Thursday June 17

Here in Camp Stone, we weave the topic of the day into the day’s activities – for instance, today in shiur we spoke about the story of Achan taking from the spoils of Yericho, after G-d specifically prohibited doing that! The consequence/punishment was that Bnei Yisrael lost the next battle at Ai (pronounced EYE) The shiur conversation was about collective vs. individual responsibility. Later in the day, at lunch, someone ran in announcing that a battle with Ai had begun and then after Mincha a “voice from heaven” (a.k.a. the intercom) announced that Bnei Yisrael lost the battle because someone took from the spoils. During afternoon shekem time (snack/canteen at 4:00) the Roshei Eidah  (division heads) were running around asking “do you know who took the spoils?”

Tonight’s night tochnit (activity) was a scavenger hunt  – each bunk ran around camp to various stations. At each station, they received a clue that eventually led to their figuring out who the guilty member of Am Yisrael was– Achan, son of Carmi from the tribe of Yehuda!! The bunk worked together to figure it out!

Each bunk had eight activities today (one of which is always official shower time, don’t worry about that!) including drama, ceramics, ropes course, zumba, slip n’ slide, volleyball and baking 🙂 The weather has been gorgeous!!

Tomorrow is hike day!! Each eidah will pack a lunch in the morning and then head out for a short hike and picnic, before getting ready for Shabbat.

Machal has been busy too, of course!! Yesterday, they went on a hike in Allegheny national forest with a beautiful overlook. They had their first sleep-out and cook-out and learned how to pitch tents and light lanterns. Today they went on a water hike, followed by another sleep-out. Tomorrow they will spend the day in camp, enjoying some of the facilities while the campers are all out on their hikes.