Sunday June 23

Today all of the chanichim in eidot Aleph – Daled learned about Kibbutz Galuyot, the promised Ingathering of the Exiles. We asked questions like what are we davening for in the 11th bracha of shemonah esrei every day? And should people forget their past and do things like Hebraicize their last name? And what parts of the Diaspora are we bringing with us to Medinat Yisrael? The campers addressed these questions in ways that were age-appropriate and fun. We focused on Operation Magic Carpet in a pre-lunch skit – the Jews who returned from Yemen in 1949 and 1950. We have a population counter outside the misrad (office) and each day we publicize the population in Medinat Yisrael increasing with each country sending Jews home to the “new state” – we are up to 900,000 in 1950 🙂

The bunks had peulot all day all across thr camp enjoying many different sports, fun in the lake and the pool, making mint lemonade after learning about our green house in teva (nature) and riding the horses.

At Shekem, the Roshei Moshava, Aryeh Klein and Zoe Abboudi, announced that we are all joining the Yeminite Jews in their maabarot, their tents that they settled in when they first arrived…that is Camp Stone code for ” we are going on a lina” (overnight). Each eidah packed a bag of warm pj’s, grabbed a sleeping bag and hiked a short trail to their site. Each eidah had its own cookout with hot dogs, corn and s’mores. Great night for star gazing here in Sugar Grove!

Kaytana is learning about Yosef and his multi-colored striped robe and had some very experiential learning with a tie-dying peulah. They, too, had dinner as a cookout at a campsite very close by and slept out “like the big kids”

Machal, after enjoying home-cooked food, cozy beds and seeing the rest of camp over Shabbat,  began their week with the famous hike in The Gorge.