Thursday, August 12
The Edah Daled chanichim, after leading the way in Color War earlier this week, and displaying their budding leadership skills throughout the past three weeks, were given a special trip today — whitewater rafting! They left very early this morning, and headed to Ohiopyle State Park in southwest Pennsylvania to ride the rapids of the Youghiogheny River. They had an amazing day!
In shiur today we set aside the great halachic works of the Talmud Yerushalmi and Bavli, and explored a different pillar of the Oral Torah: Midrash Aggadah. Through studying several midrashim, we got a flavor for how this type of midrash endeavors to make Tanakh and mitzvot more meaningful by making connections to other stories across Tanakh, injecting values through wordplay, and creatively filling in gaps in Tanakh narrative. We also learned that these Midrashei Aggadah often took the form of Rabbis’ divrei torah given publicly on Shabbat for the common people.
The first part of the day was a normal set of activities for edot aleph, vav, bet, and gimel, including basketball, gaga, beach volleyball, rollerskating, and water trampolines on the agam. However, in the afternoon, the Roshei Moshava and Yakov revealed that the entire Machane was heading to Erie, PA to go to an indoor waterpark, Splash Lagoon! After getting changed and ready, the chanichim loaded the buses, took their dinner to go, and headed to Splash Lagoon. Camp Stone had rented out the entire waterpark, in keeping with our COVID protocols, and the chanichim had a real blast, splashing, sliding, and chilling in the water.
Machal continued their Pennsylvania journey today; after spending time at a small amusement park near Altoona, PA yesterday, they visited Philadelphia today. In Philadelphia, Machal visited some of the most important historical sites related to the founding of the United States, and delved into this history. They also heard from Malka Fleischmann, who spent her youth at Camp Stone, discuss Jewish life in America, from the pre-revolutionary era to the modern day. With Malka, they discussed how Jewish presence in this country is a vital thread in the founding fabric of our democracy, and how our ongoing proud religious expression safeguards our — and everyone else’s — liberty. It was a very impactful conversation, after a great day!
