Thurs July 31
Today we learned about the creation of the National Water Carrier and Medinat Yisrael’s reliance on rain for water, unlike Egypt that was irrigated by the Nile River…and according to the Torah – only if we keep the Mitzvot. The project was built between 1959 and 1964 and consisted of a system of giant pipes. open canals, tunnels, reservoirs, and large-scale pumping stations. At its peak, 1 out of every 14 able-bodied people in the country was helping in its construction in some way (digging, welding, pipelining etc). The chanichim learned some psukim that taught us abou the connection between our being obedient and our receiving rain. Some campers thought that made it valuable and special, because we have to work hard for it.
In an attempt to really drive home the lesson, our Roshei Moshava declared a water shortage at lunch. Each bunk had one big igloo full of water for the bunk, instead of endless refilling of pitchers. By chance, today was a very rainy morning, so that was a great backdrop to this whole idea AND it happened to be really cool so having a “water shortage” was not so stressful. Later on in the day, each bunk went around camp to a few stations and had to build something in order to succeed at connecting the different parts of the National Water Carrier. With those “run around camp” and “succeed at a challenge” kind of hands-on activities, the chanichim often remember the history lesson many years from now.
Another special blast from the past that we recreated today was the Chidon haTanach. The first Chidon HaTanach (International Bible Contest) in Israel was held in 1958 as part of the celebrations for Israel’s 10th anniversary of independence. The Prime Minister David Ben Gurion initiated the contest to add a spiritual dimension to the anniversary. Initially, it was an adult competition, but a youth version was later established in 1963. Each bunk played a Chidon haTanach panoply for night tochnit tonight, with dozens of questions, puzzles and pictures that the bunk worked on together,
In addition to the tochnit-related activities, bunks had some peulot that started out more inside or under a roof (ceramics, baking, gaga in the “gaga pit” and lip-syncing battles), due to the rainy morning, and then we were able to go outside, once the sun returned, for some typical sports activities. It was a busy full day…and hikes are tomorrow.
Kaytana learned about the nation’s request to send spies into Eretz Yisrael and then they left to spy out…Midway Amusement Park 45 min away. This park is a perfect size for kaytana, and the rides are all for their age. Yes, of course there was an arcade where they could play ski ball and the crane game!!
Machal spent the day getting ready for their Virginia trip (later in the session) by canoeing 6.5 miles and doing some exercises and drills related to that trip. They are sleeping right “around the corner” at their Machal Chutz site nearby.
