Tues June 27

Before we get started on today’s blog – remidner to go look at photos from last night’s BUNK NIGHT, where each bunk presented about their name. great group pics!

Today we learned about a very tragic figure -Elisha ben Avuya who left his religion half-way through his life. The students discussed how his student Rabbi Meir never stopped respecting him and recalling what he learned from him. His nickname became “Acher” which means “Other” and that is the name used to quote his rulings. There are many ways to interpret the story of how he entered “an Orchard” and then left Judaism, and the chanichim discussed them and then talked about learning from people who are flawed and the concept of teshuva.

In machane today, Rabbi Yismael and Rabbi Akiva drove around (their Roshei Eidah dressed up, of course) and asked chanichim to draw a Beit Midrash – Rabbi Akiva who was a more creative spirit just told kids to draw whatever they wanted/visualized whereas Rabbi Yismael (a more classic and “in the lines”  kind of thinker) showed them a picture of a Beit Midrash for them to copy. This was a great way for the campers to see the different personalities at play.

We had a full day of peulot, despite some on and off drizzle – and then a beautiful and fun Erev Shira after maariv tonight. We have our own guitarist, keyboardist and drummer and we all sang out on our Dining Deck. Those old slides were projected up on the tarp-wall, and we sang the classic Israeli songs  (think “chai-chai-chai” and “Yo Ya”) from years ago and some from more recent artists. Seeing chanichim of all ages singing these songs, swaying arm in arm and having such a great time together is a highlight of the summer!

Kaytana learned about galut (exile) today in their shiur and then lived the lives of slaves in Egypt, for a part of the day. Our plugah (maintenance staff) gave them some tasks to perform and Alex, their Rosh Kaytana was dressed as Pharoah, ordering them around. Yonina, their other Rosh Kaytana, would deliver plagues on Pharoah – red bug juice, frogs, a blindfold etc etc Each time plagues were sent, the orders became louder and louder! A fun way to go back in time and experience  a tiny taste of the Jews’ experience in Egypt. All of the campers watched the movie The Prince of Egypt tonight as a special night activity.

Machal had a looong hike today – 12 miles, ending at the Buckaloons campsite where hot cocoa awaited them. They grilled burgers and got to bed!