Wednesday, August 1

Today the whole camp celebrated Rut & Boaz’s wedding!!!

The campers returned to Machane this morning for tefila, energized after an incredible overnight. They enjoyed the typical (atypical for anywhere but here!) Camp Stone programming – a mix of art, nature, outdoor adventure, wildlife, sports, and immersive experiential learning.

In the evening, the campers received beautiful invitations to the wedding celebration of “Boaz Gibbor HaChayil” and “Rut HaMoavia”. The campers all dressed up beautifully and prepared for the Chatan & Kallah’s tisch (in separate locations) with a beautiful spread and stirring speeches by Naomi Marah (former mother-in-law of the bride – yes, this is a bit confusing 🙂 among others. Following the bedekken, which was spirited and ruach-dik, the entire camp preceded to a gorgeous lake-side wedding, complete with every step of an actual wedding, intentionally curated to reflect the special couple (enthusiastically portrayed by Yaakov & Estee). For example, Ploni Almoni was called for a kibbud (no hard feelings :)), the stirring speech described how the couple met and their wonderful character traits, and the ceremony ended with a cup being constructed – in honor of Yerushalyim which was yet to be built. The ceremony was followed by a very lavish and ruach-dik dance party.

*Kaytana Spotlight* – Kaytana continued their exploration of the stories of Tanach. Yesterday they wrapped themselves up as mummies and dramatized what it was like to live in Egypt (OK – that part may not be %100 historically accurate – but it was fun :). Today, they returned from an amazing Lena (overnight) for an exciting surprise – – – COLORWAR BREAKOUT! The teams עמוד ענן vs עמוד אש signified the different ways Hashem protected בנ״י when they left מצרים. The campers enjoyed their typical range of exciting activities through the lens of a very friendly competition related to the theme. For example, the apache race consisted of many challenges that paralleled slavery through all of the מכות. Colorwar ended with winners all around for sportsmanship, friendship, and cheering and a special ice-cream trip. The campers returned just in time to prepare for the beautiful wedding!!

*Machal Spotlight* – Machal enjoyed a hike in Minister Creek and engaged in an intense dialogue about the significance of being a חלוץ (pioneer).  In part, they explored the famous quote of Joseph Trumpledor, who introduced the pioneer movement: “We need men and women who are ready for everything, everything the land of Israel will demand . . .” Tonight they are putting their pioneering spirit into action and sleeping outdoors in the Machal overnight site.

Layla Tov & Mazal Tov from Sugar Grove!