then placed into vessels. However, this light was so strong and holy that the vessels couldn’t hold it, causing them to shatter. This concept in Kabbalah is known as Shevirat HaKeilim, or “the shattering of the vessels.” As a result of this Shevirat HaKeilim, the light dispersed throughout the world in the form of tiny sparks of holy light, known as Nitzotzot, which are now scattered throughout the universe and mixed in with the rest of the physical world. Nitzotzot can be found in the most mundane objects, such as the food we eat and the clothing we wear and actions we do etc . When we use these mundane objects or do daily actions, we are serving God in some way and thus we are elevating the Nitzotzot found within those objects. Our mission is to gather and collect these holy sparks. Each age had a conversation about that concept, at a level that was relatable to them. At the most basic level, we have Uncle Moishy’s “Hashem is here, Hashem is there, Hashem is truly everywhere” 🙂
The chanichim all enjoyed a beautiful day of peulot – beach volleyball, ultimate frisbee, soccer, football, art, making lemonana, baking, ceramics, horse-back riding, swimming, fun at the agam (our lake), and so many more! We had music over the ram-kol (lodspeaker) and everyone had a great day. During the shekem break in the late afternoon, the Roshei Eidah were dressed in Shabbat clothes and we had the Ari z”l talking about how Shabbat was coming and how we should go greet the shabbat (as was done in Tzfat, where “Kabbalat Shabbat” was created). All of a sudden “the Shabbat Queen” drove in on an ATV and the Ar”i said “Let’s all go greet her, let’s all go out to the fields…to the lina!!” And that is how The Lina (our overnight) was announced 🙂 Each eidah had a chance to pack up and head out to their respective lina sites. This is such a fun night with a campfire and guitar-playing and hot dog grilling and corn on the cob and smores!!! Bonding-by-eidah is the best at the lina!
Kaytana learned about Yaakov’s many children and the special coat he made for Yosef. They tie-dyed and each made a “shirt of many colors” as well. Their other peulot today were slip n’ slide, baking and basketball. When they left for the lina, they were told it was becasue they were sold to Egypt 😉 So, now they are in exile:( This blogger went to visit the Kaytana campfire, since it is literally across the road from camp (ha!) and the chanichim were having THE best time with the smores and flashlights and all of the counselors. Huge sleepover party!
Machal had a 10 mile hike today in “the gorge” in Westfiled NY and then camped out as well (of course!!) – but they had hamburgers 🙂
