Sunday July 16

Shavua Tov!!

Last night, after havdalah, while most eidot had the routine fun night peulot  – night swim (a favorite!), sports, climbing wall etc etc Machal met Eidah Daled on the basketball court for the annual highly-anticipated basketball game. The girls was a…total blowout…Machal really showed Eidah Daled girls something!! Kol Hakavod on an amazing game. The boys’ game was soooo close and came down to a missed free throw…Machal beat daled by 1 point. So exciting for the spectators!

Today was an unforgettable day in Machane. It was Yom Tochnit – a day all about Yerushalayim 🙂

We began with a marathon before lunch – great pictures!! Everyone got bright orange Jerusalem marathon t-shirts and a sticker with a number to put on the front. Each Eidah took a turn running under the balloon arch through the starting line/ribbon and about a kilometer. The finish line had judges looking for the winner in each eidah for each gender. Winners were given medallions at dinner. It was soooo fun and the chanichim had such a great time!

In the afternoon, after a lunch of falafel (of course)  the chanichim were given a chance to spend a couple of hours in Yerushalayim, going around to the most famous and beloved places – enjoying the sights, tastes and experiences of Yerushalayim:

-a tisch with a Chassidic Rebbe

-some pizza from Big Apple pizza

-a science experiment that they conducted at Hebrew U

-a visit to the Supreme Court to listen in on a case being judged

-the Kotel, where everyone watched the “live cam” of the kotel and wrote notes that will be brought to Israel

-Givat haTachmoshet, where the Chanichim climbed through trenches and learned about the 6-day war

-the Malcha Mall (to buy Stonewear)

-Rebar for some smoothies

-Hadassah Hospital to make care packages for the sick

-Teddy park to the sprinklers

and so on and son on….15 stations/stops/sites in total

It was an unbelievable immersive experiential educational afternoon and really was a great ending to the topic we studied this month.

Enjoy the pictures and ask your children about it…on Tuesday!!

Machal, meanwhile, was off-site on a hike that involved a challenge using a topographical map – sounds pretty immersive, experiential and educational too!! We are putting them to work until the last day, challenging them to work in groups and be self-sufficient and resourceful. They had a yummy BBQ at their chutz site after to celebrate their success!