Sunday July 26

Today our chanichim learned about the 2 1/2 tribes who reminded Yehoshua that Moshe promised them land on the Eastern side of the Jordan. As long as they helped fight and conquer land on the Western side, they were told they could settle on the Eastern side. Yehoshua fulfilled that promise made by Moshe. Bnei Yisrael noticed that these tribes were building an altar and assumed they were up to no good and were planning on offering sacrifices, influenced by the avodah zarah practices surrounding them. When they accused their relatives across the Jordan of sinning, they were told that actually Reuven, Gad and half of Menashe were building an altar in order to serve as a reminder of the mishkan and the altar they missed and felt distant from. Their plan was never to use it! The goal of the shiur was to give chanichim an opportunity to think about the complicated relationship that inherently exists when there are multiple shevatim, each with its own unique characteristics and needs, within one nation. Sometimes these divisions lead to conflict and misunderstanding. When some of the nation lives in the land and some lives outside, it can lead to separation and conflict and extra work needs to be put in in order to still feel connected and united. Campers thought about how this is relevant to today’s Israel-diaspora relationship.

We finally had our first regular day of camp; it feels like we have been here a week already but the first day was Erev Tisha B’av and so we have never really had a full regular day yet. Every bunk looks forward to seeing which peulot they have been assigned for the day! Our Roshei Sport Alex Wolf and Tzila Lestz create a schedule that often grants bunks the peulot they request and ensure the day is a mix of sports, swimming, creative arts (ceramics, cooking, etc.) and favorites like climbing wall and susim (horseback riding). They keep track of what every bunk has, so they don’t have the same peulot repeated too many times. There are 6 peulot per day, after shiur and nikayon (time to clean the bunk each morning), and before pre-dinner shower time and free time. The night activity was a camp-wide competition in Indoor World. Each Eidah was given materials to build a tower…resembling what they learned about in shiur today.

Fun fact: Each day, two bunks have Toranut for all 3 meals. That means they set up, (eat before everyone arrives), put out the food, get refills for bunks during mealtime, and clean up (sweep and take out all the garbage bags). It is a lot of work, but with 35- 40 kids, it gets done quickly and efficiently! Roni, our Rosh Chadar Ochel, manages and directs them all. This is one of the special features of our machane. Now you know your child is capable of WAY more than he/she is probably doing at home 😉 When Shabbat comes, our tzevet gets a turn setting, serving and cleaning up for two meals. And then the adults in camp, our mishpachot, take care of Seudah Shlishit.

Dinner tonight was a favorite: chicken nuggets and chicken wings! Guess how many nuggets and wings we consumed? If all calculations are correct, this blogger has determined we ate approximately (give or take a few) 2,000 wings and 2,000 nuggets. Total: close to 400 pounds of chicken. Let’s be honest: most of that was eaten by Eidah Daled boys 😊 Of course salad, rice and some cooked broccoli and cauliflower rounded out the meal. Thank you to the amazing Mitbach staff who work from (literally) the early morning until way after dinner is cleaned up.

Kaytana learned about Rachel and Leah today, rounding out the 4 mothers. They talked about how Yaakov had to wait so long for Rachel and whether they would ever wait 7 years for something they really loved. They discussed Rachel’s giving the signs to Leah so she would not be embarrassed. They were asked to think about how far they would go to save a relative or friend from embarrassment. These young kids have a lot to say, with opinions and examples of their own. It is really impressive and inspiring to the tzevet teaching them each morning. They had a special peulah where they made trivets and challah boards, since they have learned about hachnassat orchim and the homes our ancestors built with “Jewish” values (pre-Torah). The rest of their activities today included Master Chef and beach volley ball. Kaytana has their night activity before dinner, and tonight they played a fun Minute-to-Win-It competition.

Machal headed out on buses early this morning and spent the day in the Buckaloons State Park. They enjoyed both hiking for a few miles on dry land and then water tubing for a while in the Allegheny River. Tonight they set up tents, roasted hotdogs and had their first of many camping overnights. Each morning they have shiur too. This summer we are piloting a new curriculum created in collaboration with Noa Berkowitz, long time Camp Stone tzevet member and Rosh Mosh. Machal will use shiur time to learn about the ideology of Bnei Akiva, specifically the concept of Torah v’Avodah, in addition to ideals such as leadership, courage, and communal responsibility. In the first shiur, they discussed the meta issue of daily learning and the charge to Yehoshua that “the Torah shall not cease from your lips  – recite it day and night” (Yehoshua 1:8)